Page 40 of Ruthless Touch

Rarely, if ever, have I ever defended myself like that to my father. The stunned look on his face tells me he didn’t expect me to talk to him like that.

“Okay, fine. I’m sorry.” Turning to look at Alex again, my father rewords his initial question. “You’ve obviously angered your brother. Why would you do what he claims you did?”

It still sounds like he wants to believe his older son is innocent, but with Helix Rule, you take your wins whenever you can and in whatever form they come.

For his part, Alex knows as well as I do that he’s my father’s favorite, so he merely shrugs off all my anger and my father’s questions about what he did. “As usual, Gideon is making a big deal out of nothing. I went up to his apartment to find him and found a girl instead. I was just extending a welcome Rule hand since it was my first time meeting her. Have you seen Gideon’s new girl, Dad?”

And just like that, my father’s attention leaves where it should be—on my shithead of a brother—and returns to me and the idea that I’m with someone he hasn’t met yet. Fuck, I hate Alex.

“I didn’t realize you had a new woman in your life, Gideon. Why haven’t you introduced her to me?” my father asks, like I’m a fifteen-year-old boy.

“Because I’m a grown man and I can’t remember the last time I discussed a woman in my life with anyone in my family.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sasha and Aria walking toward where I’m standing. Jesus, how is it possible my assistant thinks this is a good idea?

“Here she is right now,” Alex says. “I have to give you credit, little brother. She’s a nice piece of ass. Too bad she’s just a copy of that woman you can’t seem to get over.”

And that’s enough to send me over the edge.

Too angry to think straight, I grab my brother by the collar and yank him up out of his chair. A second later, unable to control my rage, I shove him hard, sending him tumbling into the lobby as I follow after him. Alex is bigger than I am, but he spends too much of his time drinking and snorting shit up his nose, so he’s no match for me in the furious state I’m in at this moment.

I hear people murmur around me, which should make me stop, but I can’t. If my father isn’t happy about my behaving like this, then maybe he shouldn’t have brought my dick brother to town. Next time, let’s hope he knows better.

“I’ve had enough of your bullshit, big brother,” I say through gritted teeth as I grab him by the collar again to bring him to his feet.

“Gideon!” my father barks behind me in that tone that says he doesn’t approve of what I’m about to do.

Too fucking bad. This has been far too long in coming. Seeing him with his hands all over Aria this morning just made it inevitable it would happen today.

A single thought of hurting him fills my mind, and a second later, I smash my fist into my brother’s face. He falls to the floor, bleeding all over my fucking marble lobby, but I don’t care if I have to spend millions to have this entire floor redone. Hitting him felt far too fucking good for me to regret anything.

“If you ever come near Aria again, I won’t stop at breaking your goddamned nose. Now get the fuck out of my hotel!”

A hand touches my left arm, and I spin around to see Sasha and Aria standing there looking at me like they can’t believe what just happened. “Gideon, I’m going to take Aria upstairs. Do you need anything?”

Taking a deep breath, I run my hand through my hair as my heart races. “Good. I’ll be up in a little while.”

The two of them hurry off toward the elevator as the crowd of people that had gathered around me and Alex begins to disperse, leaving just my father standing next to me. If he thinks I’m going to apologize, he’s out of his fucking mind. He’s lucky I didn’t do more to my brother.

Next time he pisses me off, I swear I will.

“So much for brotherly love,” he says in a low voice. “I had no idea you resented your brother so much, Gideon.”

Is he really going to make this about me and my problems? Not today.

I turn to face him and shake my head. “You would if you weren’t constantly acting like the sun fucking rises and sets on him and I’m some leftover you get to rely on who never lets you down. Tell Mom I’ll be looking forward to seeing her birthday present. Have a nice flight back.”

My father’s eyes open wide as I say what I’ve wanted to say for years, but he doesn’t respond. As I walk past my brother still sitting on the floor holding his bloody nose, I grimace. “Get up off the fucking floor, Alex. You look pathetic down there, and you’re getting blood all over my marble.”

I head toward the elevator but turn around to make sure he isn’t coming after me because I know my brother. He fights dirty, and I don’t see him letting this little incident go by without him wanting to retaliate. It might not happen right now, but he’ll get me back somehow.

What I’m certain of is he won’t learn a goddamned thing from what just happened. He’ll continue to be the asshole he’s always been.

And Alaric thinks his issues with his brother were bad? I wonder if he ever sucker punched any of his siblings in public before. I’ll have to ask him when he calls after hearing about this, as I’m sure he will since nothing in the Rule family stays secret for long.

By the time I reach the penthouse, my heart has returned to its normal beat, and I’m calm enough to deal with my assistant and the woman’s honor I just defended. The two of them are waiting for me in the living room, and when I walk through the door, Sasha runs up to me, throwing her arms around my shoulders.

“Oh, my God! You finally did it! I couldn’t believe my eyes. You hit him hard enough to make him fall to the floor.”

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