Jagger straightened and Hawk stopped pacing as Poe, Remy, and Maeve emerged from the building on my side of the fence.
Vigo tried to be conciliatory. “Dude, we tried?— ”
It was all he managed to say before Bram punched him in the face.
Vigo staggered backwards and Hawk stepped forward with his arms out, trying to drive Bram back.
It was like trying to move a mountain. Bram kept coming, and Jagger landed a punch to his jaw before Bram rang his bell with a punch to Jagger’s nose.
Blood spurted onto the pavement.
The gate slid open and Poe and Remy hit the pavement at a run, Maeve and I on their heels.
And then it was a blur of muscles and ink, a melee of punching and kicking, grunts and shouts.
“Motherfucker…”
“I’ll fucking kill you.”
“… ow, fuck!”
I stood helplessly by, at a loss for how to stop the mayhem.
Finally Maeve stepped in front of Bram, put her fingers in her mouth, and let out a piercing whistle.
“Get your asses upstairs.” She glared at Bram, who was bleeding from a cut under his eye, a minor injury compared to the bloody noses and bleeding lips on the other guys. Then she turned her gaze on the Hawks. “All of you.”
37
CASSIE
I lookedaround Bram’s loft at the wounded and bleeding men and knew it was because of me.
I’d never been so mortified.
Bram and Poe sat at the dining room table — Bram with a thick steak on his bleeding knuckles — while Hawk and Jagger occupied the living room, Jagger’s head tipped forward to let the blood run out of his nose into a dishtowel Maeve had given him when we’d gotten back to the loft.
Vigo sat at the island, an ice pack held to his jaw and Remy was making himself a smoothie, seemingly oblivious to the blood that was already drying on his right cheek.
I stared daggers at Bram. “I can’t believe you.”
“I can’t believeyou.”
“Don’t fucking talk to her that way or I’ll knock you’re fucking teeth out,” Hawk said from the sofa.
Bram got up, his chair falling back onto the floor, and started for the living room.
“Sit!” Maeve ordered.
Bram hesitated, then righted his chair and sat down.
“We’re going to figure this out,” Maeve said. “And we’re going to do it like civilized adults.” She looked from Bram to Remy and Poe. “And if there’s any more fighting, it’s going to be so long until you three have sex againyou’regoing to feel like virgins. Got it?”
“Loud and clear, killer.” Remy said. “Mind if I turn on this blender?”
“Yes, I mind.”
Remy’s shoulders sagged.