Chapter 51
ROWAN
Song- Eternity, Xstitch, Dekerakt
As soon as Reggie steps foot next to me, I square up to him.
“What the fuck was that, Reggie?” I growl.
He doesn’t look up right away, just downs another shot like it’s water. “What’s it look like? I handled it.”
“You handled it?” I take a step closer. “You just chose another woman over your own. The hell are you doing? And what the fuck were you thinking having Lyla in a private room?”
He finally looks at me, calm in that dangerous way he gets right before he explodes. “I was protecting you, like always.”
“Protecting me?” I laugh, sharp and humorless. “From what? That wasn’t protection, that was you making our girl cry. Again.”
Our girl. It comes out so naturally. This isn’t about her being one of ours. No. I’m pissed at the fact he upset Bella.
His jaw ticks. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I do.” I shove his shoulder, hard. “You’re hiding something. I can smell it on you. What did Lyla say? I know you have no feelings for her, so what? Why were you even here?”
He exhales through his nose. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Bullshit.”
The fact he’s lying to me, protecting me in some way, is winding me up.
He slams his glass onto the bar, the crack echoing off the marble. “I said it doesn’t matter, Rowan!”
“Of course it does!” I snap back. “Because every time you get involved, Bella ends up upset. You keep hurting her and pretending you’re doing it for some noble reason, when really, you just can’t stand the thought of her choosing anyone else.
Yet, by stopping her from hitting Lyla, you chose against her. ”
He stops, taking a deep breath, his eyes darkening. There’s only one reason I can think of he’d do something so fucking stupid.
“Did you fuck Lyla to try and stop your feelings for Bella? Is that it? You thought you could sabotage everything? Make Bella’s choice easier; sacrifice yourself so she and I can be happy?”
I know he would. That is who he is.
That does it.
His fist connects with my jaw before I can blink.
Pain explodes down my neck, but it’s not enough to make me step back.
I grin, blood in my mouth. “Finally, some honesty.”
Then I swing.
The impact sends him staggering into the wall, the sound of cracking plaster swallowed by the bass thundering from the main floor.
He lunges again, tackling me into a table. We crash through it.
He grabs my collar, snarling, “You think you’re better than me, huh? That you deserve her?”
I shove him off, both of us panting, wild. “No. I think I’m the one who doesn’t keep breaking her just to see if she’ll crawl back.”
His eyes flash, pure fury. “You don’t know what love costs.”
“And you don’t know what it is!” I roar, driving my shoulder into him. We hit the ground hard. I taste copper and whiskey and regret.
He swings again, fist glancing my temple. I hit back, catching his ribs. It’s fast, vicious, a storm we both needed to unleash.
Until a voice cuts through everything.
“Enough.”
Conan.
He wades through the crowd, grabbing us each by the back of the neck and slamming us apart like we’re fucking kids.
“Are you two out of your goddamn minds?” he growls, shoving Reggie into a wall and me into a chair. “You two are here like thugs while your girl is in tears.”
Neither of us answers. The silence hums with blood and pride and something that feels too much like heartbreak.
Conan glances between us. “You’re brothers. Start acting like it. Or I’ll break both your jaws myself.”
Reggie wipes his mouth, still breathing hard. “Stay out of it, Con.”
“Try me.” Conan’s glare could burn. “Now one of you is going upstairs. The other stays the hell away from Bella until you can breathe without swinging.”
Reggie laughs quietly, bitter. “Guess that means I’m leaving.”
“No,” I tell him. “We’re better than this.”
Conan turns to me. “You good?”
I shake my head, spitting blood onto the floor. “No. But I will be.”
Because right now, I don’t know which hurts worse, his fist or the fact that he’s right about one thing.
Love does cost.
And we’re all running out of money here.
Conan’s grip loosens. “You two are done. Before this turns into something none of you can take back.”
Reggie straightens, blood at the corner of his mouth, chest heaving. He glares at me like he’s still deciding whether to swing again.
And then I see her.
Bella.
She’s standing just beyond the crowd, eyes wide, hand pressed to her chest. Her expression isn’t shock, it’s heartbreak.
Like she’s watching two men she cares about destroy themselves just to prove a point.
Her gaze flicks between us, trembling, searching for something—reason, forgiveness, anything—and finding none of it.
“Bella…” I whisper, stepping forward, but she shakes her head.
The look she gives me guts me worse than any punch.
She’s crying but quiet about it. The kind of crying that comes from deep, bone-level disappointment.
Reggie turns, follows my stare, and sees her too.
And in that moment, something breaks in him. I can see it, the exact second he realizes he’s been fighting for her the wrong way.
We both have.
He wipes his mouth, staring at her, then back at me.
“This is what we do,” he says, voice rough. “We wreck everything we touch.”
“Reggie—”
He cuts me off, shaking his head. “No. I’m done.”
The words hit like a gut punch. Not just for me but for her too.
Bella takes a small step toward him. “Reggie, please don’t—”
He forces a smile, but it’s broken at the edges. “You deserve better than this, Princess. Better than me.”
“Reggie—” I start again, but he doesn’t look back.
He just turns and walks through the doors, past the crowd, into the shadows of Inferno.
And all I can do is watch him go.
Because for the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like the reckless one.
I feel like the asshole who helped push his brother away.
Bella’s still staring at the door, tears streaking her cheeks.
When her eyes finally meet mine, they’re full of something worse than anger. It’s loss.
I move toward her, but she steps back.
And in that moment, standing in the wreckage of everything we swore we wouldn’t become, I know it’s too late to fix any of it.
Because Reggie was right.
We ruin everything we touch.
And this time, we might have just ruined her too. But I saw something in my brother that I’ve never witnessed before.
Heartbreak.
I can’t be the one to do that to him. But he has some fucking explaining to do.
And right now, we all need to cool off.