I cross the room in three strides.
And I punch him in the face.
He goes down. His chair tips back with his weight, and he crashes to the floor.
"What the fuck—" He's reaching for something. A gun, probably. I've got the upper hand here, and I use it. I'm not noble, and I have no issue fighting dirty.
Plus, Adrian can fuck off.
I step on his hand, kick his gun away with my other foot, and bring my knee to his head.
He's dazed, on the ground, but not hurt badly enough to not get my point.
"Get up."
"Have you lost your fucking mind?" His silver eyes, identical to Gemma's are searching the room. His guards will be here soon, so I need to enjoy this while I can.
"Get up!" I roar.
He gets up, slowly, hand wiping blood from his nose. "I'm going to fucking…"
I punch him again, harder this time.
He stumbles back, hitting his desk.
I can hear footsteps down the hall. I'd locked the door when I stormed in.
Discreetly.
This isn't my first rodeo, so to speak.
"You put your hands on my wife." My voice is deadly calm. "You beat her. Strangled her. Disowned her. Made her cry."
"She betrayed?—"
"I don't give a fuck what she did!" I grab him by his collar, pull him closer. "You're her brother. You were supposed to protect her. And you destroyed her."
"She fucking?—"
"She was desperate! She was scared! She was married to a man who treated her like property!" I shove him back. I'm breathing hard filled with rage. Until the day I die, the sight of Adrian putting his hands on Gemma will haunt me, and there's nothing I can do to change that, but I can make him hurt just as badly.
"She went to the Russians?—"
"Because we pushed her there! Both of us!" I'm shouting now. I'm angry. Not just at Adrian. At myself. Because Gemma is right, I fucked up. I didn't trust her, and I didn't care what she felt, and I went to Adrian to save my own ass. "You sold her to me. I used her. We both treated her like a thing instead of a person. And when she broke? When she made mistakes? You beat her for it."
"I was protecting my family."
We both were, but who the fuck protected Gemma? Isn't she part of both of our families?
Guards are at the door yelling.
"Shut the fuck up!" Adrian yells in return. "We're fucking fine."
There's scuffling in the background—clearly no one knows what they are supposed to do.
"We aren't fine," I snap. "I'm going to kill you."
Adrian cackles. I always forget the fucker is just as crazy as I am. He hides it better. "You're unarmed. I felt it when you grabbed me. No gun."
