“I dare you to repeat yourself.” My voice is deadly flat. If I wasn’t so pissed off at the man in front of me, I would frighten myself.
I push him against the wall of a store, and he stutters while his face turns red as white lights flash all around us in a circle.
“What the fuck did you just say to my sister?” I grit out only for him to hear.
He only stutters again, which raises my anger.
“You’re a little bitch. Can’t say anything now that you got the attention you wanted?” I hum in amusement and look down at him like he’s the scum of the world.
“Leo, back away now, son!” I hear being rushed out from behind me.
Two pairs of hands grip my shoulders and pull me away from the man. I don’t put up a fight as I watch him slide down the wall and gasp for breath.
I yell at the man, “Don’t talk about my family poorly, motherfucker.”
“Shut it, son,” one of my “protectors” says from behind me in a growl.
They push me into the open limo door. I stagger inside and almost land on Elijah.
He pushes me aside with a scowl. “That was the last thing we needed, Leonidas!”
I see my sister crying in the corner of the limo. Her body doesn’t shake with sobs. She just silently cries to herself and casually brushes the tears off her face. That’s the reason I did what I did. I couldn’t give two shits that I made a grown man pee his pants today in fright and smashed his expensive camera. When you come after my family, I’ll show you how weak you truly are.
Haters are the weak people in this horrible world. They thrive while watching people burn out from the pain they caused. Nonetheless, at the end of the day, they’re just as sad and alone.
“It was needed.” I tap my fingers against my bouncing knee. I glare at the empty seat ahead of me.
“You know how many problems you just caused?”
“I really don’t give a fuck.”
He says dryly, “Well, give a fuck. Guess who’s going to be on every paper in the morning? I can already see the shit they’ll say about you.”
In all honesty, I could care less if they call me disgusting names. I won’t cry.
This will just show other “brave” people what will happen when they step out of line. Insult my family, and I’ll fight you ten times harder.
“I don’t care what people say about me. You know why?” I grit out and meet his hardened gaze. “Because I’ve never cared, and I never will.”
“How about us?”
I raise an eyebrow. “What about you?”
“News flash: you’re not the only person in X3. You have two other bandmates. What you do affects us. The team is going to go crazy, Leonidas!”
Since the first day we signed with the label, Elijah has followed every damn rule they’ve given us—until the Instagram post. He’s always treated them like they’re kings. Yet Elijah doesn’t realize that he’s the king.
“Without us, they’re nothing.” I smirk. “Do our fans love them or us?”
“Us, but—”
I interrupt, “We’ll always have the upper hand.”
I eye Amelia where she sits. Her hands are covering her face as her chest moves at a slower pace now. I hit my brother in the shoulder, and he tsks while rubbing the skin I slapped lightly.
“That’s why I did it. She doesn’t deserve that.”
His eyes soften. “That was a great brother move, but not so great as a bandmate move.”
