Damion’s eyes flare with the look of the devil, his face stern, stripped of any emotion.
Standing as if on the sideline are Axel, Deimos, and Uncle John – the latter looking uneasy and a little hurt.
I want to explain. I need them to understand that it’s my life and they don’t have any say in who I date. I take a brave step forward.
Strong arms circle around my body, pulling me into a tight grip. I jolt and open my mouth to scream, but a hand covers it before any sound escapes.
“Shush!” a whisper in my ear and I relax immediately. It’s Alejandro. I’m not sure why he’s here, but I’m very thankful for his embrace right now else I might fall into a puddle of goo – my knees weak and wobbly.
“You fucking broke your rules!” Logan is still on the warpath. I guess because it’s his best friend … and he’s the most emotional on a good day. Which this is not.
“It’s my rules. I can break them.” Damion counteracts, not taking his eyes off his best friend.
“Fuck you,” Jackson says in a calm collected manner. “You promised not to fuck around with her.” I gulp as his hands clench into fists. Damion gets his body ready for what might come.
“And I’m keeping that promise.” At that Jackson tilts his head to the side and glowers at Damion with cold eyes.
“I’m very serious and sincere with her. I’m not fucking around.” His chest moves up and down as his breathing increases.
“It’s not as if I CHOSE to fall for her -” he tries to explain, hoping they would understand. But since they know nothing about true love, I’m not expecting much understanding from them. “But I did. A long time ago. And because of you, I never did anything about it until now.” There is a long cramped and uncomfortable silence.
“You’re right … we can’t choose who we fall in love with,” Ilkay says, being the most logical-headed one of the bunch. “But why didn’t you tell us you planned to move in on our sister? Instead, we heard it on the news.”
“I was going to tell you. We just wanted to work things out for ourselves first,” he tells the truth hoping it’s the best action in this situation. I’m hoping it too. “Without pressure.”
“Leave … my … sister … alone … ” Logan says, his eyes bulging with rage. After each word, he slams his hands on Damion’s chest. But Damion doesn’t shy away, it’s as if he’s intentionally waiting for his punishment and then Logan aims for the face while yelling “ASSHOLE!”
His fist hits the bridge of Damion’s nose and blood splatters all over the ground. Damion doesn’t flinch or even try to avoid it. My body contracts and D-boy’s grip around me tightens as he holds me in place.
“Don’t,” he whispers, “It’s between them.”
I put my own hand over my mouth this time to keep myself from yelling. Haley’s eyes grow wide … she grabs onto my arm and I’m not sure who’s holding who up at this very moment.
“Feel better now?” Damion wipes his nose and glares at this friend.
“No!” Logan throws another punch, hitting Damion’s jaw, and Damion recoils with a wince. In retaliation, he strikes his friend in the stomach, moving forward to land another blow on Logan’s face, but he hesitates and hits the pillar behind my brother instead. Logan doesn’t even blink. There’s something seriously wrong with these guys, as if they welcome trouble with open arms, loving it.
“We’re done now,” Damion finishes, offering a hand to his friend, but Logan refuses. He folds his arms across his chest.
“Oh, we haven’t even started, little bro,” Jackson smirks like Heath fucking Ledger and chills run down my body.
“You have no right to nail my little sister! Fuck you!” Logan looks like someone just turned his cock into a knot.
“Well, to tell you guys the truth, we’re taking things slow … we’ve just kissed so far … I haven’t nailed her … or fucked her … or done anything else … yet,” Damion smiles as if he just won the lottery while I wonder why the stupid ass had to add that last devastating word.
“Fuck! You better keep yourself out of her pants.” Enrique sneers while Jackson seems a little more agitated than moments before, but that Joker smile is still on his face, his blue orbs stormy.
“How long has this been going on?” Enrique puts a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder, squeezing it as if calming him down. For once, he has the same look in his eyes as Jackson. What are they planning?
“Well, I’ve liked her for years now, but I never acted upon my feelings until she came back from her trip. I know all of you are shocked and probably angry, but you have no right to dictate who we can or cannot date. Mel is officially my girlfriend now, and you better deal with it.” Damion rubs his sleeve under his nose, covering it with blood.
“I’m sorry you had to find out this way, and I probably should have told you earlier, but we needed some time to ourselves … before involving the family and press. Last night was our first real date.” He runs his fingers through his hair and then gapes at Logan.
Ilkay steps forward … the four of them cornering Damion against the wall, like predators ready for the kill. Except maybe for Logan, they seem calm and collected … too calm and collected, and my gut tells me the eye of the storm is about to hit.
“I can promise you guys, I’m really not fucking around with your sister.”
He turns towards Uncle John, scratching the back of his neck. He’s feeling self-conscious.
“Eh, uncle … I just … ” This time Damion looks at the ground and I notice a redness spreading over his face. Is thee Damion Grimm blushing? This must be a first. Something to write down in the history books.
But before he can say anything else, my brothers grab him, pushing him to the ground.
I try to move forward again … but Alejandro holds me back.
“Don’t,” his only word. Jackson pins my boyfriend down with his knee, while Enrique ties his arms with some zip ties. Damion struggles but it’s no use. Ilkay puts a bag over his head.
“Okay, that’s my cue,” Alejandro whispers, “don’t do anything stupid, just stay here with your mom-in-law … they will hurt him a little, but he’ll survive. I’ll make sure of that.” Alejandro lets me go. The boys drag Damion to his feet and start pushing him to the door.
“Stop!” Damion shouts, “I just need to talk to Uncle John first.”
Jackson looks at his brothers and they nod. He turns Damion to face our uncle but doesn’t remove the bag.
“Go on,” he says then.
“I know you probably don’t approve of us dating, me having a bad reputation and everything, but I would like to earn your blessing in the future, Uncle John.” Our uncle stares at him for a long time, as if measuring him up to see if he’s good enough.
“You are not at all what I had in mind for Mel,” he says his voice sounding strained, “but I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“Huh?” The boys all seem confused.
“You don’t think I don’t know that you both have been secretly crushing on each other for years. I’m old, not blind. But please, son, take things slow.”
Now my uncle glares at my brothers, “And it’s Mel’s choice who she wants to be with.” They all pull some sour faces, looking up into the air.
“We know,” Ilkay mumbles, “We’re just making sure he knows the consequences if he ever hurts her.”
“Right … if you hurt my girl in any way I’ll cut off your testicles and feed them to you … understand?” Uncle John grabs Damion’s shoulder and he nods his head a little too eagerly under the bag.