KESTER.
“Step away from her, Kex.”
My voice came out steady, but the restraint behind it felt like a noose tightening around my throat. Every muscle in my body coiled, ready to snap, but I held firm.
I already had too much blood on my hands.
I didn’t want to add Kex’s to it.
But then he smirked.
That smirk.
Like he wasn’t standing in front of death itself. Like he didn’t give a damn that I could rip him apart where he stood.
The arrogant bastard.
I felt like ripping his face in half for even as much as smiling around Kasmine.
“You don’t have to beat yourself up, Kester,” he said, sounding so casual and unbothered. He shifted his weight, hands slipping into his pockets like we were discussing soccer. “We were just…” His gaze slid back to Kasmine, and something about the way he looked at her made my blood burn.
His eyes dragged over her body, and my fingers curled into fists.
“Getting to know each other. Isn’t that right, beauty?” he finished, and then, as if he wasn’t already toeing the edge of death, he tilted his head and made to lay his filthy hands on her when I moved with the speed of light and in a second, my fingers were wrapped around his wrist.
Kasmine sucked in a breath beside me, her body so still, I knew she was holding it together by a thread.
“Don’t you dare, Kex,” I gritted out, struggling to see through the blur of red that had already blinded my vision.
Kex let out a low chuckle, completely unfazed. “Damn, you’re fast. Shame you can’t move that quick in business-maybe then you wouldn’t be drowning as fast as you are, you know?”
I took a slow breath, forcing my fingers to loosen before I did something I wouldn’t regret-but damn if Kex didn’t make it hard.
I tried all I could to ignore his taunts, too.
“You’re going to stay away from my sister,” I said with a lethal calmness.
Kex didn’t flinch. If anything, he looked amused, like I was some overprotective fool throwing a tantrum.
I ignored the urge to snap his wrist in half and turned to Kasmine. She was still stiff beside me, her arms wrapped around herself like she could shrink away from this moment. I reached for her, pulling her toward me. “We’re leaving.”
Kex exhaled dramatically. “Oh, come on, Kester. Don’t be so predictable. We were just talking.”
I didn’t respond. He wasn’t worth it. I just needed to get Kasmine away from him before-
Kex smirked, tilting his head like he was considering something amusing. “You know, Kester, it’s funny how hard you try to act like you’re in control.” His voice was smooth and casual but laced with poison. “Like you’re the one calling the shots. But let’s be real…” He took a step closer, lowering his voice just enough to make it sting. “You’re just barely holding on, aren’t you?”
I didn’t react. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
But Kex wasn’t done.
“Your company? It’s slipping through your fingers. The cracks are showing, and no matter how hard you try to patch them up, everyone sees it.” He clicked his tongue. “They talk, you know? They wonder how much longer you can keep pretending before it all collapses around you.”
Beside me, Kasmine stiffened.
“And to think you have been rejecting your only way out shows how foolish you are, man,” He added, and fuck… I tensed. I was going to murder someone today. I felt it so strong.
But, no. I had to overcome this temptation.
I pulled Kasmine as we began to head toward my car when he delivered the final blow.
“One day, Kester… When you least expect it, Kasmine will be mine. Whether you like it or not. You can’t keep her by your side forever, you know?”
It happened before I could think. It was too fast to even comprehend.
I left Kasmine and turned around, heading toward Kex. And before I could stop myself, my fist crashed into his nose, the force snapping his head back. The ring on my index finger intensified the strike hard and satisfying sending shockwaves up my arm.
The crunch of bone.
The instant gush of blood.
Kex staggered, but to my fury, he didn’t fall.
Instead, he wiped the blood from his nose, examined it for a second, and then laughed.
“Damn,” he muttered, grinning through red-streaked teeth. “That was a good one.” He tapped the bridge of his nose, wincing playfully. “Think you broke it.”
“The next time you speak that way about my sister ever again, you won’t be going home with just a broken nose.”
***
As I dragged Kasmine toward the car, a storm raged inside me. My pulse thundered, my grip on her wrist tightening.
The image of Kex’s filthy hands reaching for her and the smug glint in his eyes played over and over in my head, stoking the fire of my fury. If I had arrived a second later…Thoughts of how things would have quickly spiraled into something else if I hadn’t shown up when I did, plagued me.
“You seem to have a thing for getting into trouble with the opposite gender, Kasmine,” I bit out, shoving her into the passenger seat with more force than I intended as I slammed the door shut.
Kasmine gasped, but I was already moving, rounding the car with long strides.
I wrenched the driver’s side door open and slid inside, fingers gripping the wheel. My chest rose and fell with heavy, barely controlled breaths.
“Kes…”
My hand shot up, a single finger raised in warning. I didn’t want to hear a damn word from her. Not now. Not when my head was pounding, my blood was boiling, and the intensity of everything was weighing down on me.
She was too stubborn, and I didn’t know how else to protect her from herself.
All I wanted was to get home. With her. To make sure she was safe. That was all that mattered.
And as for Kex and Karina, I’d have to be more creative on how I’d have to deal with them. And this time, I’d make sure they never got another chance to touch what was mine.