“You walk around with your grim fucking face, hating everyone and everything, always trying to find ways to piss everyone off. Well, brother, you fucking pissed me off. You happy now? Is this what you wanted? Me losing my shit and beating the crap out of you?”
“Alexius, please,” I crawl back onto the bed on all fours, afraid to get too close. “Please stop this.”
He’s too angry, a maddened God who can’t see anything other than chaos.
Abruptly, he lets go of Isaia’s throat, and Isaia gasps and coughs, gagging as he gulps down air while Alexius pulls him to his feet.
“I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt. I tried talking to you, warned you to stay away from her, but you wouldn’t fucking listen. You just couldn’t help yourself, could you? You just had to have what’s mine.”
With my hand in front of my mouth, I watch as he shoves Isaia against the dresser, hitting his back against the edge, a pained shriek tearing past Isaia’s lips.
“Alexius, don’t.” I sniff, leaning back, ice slamming into my chest when he looks at me with a glare that cuts straight through my heart.
“Did you let him fuck you?”
“Is that what you think of me? That I’m some whore who would fuck around while I’m pregnant with your babies?” I yell out the last few words. “Do you really think that low of me?”
“You’ve been hellbent on fighting me, waiting for a chance to fucking leave.”
“Because you lied to me!” I shout. “You tricked me, made a goddamn fool of me, and you expect me to, what? Forgive you? Pretend that everything’s okay, and act like our lives couldn’t be more fucking perfect?”
“I expect you to love me, for better or worse. Remember that?”
“Are you seriously reminding me of our wedding vows? What about ‘to love and to cherish?’ Do you even know what that means? To cherish someone?” I sit up on my knees. “It means to protect and care for, to hold dear and that you recognize that person’s worth. So, tell me how your lies and you manipulating me show that you recognize my worth. That you hold me dear.”
His anger burns red on his cheeks as he leans closer, shoving his finger at his chest. “I did it because I love you. How many times do I have to tell you that?”
I scoff. “Probably a million times more because it’s all bullshit.”
Alexius pulls his lips in a thin line, his blue eyes turbulent with a violent storm as he leans close. “Did He. Fucking. Touch you?”
“No.” My nostrils flare. “Nothing happened. I was in the shower crying over you. Having a fucking mental breakdown because of you. And all your brother did was help me. He comforted me, and I fell asleep. That’s it.”
“She’s telling the truth, man,” Isaia growls, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Panic and fear coat my tongue with a rancid taste, a black cloud wrapping around the three of us with an ominous grip.
Alexius is a wall of menace, his shoulders widened and chest expanding. There’s blood on his shirt, his knuckles covered in red. Right now, he’s an animal—untamed and unpredictable. It scares the shit out of me, but there’s something about the feral look in his eyes. How his authority melts the air around us. How his sheer dominance fills my breath and steals my will. It wakes something in me—something I have no right feeling. Not now. Not like this. It’s insane.
Alexius bites his bottom lip and shifts his death glare between Isaia and me.
God, please let this be over.But the way his eyes darken, his frame growing larger, says it’s far from over.
There’s blood on Isaia’s face, one eye already starting to swell. But he stands his ground, his stance wide and threatening. Challenging.
“I want to kill you, brother. I really do,” Alexius threatens.
“Then fucking do it, you pussy.”
“Isaia, no,” I warn, knowing the last thing he needs to do right now is challenge his brother.
Alexius bares his teeth. “I’m not fucking stupid. Ending your life won’t be worth the shit it’ll pile on my goddamn doorstep. And kicking your ass until you’re blind won’t do a thing other than fuel this sick obsession you have with my wife because that’s who you are. An arrogant, stubborn pussy.” Alexius leans his head to the side. “There’s only one way you’ll realize that she’s not yours, and that’s if I show you who she belongs to.”
My heart stops, and everything goes cold as I watch Alexius rushing toward me. I yelp when he grabs a fist full of my hair, pain searing my scalp.
“Alexius, what are you doing?”
“Talking to him didn’t help. Kicking his ass won’t help, either. The only thing that’ll help is if I show him.”