Page 42 of Cross To Bear

Even as we were trying to get Maddie to do the same.

None of that mattered right now. I was done letting my brother walk all over me. We told him to get gone, and that he needed to stay that way, for his safety as much as Maddie’s, and we were just about to make that clear.

“Brother…!” Jesse pulled away from Krystel, much to her disgust, walking towards me with open arms, the entire exchange designed to look like two feuding siblings reconciling. But he could never keep his mask up for long. As he got close, he said, “So, have you given it to my girl in every hole yet? She makes this funny little noise when you fuck her ar—”

Whatever poison this snake wanted to drip in my ear, it was choked off instantly, as my hand found his throat. The smile faltered, his fingers clawing at mine as I tightened my grip, squeezing down on his windpipe.

“Don’t talk about ‘your girl’.” My voice was curiously flat, because there was no way I could express the fucking rage burning inside me. “Don’t mention Maddie. Don’t look at her. Don’t even think about her.”

He tried to answer me, the stupid fuck always wanting the last word, though all that came out was a strangled sound. That should’ve alarmed me, a dim voice in the back of my head screamed, but it didn’t. I just squeezed tighter.

“Bjorn…” I spun around to see Crash standing there, a look of concern on his face. “Let him go now.” I didn’t want that, not one little bit, though something in his gaze, not Jesse’s frantic one, had me loosening my hold. My brother sank to the ground then, rasping out some shit, but I couldn’t hear him. “Thought I was here to save you?” Crash asked. “Nah, I just wanted my own taste.” He hauled Jesse up into the air, the seams of my brother’s shirt groaning as his whole weight hung from them. “You little fuck, you knew exactly what you were doing, strolling into the bears’ den. Well, now you’re about to get all the pain you’ve come looking for. Catch, brother.”

Jesse sailed through the air like a doll, the crowd muttering as his limbs flailed, right as Hawk snatched him out of the air.

“You left Maddie by the side of the fucking road?” Hawk looked fucking murderous, shaking my brother so hard his jaw clacked. “You left a woman alone and in trouble. Our woman.” I heard that fierce, protective growl, and the bear and I were in complete agreement. It was the sound of the feeling that flared bright and hot in my own chest. “Maddie belongs to us. The garage is ours. The bar is ours—”

“And you’re no longer welcome in any of them.” Razor’s eyes blazed bright blue, like the flame of an oxy-acetylene torch as he stared into Jesse’s then scanned the crowd. “Anyone who brings him within ten feet of a property owned by any of us is similarly not welcome. We’ll close the bar down.” There was a low grumble at that from the crowd. “The shop. Refuse to complete any outstanding orders from anyone that ignores our directive.” He turned towards Jesse now. “The only way I can stop myself from punching your fucking teeth so far down your throat your dentist will have to give you a rectal exam to complete a checkup is if I don’t see your fucking face again.”

“Because each time you see me, you’ll be reminded that I was there first. That she loved me first.”

Jesse was sucking in breaths now, his whole body working, but he just didn’t stop. He couldn’t. That was fine, because we were more than up for the job.

“Get a rope,” I said, then turned to my brother. “You always had a thick fucking head, but I don’t mind beating some sense into you.” I cracked my knuckles. “Actually, I’ve been looking forward to this for way too long.”

“Wait!” A feminine voice had us all turning, and Maddie appeared at my shoulder. “Don’t do this. He’s just goading you and…” When she turned to face him, my heart went to my throat, but I wrapped my arm around her waist and tugged her close, which had my brother sneering. “You never loved me, so why the hell are you pulling this shit? You’ve moved on.”

She glanced at Krystel, the woman bristling instantly, forcing me to shoulder forward. I’d seen Krystel get into fights over the stupidest shit until I had to make clear that if she did so, we’d be forced to sack her, though she wasn’t on the clock right now.

“I loved you plenty.” That’s when I saw Jesse’s wall of bravado crack because that’s all there was. He was all front, no real substance, and for some reason, he seemed determined to put that on show in front of the whole world. His smile changed then, becoming something far softer, pained even. “I thought the fucking world of you and then…” There it was, that mean streak rising again. “Then I brought you to meet my family, and I saw the way they fucking looked at you, and I just knew. I fucking knew one day you’d choose them over me, so—”

“You made sure I did.” Maddie nodded slowly. “I tried really hard not to. I didn’t even see them for the entirety of our relationship.” She pulled away then, and I didn’t want to let her go, but I’d never stop my girl from doing what she needed to. “Only you. Because you were the one I was with. And you fucking treated me so badly, I had no choice—”

“There was always a choice!” Jesse snapped and that had my hands clenching into fists. “Always! You should’ve chosen me. Maddie…”

Gods above, had I ever felt such fear when Jesse raised his hands slowly, not to hurt Maddie, but to reach for her. I felt like I’d been here over and over. Me wanting, needing something, and Jesse taking it each time, just because he could. If I was waiting for Maddie to make the right decision, none of us would get that opportunity. Krystel shoved herself forward.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Krystel snapped. “Talking to my man like that?”

The four of us surged forward, knowing well that snarky tone. It always alerted us that it was time to step in and stop Krystel, but Maddie did something I didn’t expect. While she was never one for conflict, she didn’t back down from Krystel’s challenge, not for a second, standing tall and facing the other woman down.

“If he’s your man, then you should get him the fuck out of here and away from me before he gets his face punched in.”

“And none of them would be threatening Jesse at all if it wasn’t for you.”

Krystel was a skinny little thing but mean as a snake. I’d seen her jump women twice her size and take them down, even leaping in to support whoever her favourite was in a bar fight. She might be an employee, she sure as fuck wasn’t going to… I watched Krystel’s fist whip through the air as if in slow motion, leaping forward to intercept it.

I needn’t have bothered.

Maddie jerked out of the way with a well practised air, cursing under her breath before popping Krystel right in the jaw, sucker punching her so the waitress went sailing backwards and landed in a messy tangle of limbs on a table.

“What. And I say this in all seriousness. The Fuck…”

The awe in Crash’s voice was a perfect reflection of our own as we just stared. Everyone fucking stared as Maddie muttered a small sound of pain, then flicked her fingers to try and alleviate it. But fucking Krystel didn’t seem to know when to stay down, especially as some of the Steel Dragon hangarounds happened to help her up on her feet. She looked pretty dazed, but that didn’t stop her from lunging at Maddie.

Our girl just shook her head, dodging one wild hit then another, finally grabbing the other woman’s wrists in her hands and then using that leverage to press on the joints. Krystel started squalling like a scalded cat, right as Maddie corrected her behaviour.

“Just because I’m a fucking accountant, don’t go thinking I’m no good in a fight,” she growled. “I went to a pretty rough high school, where you learned to scrap it out or get bullied mercilessly. I don’t want Jesse.” God, that. I needed to hear that with every fibre of my being. “And I don’t want to have to headbutt you so hard you’ll end up in hospital to get your nose reset, but I will if I have to.” She shoved Krystel away from her and the woman just stumbled back, tense, though not launching herself back into the fight. “If he’s yours now, then get him the fuck out of here.” Maddie pointed imperiously at the door. “Now.”

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