Chapter 32
CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO
JULIUS
Call it instinct.
Perception.
Madness.
I should have stopped watching the video surveillance of them, but I couldn’t help it.
One second, Marco wouldn’t shut the fuck up, and the next, I thought I saw Isla’s bright red hair coming out of the bathroom. The camera quickly shifted to her walking down the hallway. Even on the security footage, she was stunning and took my breath away.
I was a lucky bastard.
There I sat, admiring the beauty that was Isla, not paying any mind to what Marco was saying. All of a sudden, Kraven appeared out of nowhere, backing her into what appeared to be a secluded corner. I wondered if he did that for my benefit.
I wasn’t an idiot, walking in on them more times than I cared to remember. Their little private conversations always got to me, but it was what it was…
I don’t think I have to worry, right?
Trust didn’t come easy for me by any means, and if I couldn’t trust my own brother, my own flesh and blood, then who could I trust?
Isla’s my best friend, and the best relationships stem from friendships, right?
The last thing I wanted was to see with my own two eyes what was happening behind my back.
“What the fuck?” I muttered under my breath, standing to get closer to the screen.
“Hmm…” Marco hummed, swiftly gripping my shoulder. “Looks like you might have some competition.”
I was a ticking fucking time bomb about to explode.
“Your brother doesn’t know you’ve been trying to get custody of him, does he?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I didn’t want to get his hopes up.”
The longer I stood there, the more I realized I couldn’t save him. Maybe because he wanted a rival, an enemy to blame. For years, I’d been killing myself to take care of him, to make sure he had a roof over his head and food on the table.
I bent over backward for him anytime he needed me. He never asked. I just did. It was my role as his older brother. I had to protect him. For a long time, until Isla came along, he was my only family. The only person who mattered to me.
But this…
Watching as he hovered above her with no distance between their mouths.
This, I couldn’t forgive.
Forget.
Ignore.
Pretend this wasn’t a betrayal, a slap in my face, the biggest fuck you. This was the line he decided to cross. Out of all the boundaries to burn, this was where I stopped being his shield and started being his threat.
I spent the past ten months since I turned eighteen working behind the scenes with a lawyer, filling out the proper paperwork to prove that our parents couldn’t sign him over to me, and that this needed to be mandated by the state.
I also had to show a stable income for as far back as I could go, but most of my jobs were paid cash under the table.
The only money I had coming in now was from dealing, and although it was thousands at a time, it couldn’t look suspicious, or it’d bring a whole other set of problems, and I’d wind up in jail or worse —prison.
I was no longer a minor, so I’d be tried as an adult.
What was supposed to only be until I turned eighteen became a full-time career, and I had no plans for the future other than dealing drugs.
I was losing myself, and the only grounding I had was in two of the closest people to me, Isla and Kraven.
I didn’t add all my money to the bank to avoid questions about its source. Marco knew someone willing to lie as long as I paid them off, claiming I worked at their auto mechanic shop to prove established employment.
On top of providing a care plan for the future, I was winging every step of the way.
It needed to include expenses, the mortgage I’d been paying for years, and everything in between.
There had to be a paper trail. To make matters worse, I had to get replacements for our birth certificates and Social Security cards, and they had to run background checks on us.
With all our run-ins with the law, it didn’t help my case. Not to mention all our encounters with CPS. Now, with Kraven turning eighteen in a couple of months, all my hard work was pointless. I’d basically been chasing my own ass, and this was just the icing on the cake.
“You do what you need to.” Marco squeezed my shoulder one last time before he let go. “But don’t make a scene in my club.”
I didn’t move.
I was frozen.
Stuck.
Glued to the floor beneath me until I witnessed him backing her up against the wall, hauling her up to straddle his waist. That was all it took for me to snap.
I heard it loud and clear. Something broke inside me, snapping in half like it was nothing more than a twig pretending to be metal.
The crack echoed in my chest, vibrating deep into my core.
It reverberated all around me as I flew through the crowd, feeling like a man running to his own execution. In the end, it didn’t matter what way I decided to go. I was already going to be burned at the stake with no mercy.
I took off from across the dance floor, shoving people out of the way in the path of my own destruction, needing to get to them as fast as possible. Once I could see them right in front of me, his hands moved from her waist up her body.
Why isn’t she fighting him off?
Rage quickly slammed into me as I roughly tore Kraven off her, causing her to squeal from the unexpected jolt. I caught her before she hit the floor. In a heartbeat, I threw his ass out the back door into the alley, trying to respect Marco’s request.
“Julius!” Isla hollered, running behind us.
It was obvious she was overwhelmed by the turn of events. Kraven’s body stumbled out the door, struggling to remain upright, but he managed not to fall.
Her eyes flew from Kraven to me. “It’s not what you think, Julius!”
“It’s never what I think, right?” I roared. “Months of this and how many times have I walked in on something I’m ‘not thinking’?”
“Actually,” Kraven chimed in, regaining his balance, “it’s exactly what you’re thinking.”
Isla glared at Kraven. “Stop it! Don’t do this! He’s your brother!”
“My brother just put me out the door! What loyalty are we pretending we have tonight?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I spewed, disgusted by his response.
“There’s no better time than the present,” Kraven antagonized, leading me on.
“Julius, please… It’s obvious he’s fucked up!” She gestured to him. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
“And what about you?” I countered, fully facing her. “What’s your excuse?”
“I’m as shocked as you are. I wasn’t expecting this! He blindsided me, too.”
In one sudden movement, I shifted her aside and stood up to my brother. This was the first time in all our lives I didn’t give a shit about putting myself before him. He was done being my priority.
From brothers to enemies in a matter of minutes.
The tension was thick and palpable, swarming through the air and hitting us firm and solid. I didn’t expect Kraven to back down. It wasn’t how he was made. Squaring up to me, he cocked his head to the side.
“Julius, please,” Isla begged, grabbing my arm.
Everything happened so fast, yet it still felt like it played out in slow motion.
“Yeah, Julius,” Kraven mocked, smiling like a fool. “Be a good boy like the bitch that you are.”
I jerked my arm out of her grasp.
“Julius, no!” Isla shouted as my fist slammed into Kraven’s jaw, causing his body to whoosh back from the force of my blow.
Kraven tried to catch his balance, stumbling around for a second, while she stared at us with a wide, petrified expression. Not knowing who to focus on more. He caught his bearings, moving around his jaw.
She lunged into action, gripping my arm again. Her attempt at holding me back was pitiful. She was no match against my strength.
“Julius, come on,” she pleaded. “This isn’t the right way! He’s your brother!”
In one stride, Kraven was in my face again, shoving me back.
My head wasn’t just spiraling; it was tossing and turning, barely keeping up with what was occurring. I was tired of all this bullshit and taking matters into my own hands.
Ready to fight for her.
For us.
No matter what, she was mine. Even if I had to prove it to her and my brother.
Man to man, we’d have it out.
Regardless of the outcome.