Page 35 of Before We Say I Do

Chapter Ten

Dexter howled as blood poured from his nostrils, the pain unbearable as it was the second time in a matter of months that his nose had been broken. The first time was when Kyle's fist rocked into his face at the house where Dexter held London hostage.

"I trusted you with my family! You were supposed to be my brother! I loved you like you were, and you betray me like this! I'll kill you right now and save the prosecutor the time to put you away for good, bastard!"

Kyle strolled the few steps to the men and grabbed Mr. Jones's arm just as he went to smash his fist in Dexter's nose again. As much as he enjoyed Dexter getting his head knocked off, he'd made Manning a promise. He planned to keep it, no matter how hard it was to do so.

"Let me go, Kyle!"

Kyle clutched his arm a bit tighter, the men eye to eye.

Mr. Jones shook his limb, and Kyle released him the same time Mr. Jones released Dexter.

Again, Dexter dropped to the floor, cowering in a crouch as the agony of sharp pains splintered through his nose.

"Damn it!" Dexter shouted, and Mr. Jones paced around the table.

"I should've seen this coming a mile away!" Mr. Jones fussed. "I don't know how I missed it! I'm such a fuckin’ fool!"

"You missed it because you have a big damn heart!" Dexter screeched.

Mr. Jones stopped pacing, glowering at Dexter. "Excuse the fuck out of me?"

Dexter tried to contain his pain, but he was having a hard time as his head was now aching as well.

"You see the good in everybody." Dexter rushed to catch his breath. "You don't lead with caution. It's just not the person you are. It's not a bad trait to have, and in the beginning, I was sincere about our relationship up until…"

Mr. Jones fisted his fingers, his glower holding steady.

"Until what, motherfucker?"

Dexter spit a wad of blood onto the floor next to him, and Kyle retrieved a tissue from his jacket and handed it to him.

Dexter glared up at Kyle. "You're just now handing me this, and I'm over here leaking all over the place?"

"I could hand you a knuckle sandwich like my father-in-law over here."

Dexter shut his lips, rolled his eyes, then pushed the napkin against his nose. A whimper came from him, and Kyle smirked, satisfied the man was hurt.

"Until I got into gambling. I always thought it was a cliché to actually owe ‘the big guns’ money to the point that they would threaten your life. I found out quickly that that was a lie I'd told myself to keep doing what I was doing. I got so far into debt that I had to start paying them back, and I didn't have the money." He glanced at Kyle, then back to Mr. Jones.

"I had to work it off. Whatever they told me to do."

"So, you were willing to kill people if you were instructed to?"

"It was either them or me. What do you think?"

Kyle shut his eyes and inhaled, then exhaled a deep breath. For an uninterrupted minute of horror, he imaged what would've happened had he not found London in time. When he reopened his eyes, he moved toward Dexter.

"I'm telling you the truth, and that's what you wanted!" Dexter shouted.

Kyle paused, his nostrils flaring as madness radiated through him.

"I wouldn't have done bodily harm to, to…" Dexter stuttered as both men were now in his face. He shut his lips.

"Finish," Mr. Jones growled.

"Not until you two give me some space."

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