Page 57 of The Vicious Defender

This isn't the first time I've been this beaten up. I'm not the first person Xander has tried to kill. But it is the first time my own brother has done something so heinous. My hands are bound, my feet are tied together, and they're dragging me across the sand. They're not even trying to be careful.

And I haven't even seen my brother yet.

My brother, the man who used to be the one person in the world who understood me, who I could always rely on. Until now.

The wound on my face is bad, and it's still bleeding. But I can't feel anything, and when I reach up and touch it, there's no pain. The knife that pierced the soft skin under my eye was sharp and clean. Heath pumped me full of drugs before I left to up myadrenaline levels, stop me from feeling the pain of my lost eye. I think he gave me enough morphine to take out a horse.

But I didn't want to be numb. Not then, and not now. I need my wits about me to take down Xander.

When they finally drop me on the floor, I groan. The blood has started to flow from my face again, and the pain is starting to creep in, even through the layers and layers of opiates.

"Fuck," I groan. "Fuck, fuck."

"Brother," comes a voice, a sickeningly familiar voice.

"Xander," I growl. "Show your fucking face."

"No," he says. "I don't think so. Not yet."

His voice booms through the room, so much like mine. I haven't seen my brother in decades, and despite the hatred bubbling under my skin, I can't help but miss him.

"Come out," I demand. "Prove you're not a pussy, hermano."

"You're the pussy, brother," Xander laughs. "How is Tallulah, by the way?"

"Don't mention her," I growl. "Keep her name out of your filthy mouth, you piece of shit."

"That's no way to talk to your younger brother," he laughs.

"You're not my brother. Not anymore."

"No, you're right. I'm not. Now, we're equals."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Look at the two of us," Xander laughs from somewhere above me. "Two brothers, equally damaged."

"I'm nothing like you," I hiss.

"But you are, hermano," Xander laughs. "We're exactly the same."

"We're nothing alike," I hiss.

"We have the same face, brother. The same voice. The same soul. You and me, we're the same. But you just couldn't let me have what was mine, could you? You had to take it from me."

"It wasn't yours," I snap. "It was never yours. They should have picked me. They would have."

"Maybe," his voice says, echoing in the room. "Or maybe not. It doesn't matter, because you fucking tricked them all, didn't you, hermano? You took my place in that family. You were their prodigal son. Tell me, Xavier... did the Gunns even know what you did? Heath's father, his grandfather... Did they know you took my place?"

"Shut up," I hiss. "Just fucking shut up and stop hiding, you goddamn coward."

"You want to see me?"

"If you dare show your face," I snarl.

"Oh, no, I won't," Xander laughs.

"What, are you afraid of your big brother now?"

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