Shit.
Danny looks pissed. His blue eyes darken, with a pointed chin, and I feel like something terrible is about to happen. He rolls up one of his sleeves, slowly.
Kane looks guilty, but not enough to apologize or cower away.
Danny watches Kane wipe away my lipstick from his mouth.
“Danny…” I plead, stepping away from Kane before he makes any irrational decisions. I’m looking at the two men I care about so deeply, and still, I feel like I need to run away from the storm that’s about to unfold. I can’t even walk straight right now.
“Grim, it’s no secret that I’ve always cared about her. She loves me, too.”
Why is he speaking for me?
I turn to Danny, taking another step back until my ass collides with a railing. “That’s not it at all—” Danny hushes me by raising his hand, with a glare of hurt. Still, he hasn’t said anything, but he doesn’t have to. I know what must be going through his head.
Danny rubs his beard, smirking devilishly.
“You’re right, Kane. I did always know you cared about her. What I didn’t know was how eager you are to die.”
“Fuck this. I’m done hiding my feelings for her. She needs a man that’s always going to be there for her. She needs stability, and you’re always gone. I’m getting out soon.”
“Don’t talk about my girl like you know her.” He snarls.
My girl.
“I knew her first. I think I know her better than you,” Kane retorts.
Danny lets out a roar of sarcastic laughter.
“You know her, Kane? Do you really?” His smile curves on his thrilling face cruelly. Smirking like a devil.
He gets closer to Kane and they size each other up. Still, Danny is slightly taller.
He stops in front of Kane, grinning villainously. Danny looks down at him. He scoffs before he tells him with a vindictive, possessive tone, “Do you know whose name she screams when she comes?”
Oh shit.
Kane clenches his teeth hard. His dark blue eyes almost beamed black. I’ve never seen Kane like this.
“For now,” Kane spits his words with fire.
Oh no.
Kane clenches his fist, and I just know they’re going to kill each other. The door to the ballroom storms open and three men in their dress uniform stalk fast.
“That’s enough! Walk away from each other,” Rooker demands from a few feet away, with Lopez and a new guy I’ve never seen before next to him. He wears a black mask and pulls out a bullet from his hand, twirling it.
“What, Danny? If you can make her bleed, then so can I,” Kane tests him further.
He did not just say that.
I shake my head disapprovingly and palm my mouth to stop the gasp from escaping.
This. Is. Bad.
A fast, strong punch sends Kane to the floor, and he hisses from the pain and anger. He rubs his nose before spitting out blood. He’s on his knees, with one hand on the ground supporting his weight. He laughs wickedly, amused, and then charges Danny, pushing off the floor fast, and I feel my whole body grow even colder watching the two men I care about sincerely fight like this. I start shaking from fear. Every bit of me is stunned, and I can’t look away.
Kane tries to push him against the wall, but Danny stands his ground, his feet rooted deep on the floor as if they were cemented and unwavering. Rooker shakes his head, disappointed. He’s hesitant to step in, like he’s afraid he’ll be the one next on the floor fighting them both.
Kane swings at Danny, clocking him in the jaw, but Danny doesn’t swing back; instead, he finishes the fight.
They’re going to kill each other.
Suddenly, faster than I can blink, Danny grabs Kane by the arm, lifting him off the ground and into the air, sending his body flying over his shoulder before he slams Kane to the floor, making him land on his back hard.
Kane groans from the collision, moving slowly, and I cover my eyes.
This isn’t happening. Maybe I’m just really drunk. Maybe I’m just seeing things.
So I blink, once…twice…but nope, they’re still there. Both of them cross lines that will never again be mended.
Their brotherly friendship is wilted over, with no recovery in sight. The air we’re all breathing feels like there’s no more because it was all sucked away from their fighting and built-up feud.
Danny doesn’t let Kane take a breather. He grabs Kane by his collar and stands him up, forcing him on his feet as Kane struggles to take in air. Danny swings at his face, making Kane’s back stumble to the railing. He’s a beast that’s been awakened, and nothing and no one will be able to stop him…not even me.
“Danny, stop!” I plead. He’s going to kill Kane. He ignores me, and he continues to punch Kane in the face with fury. His knuckles are coated with Kane’s blood, and I wince. His lips are cut open, and his nose rains down red.
A deep chuckle of laughter distracts me for a split second, and I narrow my eyes at the masked man in the corner. He’s tall, just like Danny. He has the same build as him, too, but I can tell he has dark hair with the lightest gray eyes I’ve ever seen. Scars on one eye. They start above one brow, like slashes, and go underneath his eye. He looks at me while crossing his arms over his chest and winks.
He thinks this is entertaining.
I shake my head at him disapprovingly. Kane doesn’t get a chance to defend himself. Danny won’t let it happen. Kane looks disoriented with every blow to his face. Danny won’t stop, and I’m terrified of the outcome if someone doesn’t step in.
Red…so much red. Kane might go unconscious.
Finally, Lopez and Rooker move.
Rooker immediately swings into action, getting between the two, his hands holding Danny back from further hurting Kane.
“That’s enough. You guys are going to kill each other! This is fucked.” He snarls at both of them.
“Motherfucker. We’re done,” Danny yells, rubbing his jaw and pushing Rooker’s hand away from his chest, violently.
“Yeah, we are done! But I’ll never be done with her.” Kane holds onto the railing, readjusting his posture with a bleeding nose, breathing hard. “Tell him, Ari. Tell him that you love me. Tell him about last night.”
My mouth pops open, glaring at him.
What does he want me to say? Nothing happened. We had a movie night as friends. It was innocent despite his confessions to me.
I never did anything to hurt Danny. I would never hurt Danny after everything that we’ve been through.
Kane has always been there for me since the day Paul died. The least I could do for him is be the ears to listen.
“Kane,” I hiss, stuttering drunkenly over my words. My hands turn into fists, and I’m burning with frustration. I will not get into the middle of this. I refuse to be in their feud. I care about them deeply at the end of the day, both in different ways, but right now?
I choose myself.
Plus, I’m just too drunk for this. The world is spinning. I see about four Kanes and Dannys. I think it’s best for me to slap them both and leave them here to deal with their own turmoil.
“I’ll always love her,” Kane shouts, and Danny takes another step forward, pissed off, like a bull, as if he’s about to make him pay for saying he loves me.
I can’t watch these two men fight it out all night.
“S-stop it…b-both of you! I’m going home alone,” I shout, and every one of them looks at the shortest girl on the porch. I slur every single word out very slowly. The mysterious man with the mask chuckles darkly. I’m walking away like everything is in slow motion, and I’m going to regret drinking so many fucking Sangrias too fast.
Rooker raises his eyebrows when he hears my tone. This is the most out-of-character thing about me that I’ve ever done. He looks like he’s impressed that such a loud voice can come from a small pair of lungs.
“The hell you are,” Danny snarls as he strides toward me. Every step that he takes makes my eyes widen.
Uh-oh.
He grabs me like a doll and picks me up, throwing me over his shoulder before I can get away from them. His hands immediately protect my dress from going all the way up, and he pins me with his forearm, cupping my ass.
I thrash, but it’s useless against his strong hold.
I look up through my hair, the strands covering most of my blurred vision, and the last thing I see is Kane trying to follow, but Rooker and Lopez push him back.
