Whirling around, he raised his fists and faced his attacker.
Eric.
Anna’s second-oldest brother—and calmest of all the Hamilton men—stood in front of him with murder written all over his face. Brett had been caught red-handed outside their baby sister’s door, so that wasn’t too much of a damned surprise.
“What the hell, man?” Brett snapped.
“You’re coming with me,” Eric spat. He rubbed the spot on his stomach where Brett had slammed his elbow into him, and shot Brett another murderous glance. “Right now.”
Brett crossed his arms. “No, I’m not. Anna’s waiting for me.”
“Over my dead body,” Eric snarled.
“Don’t tempt me.” Brett raised his fists when Eric crept closer. “Just turn around, go back to the party, and pretend you didn’t see me outside her room. For once in your fucking lives, you need to back off.”
Eric crossed his arms, smirking. “Watch out for his elbows.”
And for the second time that night, Brett got taken by surprise.
An unforgiving forearm wrapped around his neck, cutting off his air supply. Brett tried to fight back, but his attacker was too smart to let him get a hit in.
“He won’t get his hands on me,” Wyatt said. “I know all his tricks.”
Eric stepped forward, rubbing his jaw. “You should’ve come when I asked nicely—before Wyatt had to help. At least I didn’t choke you out.”
Wyatt dragged him back through the hallway, only releasing his hold on Brett enough to allow a trickle of oxygen into his starved lungs. Wyatt leaned down and murmured, “I know what you’ve been up to with Anna, but they don’t know it all. You better be careful what you say from here on out. If not, you’ll be crawling out of here on all fours by the time they let you go.”
Brett tried to tell him to piss off, but nothing came out but a squeak.
Wyatt bore down on Brett’s windpipe again, not giving him the chance to reply. Of fucking course. Wyatt stopped walking, Eric opened a bedroom door, and then Brett got shoved inside the room. In the corner, Cole sat on a chair.
The only Hamilton brother missing was Chris.
But if he knew it was going on, he’d have been here, too.
Brett bent over and rested his hands on his knees, taking a second to catch his breath. Once the room stopped spinning, he stood up and glanced around the room, straightening his collar as if he were accustomed to being kidnapped and thrown into rooms. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing how fast his damn heart beat right now.
Cole looked at Wyatt. “I see our suspicions were correct?”
“Yep.” Wyatt shot Brett a warning look. “He was outside her room, but that’s it. Eric got him before he went inside and did any damage.”
“Why were you outside her room?” Cole asked, his jaw tight.
“Her room is across from mine,” Brett said slowly. “Of course I was outside it, dumbass.”
Cole turned red and stood up. “Bullshit. Answer the question.”
“Fuck off,” Brett said. When they all stared at him, he studied his knuckles and forced himself to appear calm and sure of his safety. “Got any other questions?”
“Yeah. I do.” Eric shoved Brett against the wall and pressed his elbow into his chest. “Why were you outside Anna’s room?”
Brett could’ve easily broken his hold, but he didn’t.
Now that he knew what they wanted, he didn’t feel right fighting back, because he’d done what they were pissed about. He’d touched their sister…and he planned on doing so again. He could make up some pathetic lie to cover his tracks, but it wasn’t his style. He’d been caught red-handed, so it was time to confess all.
Brett met Eric’s eyes without flinching. “Because I was about to go inside it. Anna was—is—waiting for me to join her.”
Eric went red in the face, but that was Brett’s only warning before a fist slammed into his stomach. He doubled over, gasping for air.
Shit, that hurt.
He’d known it would be coming eventually, but it still hurt like hell.
The fucker could punch.
“Okay, okay,” he rasped, struggling to catch his breath as he held an arm out in defense. “I deserved that, I guess. But you won’t scare me away from her. I’ll go back to her room as soon as you’re done, and I’ll keep going back, no matter what you do to me.”
“Not if I kill you first,” Eric sneered, lifting his fist again.
Wyatt grabbed Eric and pulled him back. “Dude, calm down. Let him explain himself before you murder him.”