61. CHAPTER 61 #3
“I know how hard you'd be to kill.” Zayne still imagined doing it, even though he hadn't brought himself to inflict that serious wound when they fought. “Answer my question.”
“It's hard to say. The idea came up over a game of chess in his office.”
Zayne savored the thought of hurting him. “Are you satisfied with your results?”
“The Phaedra certainly is. He was pleased to see you take the opportunity to bond your prisoner to you.” Luke's eyes bored into Zayne's. “But I know you, brother. I know the weakness in your spirit.”
Zayne lowered himself into the chair in front of Luke's desk, holding his stare. “Because you're always watching.”
A snarl. “I'm always watching.”
“Too bad you weren't always watching Mom.” He hardened his heart against the agony of uttering such words. “She might be alive if you didn't waste your time on me.”
The hints of life in Luke's eyes faded just like watching a man die.
One heartbeat.
Two.
Three.
Zayne felt each distinctly.
And then faster than he ever saw Luke move, his brother flipped his entire desk and shoved it at him. Office equipment flew through the air.
He jumped back out of the chair, narrowly avoiding the heavy wooden projectile.
His brother barreled for him, and Zayne let him throw him back onto the table. Pain jolted through his wound, but it felt so much better than the grief tearing him apart.
Locking an arm around Luke's neck, he forced the man down with him, so his body blocked Zayne from any camera. As the other man reared back to punch with his good arm, Zayne slammed his fist directly into Luke's wound.
A shocked, choked gasp.
Zayne beat the same spot again before Luke could react. Clutched the back of his neck again and ripped his brother down to his mouth. “Keep your fucking hands off Kira.”
Luke struggled for breath, his body rigid with pain.
“So… you can… play the game.” Luke pushed himself up and stumbled away from him, gripping his injured arm. He doubled over. “Did… she… tell you?”
“What?”
“I gave her pure PXI…” He struggled for breath, sneering despite the pain lining his expression. “And listened to her scream.”
His body knew the agony that seared every nerve ending so well that he felt it again.
The horror of Kira experiencing that snapped something in him.
He didn't even know he was lunging for Luke until he nearly impaled himself on the end of a knife.
It was almost worth it to reach his brother and cave his face in.
“You drew my blood,” Luke said. “I'll draw yours if you come at me again.”
No wonder Kira looked so pained. She'd still feel the effects of the PXI now. Just standing outside with Zayne would have exhausted her. She'd hidden just how miserable she felt.
He should have punched Luke's stab wound a third time.
“You know how PXI feels,” Zayne said. “You're not this cruel. Why did you do it? I know you didn't enjoy hurting her.”
“You're right, I didn't enjoy hurting her.” Luke's nostrils flared. “I just enjoyed the look in your eyes when I told you.”
His muscles wound tighter.
“Now I keep wondering. What about your fiancée?”
The words curled around Zayne's chest in a menacing grip, daring him to prove to Luke that he really had lost control.
“Do you care about my hands on her?” Pain filled his brother's eyes, but Luke had said it anyway. “Or is it only Kira I'm not allowed to touch?”
Zayne slinked a step toward him. “You're goading me about Nadia.” What his brother did to him, what the woman he once loved did, was an unbearable pain.
He never thought Luke would throw that in his face.
It ripped at the scar he liked to believe was no longer there.
But Zayne never thought he'd be able to use their dead mom against Luke either.
“We're even now for what I said. You only get this one hit.”
Luke's gaze didn't shift. “I know you didn't mean what you said, but I meant this.”
He scoffed. “Have you ever once in your life cared about me as your brother?”
“I have cared about you every day of your life. I beat you into the ground to stop you from becoming who you are. You just won't listen.”
“You sound like Father. He passed this onto us, didn't he? I'll save you by hurting you. I hope you don't give this to your girls.”
“I would never hurt them.”
“We all hurt the people we love. You really believe you've been a good big brother, don't you? So far, you've been a good dad. They'll get older, though, and harder to control.”
“I don't need parenting advice from you. Didn't you come here to find an excuse to fight me?”
“It wasn't satisfying.” Zayne rubbed the ache in his chest. “Turns out I never wanted to fight you.”
Luke's jaw tightened. “I never wanted to fight you either.”
“But here we are.” Zayne watched Luke for several seconds.
He wasn't sure what he hoped to accomplish. Maybe just that he needed to show Luke he would fight back, even with the Phaedra watching. In the end, this proved nothing, except what Kira meant to him.
And Zayne wasn't sure if that was a warning shot to deter his brother, or an invitation to war.