“Oh no?” Marcus’s brother stepped closer, getting in his face. “Sounds like you are.”
Joey’s volume was increasing and the last thing Jamie wanted was Marcus to wake up to a full-on argument between Jamie and his brother. It was growing more and more obvious that Jamie couldn’t salvage this. Joey was angry and caught off-guard and ready to lash out. “If you want to calm down and talk about this, we’ll do it outside, but I’m not going to wake him up yelling about something that should be private,” Jamie said, turning and descending to the first floor. Was he disappointed or relieved when Joey followed, his footsteps thundering on the stairs? He didn’t know. But he would try and make whatever difference he could for Marcus.
As soon as they were outside, Joey caught Jamie’s sleeve and jerked him around. “Look, I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but you’re going to stay away from my brother.”
“You might want to ask him if that’s what he wants first,” Jamie returned, outwardly patient. Inwardly? Not so much. Possessiveness rolled around in his belly like marbles.
No one tells me to stay away from Marcus.
Joey cast a glance toward the building, his mouth opening and closing. “What is this? Some kind of phase or something?”
Anger caused red to trickle into Jamie’s line of sight. “See, that’s the kind of shit you should learn out on your own, before you talk to him.”
Joey bared his teeth and lunged, grabbing the collar of Jamie’s shirt in two hands. “Don’t you tell me how to talk to my own brother.”
“Let go of me,” Jamie gritted out. “And back the fuck up.”
Jamie tried to twist out of Joey’s grip, but the guy held on, giving Jamie no choice but to push him off—and that’s when Joey delivered a right cross to Jamie’s face. It was a hard punch, hard enough that his ears rang, almost drowning out the crunch of his nose’s cartilage. Dizziness hit Jamie and his knees buckled, dropping him to the ground so he could stare at the blood dripping from his face onto the pavement. So much of it.
Jamie laughed.
There was no humor in the sound, only self-disgust and more than a touch of hysteria.
Christ. Here he was again.
Right back where he’d been six years ago, except this time it was a sidewalk, instead of an ocean. “I really thought it was going to be different this time,” he said, almost conversationally to Joey. “That’s the definition of insanity, you know? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”
His heart protested in his chest like a muffled bell. Marcus is different. This is not the same. But staring down at his own blood, Jamie was incapable of listening.
“Look, I-I didn’t mean to hit you man. I just…how’d I miss something like this about my own brother? He’s been lying to me and—”
The sound of tires screeching brought Jamie’s head up and denial reverberated through his veins. How could he have forgotten he’d called his brother to come pick him up?
“Oh God. No, no, no.” A vision of Rory being loaded into the back of a police car rocked Jamie and he staggered to his feet. At the very same time, Rory climbed out of his car where he’d left it haphazardly parked at the curb. “Rory, wait. Rory, stop.”
“Who the fuck is this?” Murder blazed in Rory’s eyes, but Jamie managed to intercept him with both arms around his waist. “Did this piece of shit hit you?”
Jamie’s greatest fear was coming true. He’d done it again. He was going to lose his brother a second time because of his own stupidity. They’d warned him, hadn’t they? He didn’t listen and now the hereditary curse of anger was taking hold inside Rory and when that happened, nothing could block its path. It raged like a wildfire.
Jamie almost flatlined with relief when Andrew climbed out of the car’s passenger side—until Jamie saw his older brother was equally as pissed off as the younger one trying to get free of his grip so he could commit homicide. Olive sat inside the car, too, her eyes wide on Rory’s back. Jiya was also in the backseat, and before Jamie could communicate with the women to stay in the safe car, both of them sprang into action, exiting opposite doors in a scramble of limbs. God, no. No. Everything was spiraling out of Jamie’s control, like a plane crash happening in slow motion.
“Olive, get back in the car, please,” Jamie said through his teeth, holding a struggling Rory around the waist. “I won’t be able to hold him back if that guy says something out of line to you.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got this,” the blonde said breathlessly, taking hold of Rory’s arm and wedging herself in between Jamie and his brother. Without wasting any time, she wrapped herself around Rory, climbing him like a tree and pressing their heads together. “Come back to me,” she whispered against his panting mouth. “Your brother is okay. He’s fine. We’re all fine. Please, you can’t get taken away from me.”