Page 15 of Ruthless

“Don’t put words in my mouth, Z.” He cocks his head to the side as he continues to watch me. “You’ve been so fucked up in your head that you haven’t seen how miserable she’s been.”

His words hit me straight in the chest. It’s one thing to know I’ve been a dick; it’s another to hear it aloud. Turns out he’s not done reaming my ass out, though.

“Maybe you should have just let her be married off to that prick from Boston instead of being alone and miserable here.”

“What the hell did you just say?” A muscle jerks in my cheek as I suck in a deep breath and do my best not to lose my shit. I’m in no mood for his bullshit right now. I’m feeling shitty enough all on my own. Not to mention the thought of her with anyone else has me ready to commit murder.

“You fucking heard me.” He pushes off the counter and closes the distance between us, getting up in my face. He’s only an inch shorter than me, but that doesn’t mean dick. He gives as good as he gets. Asher and I made damn sure of that growing up. It doesn’t mean I still can’t take his ass down a notch.

“Back the fuck up, Ax.” I drop my arms and press my shoulders back, meeting his gaze head-on.

“No.” He shoves me in the chest so hard that I fall back a step. “Make me.”

“Goddammit, Ax. I’m warning you.” My jaw clenches as I focus on keeping my breathing steady and not beating the shit out of my brother.

“I bet Finn is flying that fucker down from Boston and marrying her off as we speak. You’ll never see them again. He’s gonna be raising your kid and fucking your woman.”

His words are my breaking point.

“That’s it, asshole.” I bend down and tackle him at the waist. We crash onto the floor, wedged inside the small space between the sink and the breakfast nook. Kelsey starts screaming, but whatever she says is drowned out by the noise of us slamming each other against the wooden floor.

Axel manages to land on top and gets a few swings in. He nails me in the side of the head, but I’m too far gone for the pain to register. “If it mattered so much to you, you wouldn’t have been such a pussy about it.”

I put my hands up and block the right hook he tries to sneak in. “Shut the fuck up, Ax.”

“Make me, asshole.” He grips the collar of my shirt tighter and attempts to swing at me again, but I jerk my head out of the way before he can.

I plant my foot against the small space between the edge of the cabinets and the floor for leverage and flip us over, reversing our position. I straddle him and swing my fist, nailing him right in the mouth.

“That all you got. Lily hits harder than that.” He laughs and continues to taunt me as blood drips out the side of his mouth.

“Fuck you.” My fist is cocked back and ready to punch the little shit in the side of the head when I’m ripped off of him and thrown across the room. I stand up, prepared to charge at him again, but Asher jumps in between us. He has one hand pressed up against the center of my chest and the other digging into Axel’s.

“What the fuck are you two dipshits doing?”

“We’re fine.” Axel takes a minute to catch his breath as he wipes away the blood that’s dripping from his bottom lip and smirks at me. “Just helping Z get his shit worked out is all.”

My chest heaves up and down while I do my best to calm my nerves. Everything inside of me is amped up and ready to explode. I should have known what Axel was doing the moment he started in on me. It’s his MO. He’ll continue to push you until you feel backed into a corner and have no choice but to react.

Asher stays right where he is and continues to watch me until I feel my heart rate slowly start to come back to normal. “You good?”

“I’m fine.” I nod and wipe away the blood I feel running down my nose. He must have snuck that hit in when I was flipping us over.

“You want to tell me why I shouldn’t shoot both your asses for fighting in front of my fucking kid?” Asher whips his head back and forth between us, looking ready to rip us apart.

“He started it.” Axel points the finger at me, and it’s like I’m ten years old all over again. Some things never change.

“Grow up, Ax. You’re twenty-seven years old. Start acting like it.” Asher shakes his head at our little brother’s stupidity.

“Me?” Axel points to himself and then to me. “What about him? He’s almost thirty and gonna be a daddy. Daddies don’t fight. They use their words.”

“You’re a fucking idiot.” I shake my head at him as I work my jaw back and forth until it no longer aches.

Axel shrugs. “Don’t be a sore loser ‘cause I kicked your ass.”

“You got lucky.” Fuck, but does he hit much harder than he used to when we were kids.

“Whatever you need to tell yourself to feel better, big brother.” Axel laughs, and just like that, any earlier tension between us dissolves, fading into the distance.

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