I smiled. “Yeah, that’s the problem… we can’t.”
“Why the hell not? We’ll go grab the guys. Hell, we can even grab Serena. God knows she’s been itching for a fight ever since Junior told her she had to start being nicer to people during class—long story—even longer plane ride—she made a professor cry. Come on, let’s go.”
“No, when I say we can’t kill him, I mean we can’t because, shit, I don’t even know how to say this… fuck.” I ran my hands through my hair and tugged. “Something happened to her, man, something… bad. That’s why she’s been different since last Christmas, and because of that, Andrei and Phoenix, they had to honor a blood oath, and it includes her, so no, we can’t kill him because killing him would mean war.”
Ash paled a bit, then crossed his arms over his chest. His black shirt pulled tight enough that I knew he’d been trying to suppress all his sadness in the weight room for the last two weeks, which only meant he’d gotten more lethal and less emotionally stable.
That made two of us.
“Who else knows about this?” he finally asked. I could tell he was trying to calculate his next move—our next move. But he didn’t know. We were already out of time.
At least I was.
“Me.” I licked my lips. “Violet, obviously. And them.”
“We can fix this.” He looked away. “I know we can.”
“No, we can’t—”
His fist came flying out of nowhere, sending me stumbling into the sand. Another fist hit my stomach.
I shoved him off me and jumped up. “What the hell, Ash!”
“That’s for sleeping with my sister!”
“I didn’t even confirm it!”
“You didn’t deny it either!” He tried hitting me again.
I ducked.
And then we were in an all-out war.
Him, because he needed someone to hit, and he couldn’t hit the guy married to Violet.
Me, because I couldn’t do anything to stop the tidal wave.
And then him again because you can’t keep sadness locked away forever, it’s bound to trickle out, demanding to be experienced, demanding to be acknowledged, and Ash hadn’t done that.
For the record, neither had I.
So that left us with anger.
Anger was so much easier.
I kicked him in the stomach, sending him sailing back, and grinned when he nearly hit his head on the park bench. “Losing your touch, Ash?”
“Son of a bitch that hurt, you never used to know how to—” His eyes narrowed. “Breaker, where did you learn how to fight like that?”
“Like what?” Anger coursed through my veins. I seethed with the need to see him bleed. It felt good to feel, so damn good. “Like this?” I came at him again, and he managed to block my next few blows.
He spat out blood and tackled me to the ground. I threw him off me with another kick and then winked. “I’m just getting started.”
He wiped the blood from his mouth and then made a face. “Yeah, maybe we should finish this at the house before we end up on the news.”
Several people were standing on the boardwalk, mouths gaping, eyes wide with shock, phones filming every little thing we did.
My white shirt was torn on the sleeve, and blood trickled from my mouth, probably not the time to call out, Don’t panic, we do this all the time. Oh, and PS, I fucked his sister, so… carry on!
Ash gave me one more shove. “This isn’t done. We’re sparring at home; I’ve never lost a fight to you, not about to start now. Oh also, you slept with my sister. I’m driving.”
“Shit, how long are you going to hold this over my head?”
He shot me a bloody grin. “Oh, probably forever.”
He wasn’t lying.
We stopped by the grocery store.
I paid because I had slept with his sister.
And at Starbucks? I swiped my card because, again, I’d slept with his sister.
When we got back to the house, I wasn’t allowed to bandage up because… exactly, I had slept with his sister.
“FAMILY MEETING!” Ash roared once we made it back.
I groaned into my hands.
“No Advil for you.” He jabbed a finger in my direction. “Because you—”
“SLEPT WITH YOUR SISTER. I KNOW!” I roared just as everyone came trickling into the living room.
Junior and Serena high fived.
While King gave me a stunned look that silently told me, That was a horrible idea, do you know how violent Ash is right now?
I held out my bloody hands; CLEARLY, message received.
A fruit roll-up fell from Maksim’s mouth as he grinned. “You must have balls of steel to think that was a good idea. So, when’s he killing you? I don’t want to miss it, and we’re out of popcorn.”
“I second this.” Izzy smiled. “And then it’s my turn. How dare you break her heart!”
Oh, innocent little Izzy.
I tilted my head to the side. “For the record, she seduced me.”
Ash growled.