Chapter 8 #2
Michael just shook his head, still giggling.
“You think you can tell me what to do? A bitch thinking she can tell me what to do? You know nothing, just like you, Ryan. Little fucking Jon Snow who knows nothing but is apparently good with his tongue. Because the only way you can get her is by using that mouth of yours. I bet that beard feels good between your thighs, doesn’t it, little bitch? ”
Ryan took a step forward and grabbed his brother by his leather jacket. “I need you to fucking leave.”
“I don’t think so.” Then Michael wiggled away, smashing his elbow into Ryan’s gut.
Ryan hadn’t been expecting that, and sucked in a breath as he tried to grab his brother.
But Michael ducked and threw out his hands, knocking over a display of teapots before he did it again to a shelf of canisters.
“What the fuck are you doing? Get out of here. Stop it.” Ryan shouted the words and tackled his brother to the floor, knocking over another set of teapots in the process.
He had his brother on the floor but looked over at Abby, who had her phone to her ear, probably talking with the police.
She was pale and not saying a word to him, just telling whoever was on the other end to come over.
The fight must have been loud—though Ryan couldn’t hear anything over the pounding of the blood in his ears—because the Montgomerys were soon over at the store, ready to help out.
Mace had Adrienne behind him even as she tried to push through, probably trying to see what the fuck was going on just like the rest of them.
“Mace, let me in. I need to make sure Abby’s okay.”
Landon pushed his way through, his shirt off even in the cold, new ink on his shoulder.
Ryan had forgotten that Mace was working on Landon’s tattoo today, meaning the whole merry bunch was there, even Dimitri and Thea, who apparently had been at the bakery.
As each person looked at Michael, they paused, glancing between Ryan and his twin.
It wasn’t every day that his friends saw a distorted mirror image of someone they knew.
Everyone was front and center to see his fucking drug-addicted brother lying on the ground, everything torn, shattered, and broken around them.
And Abby looking at Ryan as if she had seen a ghost.
Or maybe as if he were beneath her.
And that would be true.
Because without Ryan being there, Michael probably wouldn’t have come into the shop at all.
If Ryan had been faster or smarter, he would have gotten Michael out of there before he destroyed anything. Instead, all Abby’s newest and most expensive displays were ruined, and it was his damn fault.
“The cops on their way?” Ryan asked as Mace and Landon and Dimitri all circled him. Thea and Adrienne went over to Abby, holding her close and whispering to her. They were probably making sure that she was all right and telling her that everything would be okay.
And it was going to be okay.
As long as he had nothing to do with her. As long as he walked away and made sure that she would always be fine, that this would never happen again, she would be okay.
“I called the police,” Abby said, her voice wooden. “They’re on their way. If you would just keep him here…”
“What the fuck is going on?” Mace asked, anger in his voice.
“Meet my brother, Michael.”
“You’re going to pay for this. No one fucks with me.” Michael shook under Ryan’s hold, and the other guys in the room came closer, ready to help.
“Shut up.” Ryan put his hand on the back of Michael’s head and pushed it to the floor. Maybe he would have tried to be a better brother and not hurt Michael, but he was so fucking tired. So fucking tired of all of this.
Why couldn’t his brother just leave him alone? The more Ryan had helped in the past, the worse Michael got. So Ryan had stopped. He had pushed his brother away, just hoping that Michael would be able to find peace.
Ryan had never looked for his own. He had thrown himself into his work and tried not to make others care about what was wrong with him or worry about what he needed. Then he made a mistake. A big fucking error when it came to Abby.
He deserved anything he got.
But Abby didn’t.
“Well, damn,” Dimitri said, his voice low. The guys knew about his brother, at least some of the details. It was hard to have drinks and wings twice a week for over a year and not share at least some things about yourself.
They had wanted to know about Ryan’s life, and he had mentioned Michael. And that meant the guys’ women probably knew about Michael, too.
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking at Abby. She just gave him a tight nod, and he knew that this was the beginning of the end. He’d fucked up. Then again, that’s what his family did.
“Let me help clean up,” Adrienne said and then stopped herself midstride. “No, I guess the police need to see this, don’t they? Ryan, do you have him? Should the guys be helping you?”
“We’ve got it,” Mace growled, and soon, all four men were helping keep Michael down, their eyes on the women in the room since the aggression in the air intensified with each passing moment. It only calmed slightly when the police arrived.
All of them talked with the cops and gave statements as the authorities pulled Michael out of the way, taking in the scene and doing their job.
Ryan had a feeling that this wouldn’t be the end of it.
Jail time, and a little slap on the wrist for destruction of property and threatening wasn’t going to stop Michael. It never did.
Ryan couldn’t look at Abby. He was afraid that if he did, he’d see the disgust in her expression, the hurt.
He was so fucking embarrassed. So fucking ashamed.
It was one thing to say that, yes, he had a brother who was a drug addict, it was another when he showed up in your life and screwed everything up.
It was yet another thing when he was suddenly there in your face, screaming and saying crude things that no one should ever say or have to hear.
It was still more when that person came in and destroyed the things that you loved.
Ryan knew that Abby was doing well in her shop, but it was still early enough that he was afraid that if insurance didn’t cover what had happened, she would lose everything. Well, he wasn’t going to allow that to happen. At least he would do his best to never let that happen.
As the police took Michael close to the door, his brother looked Ryan in the eye. “You’re a fucking betrayer. Look what you did to me. Look what you left me with. You think you deserve this life? You’re nothing. One wrong move, and you’re right beside me. Needle or not.”
The police pulled Michael out of the building, out of everything that Abby had worked so hard for.
And Ryan just stood there, his fists at his sides, a small cut on his hand from one of the teapots that had shattered on the floor.
He didn’t know when he’d gotten cut, but it had probably happened when he knocked Michael down.
The cut shed a single droplet of blood on Abby’s floor, and he noticed the way the others looked down at it—most likely looked down on him.
“Okay, let me help you clean up now, they took photos,” Adrienne said, her voice soft.
“Let’s just leave it for now, close up for the night. Maybe go get some coffee?” Abby’s voice started to break, and everyone looked at Ryan as if it was his job to go over and hold her. As much as he wanted to do that, that wasn’t him anymore. He couldn’t hold her. He didn’t have the right.
He knew he had been falling for her already—falling for her smile, for everything about her. And he knew that if he stayed, he’d hurt her even more than just this night had.
So he glanced at her, looked at the wideness of her eyes, the paleness of her face. It would be forever etched on his mind. And then he looked at the door. “I’ll help clean up tomorrow. But I can’t do this. I need to go. I’m done.”
Nobody said a word, but Abby moved forward. She put a hand on his arm, but he didn’t look down at her. As much as he wanted to, he didn’t turn her way. Because if he did, he’d break down, and he’d want to stay. And if he stayed, he’d hurt her.
“I’ve got to go. I’ll pay for it. But I’ve got to go.”
He paused. “I’m sorry.” He let out a breath. “But I’m done.”
And then he walked out, leaving a mess behind him like he always did when it came to his brother.
Maybe Michael was right, maybe Ryan wasn’t so different, after all.
Ryan would help clean it up, and then he’d walk away. Find a new life…a new something. Because he couldn’t stay. He couldn’t even look at Abby.
Because he’d break.
Break more than he already was.