The reaction was immediate.
He got up, his jaw clenched. “How the hell do you know about Rose?”
“The same way I know you took Winter.”
Tanner put up a fist, which Haze easily dodged. He took a swing at him, and Tanner crashed against the wall, his mouth bleeding. Tanner could never get used to his little brother surpassing him over the years.
“So you know, since you’ve taken my girl—which isn’t really nice, by the way—I’ve thought about it and… it’s only fair that I take yours. What do you think?”
Holding his brother up by the grasp he had on his clothes, Haze found himself wondering why he’d been so unlucky in the sibling department.
“I’m going to make a deal with you. Return Winter to me and I’ll leave Rose alone, how about that?”
“You wouldn’t dare touch her. You’re the nice one, brother.” Tanner said, revealing his bloodstained teeth.
“Am I? Because I have people in front of her place right now waiting for my orders.”
Tanner smiled as an answer. Haze groaned, his remaining self-control rapidly leaving him.
“Rose and I are done. I don’t care anymore.”
Haze grunted. “Why the hell are you doing this, Tanner? What do you expect to get out of this?”
“I want my brother back. Not some mushy, whipped, weak version of him.”
“You want your brother back? If you touch as much as a hair on her head, you’ll lose him forever, you hear me? Just return her to me safe and unharmed.”
“Unharmed, huh? I’m afraid it’s a little too late for that.”
Haze’s breath caught in his throat.
“What did you do?”
“Well, she was a problem. And you know what I do with problems…”
He paused.
“I get rid of them.”
The punches Haze had taken at his brother in the past while training had always been somehow restrained. It wasn’t the real thing. But now, as he punched the heartless monster he had the misfortune of calling family, he wasn’t holding back. Not anymore.
The only thing they had in common was blood.
Tanner had made that clear.
“She’s not dead. You’re lying,” he shouted, bombarding Tanner’s face with strikes. “Where is she?”
“I told you, she’s dead. Not before I had something from her of course. She was a piece of work, but the sex was worth it.” Tanner smirked. “You should’ve heard her scream. She just wouldn’t stop, and it turned me on even more.”
Haze felt sick to his stomach. The East Side could hear every hateful word escaping his brother’s mouth.
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this,” Haze muttered under his breath. “Bootylicious!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
The East Side would probably kick the door in at any moment. They’d help him restrain Tanner and force him into revealing Winter’s whereabouts. It couldn’t possibly get any worse.
“You fucking psycho.” Haze rammed his fist into Tanner’s jaw one last time.
When the door was kicked in, a feeling of relief settled over Haze. Will, Kendrick, Blake, and Alex were coming to help him handle Tanner.