Page 160 of Thorns of Malice

He huffs. "Liar! You thought I was so stupid, but for the first time, I pulled one over on you."

The color drains from Dax's face and then it reappears, redder than ever. He steps close to Cooper, takes his fist, and slams it into his face.

"Dax!" I scream in horror.

Blood spurts everywhere. Cooper falls to the floor on his knees. "What the fuck, Dax," he spouts, putting his hand over his mouth and glancing up at him with hatred in his eyes.

Dax lunges at Cooper and punches him again. More blood spatters across the room.

"Dax, stop," I scream, stepping back away from the brawl.

Cooper recovers, flinging himself at Dax, and the two roll on the floor, hitting each other.

I scream several times, "Stop it," and realize they aren't going to. I run to the door and stand in the doorway, screaming, "Help, bring security! Quickly!"

It feels like they take forever.

Dax and Cooper continue to beat on each other while I yell for them to stop. Both men are around the same size, and it's an even match. I'm afraid they're going to kill each other.

By the time security finally comes in, there's blood everywhere. It takes five men to pull Dax and Cooper off each other.

Chad, the head of security, orders, "That's enough!"

Dax swipes blood off his face with his forearm, seething, "Get him out of here."

Cooper barks, "You can't! I have every right to be here."

Dax roars, "I said, get him out of here!"

"Everybody calm down," Chad demands.

"You bastard," Dax snarls at his brother.

"You're just pissed I did it before you could," Cooper claims.

I inhale sharply.

"I'll kill you," Dax threatens.

"Cooper, tell me it's not true," I blurt out, unable to fathom how he could have hurt me so badly. He was still in high school, and I didn't spend much time with him, but he was always kind to me whenever we were together.

The room goes silent.

He slowly turns to look at me. His face is already swelling and bruising. His hands and face are covered in blood. His lip is split and his nose busted. He's almost unrecognizable.

Still shocked, I beg, "Please, tell me I heard wrong and it wasn't you who released that video."

His silence tells me he did it, but there's no remorse in his expression.

My eyes fill with tears. I choke out, "How could you?"

Dax steps next to me and tugs me into him. "Get him the fuck out of our house."

Cooper's eyes light with outrage. "Yourhouse? This isn't her house. And it's mine as much as yours."

"No. He doesn't get to leave yet!" I step closer and jab Cooper in the chest. "Tell me what I ever did to you for you to hate me so much!"

He lifts his chin higher. He glares down at me. "You're so naive, Ivy. I let you escape the game. You should thank me."

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