Page 109 of Explosive Prejudice

Miles crossed his arms over his chest. “Why am I not surprised?” he hissed. “Andrei knew you two had something going on. Fuck, he was right, wasn’t he?”

I had a feeling Andrei suspected something.

“After everything you and Andrei went through together, how could you stab him in the back like this?”

Taken aback by Miles’s words, I nearly gasped at him. “Stab him in the back? The fuck are you on about, you little shit. Are you two that self-centered that you think the world revolves around you?” I kept my tone low, but the venom oozing from my words was clear.

“Fuck you,” he hissed back.

I would have slapped his ugly face if it weren’t for Shay-Lee stepping in.

“Miles, it’s not like that,” Shay-Lee started saying when Miles cut him off.

“Don’t talk to me, you freak.”

“Watch your mouth,” I warned, pointing my finger at Miles.

“Or what? You’ll choke me again?”

Shay-Lee’s eyes snapped to mine, and I had to look away. I’d never mentioned to him, or anyone else, about the one time I’d lost my composure with Miles and nearly choked him to death. It wasn’t one of my proudest moments, but he kept running his mouth, and I’d simply lost it. The same way I was about to lose it now.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, Andrei entered the charged space. All it took was five seconds for rage to take over his features. “What the fuck?” he shouted, tossing the towel he was holding on the floor and moving toward us.

“Andrei.” It was Jessie who spoke, trying to stand in his way, but Andrei moved past him until he was in my face. “You’re fucking kidding me?”

“You don’t understand.”

“Damn right I don’t understand. Why the fuck is he here?” he hissed in Shay-Lee’s direction.

“I brought him here ’cause he needs help.”

“Fuck that,” Andrei snapped, hate boiling in his eyes. “I don’t give a shit that this creature needs help.” He then glanced at Shay-Lee over my shoulder, taking in his injuries. “Whoever hurt him deserves a fucking medal.”

“Watch it,” I warned with a low and steady growl, feeling my muscles tense and my blood rush with the need to break something.

Andrei shook his head, his face red. “He’s a bad guy, Diesel. I have no fucking idea how he managed to convince you otherwise, but he’s nothing but scum.”

“I’m a bad guy, too,” I said and took a step closer.

“It’s not the same.”

“How so?”

Andrei’s jaw clenched. “He deserved whatever he got. He broke my arm, remember that?”

I tilted my head. “Maybe you deserved it, too.”

He gawked at me, eyes wide. “I didn’t.”

“So, how can you assume he did?”

Andrei didn’t deserve to be beaten up by Shay-Lee, the same way Shay-Lee didn’t deserve to be tied to a shower and get his back whipped by his father. But that was life. A big pile of unfair shit.

Shaking his head, Andrei took a step back. “You’re unbelievable. Un-fucking-believable.”

“Why? Because I did something you don’t approve of?”

“Fuck you, Diesel,” he yelled, spit flying from his mouth. I’d never seen him this angry before. “Fuck you for doing this to me. For bringing that home.”

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