Page 186 of The Revenge Plan (Forbidden Descendants 1)

“What kind of mess did you cause, Henry? Who the hell is pounding on my door?”

He flipped the lock and reached for the door handle.

“No,” Avery and I shouted together.

But Reuben was already bulldozing his way inside, crying, “Avery!”

I leaped forward to intercept him.

“Get out,” I growled, pressing against his chest and propelling him right back from the room. “She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Shut up, Henry. She’s my girlfriend. I’m the one who knows what she wants.”

“Not anymore, you cheating asshole,” Avery spat from behind me. “It’s over.”

“That’s it,” Elliot hollered in confusion, waving Avery toward the exit. “All of you. Out of my room. I’m not some party host.”

Avery stumbled her way out into the hallway with Reuben and me as Elliot snapped his door shut in her face.

So, there the three of us stood: Reuben, Avery, and me.

“Baby, please try to understand,” Reuben pleaded, trying to reach out to her as she cowered on the other side of me. “A guy has needs.”

“Get back.” I shoved him in the chest, making him trip away from us. “I think she’d rather you and your needs go straight to hell.”

“Oh, fuck off, Henry. This is none of your business.”

I stepped toward him. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have upset her into running right into me, because I just made it my business.”

Cracking my knuckles, I smiled wide and hard. “And you know what? Only one thing has held me back from kicking your ass all these years. But it looks as if that one thing is no longer an issue. So…”

I swung at him with everything I had. The crack of my fist against his jaw was the most satisfying sound I’d ever heard. Reuben’s face jerked to the side from the impact. Most satisfying sight too.

He shook his head, dazed, then lifted his hand to his mouth. When his fingers came away red with blood, his murderous gaze lifted to me. “You stupid son of a bitch.”

I curled my fingers at him, taunting, “Bring it.”

He did, charging me straight in the gut. As soon as he plowed his shoulder into my abdomen, stumbling me a step back, he punched me in the side.

Bellowing my anger, I slammed my fist into his temple, and he staggered away unsteadily.

Behind us, Avery shouted, urging us to stop.

With a roar, Reuben charged again. We came together, the impact of fury jarring my teeth in my head. I didn’t feel the pain though; I just felt rage. I punched and punched, and punched, getting the upper hand. When I sent him to his knees, soft fingers wrapped around my arm.

“Enough!” Avery boomed.

I looked back at her, breathing hard. I wanted to kill him; for her, for me, for Kerri, and every person he’d ever used and hurt along the way. I didn’t want to stop hitting him.

But Avery was standing there, looking me directly in the eye as she held out a hand to me. “Come on, Henry,” she said steadily. “Let’s go.”

I didn’t even ask where. I just took her hand, and she ignored her ex-boyfriend as she led me down the hall away from him. We exited the building together and were halfway down the street before she let go of my hand and glanced up at me.

“Thanks for helping me out back there. I didn’t mean for you to get into a punching match with him but… Thanks for having my back.”

I sent her a glance in return. “Thanks for giving me a reason to punch him.”

Her lips quirked up into a half smile, only to grow serious. “But seriously, let me repay you somehow.”

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