Without a word, Robert stands up and stalks to the stairs that lead to the offices. He climbs them, his back stiff, his hands in fists.
More people watch us as we go, their curious gazes burning a hole into my back.
I keep following him, though, not sparing anyone around us a glance.
I snap as soon as my office door is shut behind us. "You put your fucking hands on her. You fucking put your hands on her after I told you to stay away from her."
He smirks, keeping his back to the door. "Maybe she liked it. Did you ever stop to think about that? She was begging for it. She wanted me to touch her. She wanted me to bury my co?—"
I don't think.
My fist slams into the side of his face, something crunching. It's not a bone in my hand, but it'd be a lie to say it didn't hurt like a bitch.
Robert laughs, stumbling to the side and spitting blood onto the black carpet. "You're pathetic. You're acting like a child who had their toy stolen, even though I was the one who bought her. She's mine."
"Not fucking likely." I get in his face, hand on his throat as I slam him back into the wall. My fingers press into his vein. "I told you to stay the fuck away from her, but you seem to think you don't have to listen to me."
He struggles to breathe. His eyes are unfocused, the pressure preventing blood from flowing through him properly. "Why should I? Every choice you've made has been the wrong one. You keep putting the family in more and more danger."
"I've pulled back from several attacks. I've hauled our people back and sent dozens of them into hiding, and you think I'm not doing enough to protect them?" I shake my head, pulling him off the wall only to slam him back into it. "You don't know the first thing about the burden I have to bear or everything I have to go through to keep this family safe. You don't know the pressure it puts on my head each time someone dies, and I have to be the one to tell their family."
Robert laughs as I step back. He slumps over for a second before pushing himself off the wall. "We wouldn't be in this positionright now if you didn't need to get revenge. Dad was a piece of shit who didn't care about us at all."
"You're just like him."
The color drains from his face.
It's probably the worst way I could hurt Robert; it's going to throw him off. That one little comment is going to fester and eat at him.
Because I'm not going to kill him today. Even though I should. Even though I want to.
But I can't risk the shit he's working on the side blowing up in my face when I'm this close to ending Aiden.
I just have to figure out how I'm going to keep Summer in the process.
Robert lunges for me, fury written across his face. His punch lands hard, my lip splitting and hot blood tracking down my chin.
The second time he tries to hit me, I grab him, tossing him into the desk. It groans beneath his weight, the papers and computer on top going sailing to the floor with a loud crash.
Robert gets off the desk, groaning and staggering to his feet. "You're fucking useless as a leader. And you're fucking useless as a brother. You're still trying to prove you're the boss while your own people are starting to turn against you." The color drains from his face as soon as he realizes what he's said.
I punch him in the face, and he trips over the broken computer, going to the ground. "What the fuck do you know about that?"
He shakes his head as I drop down, pinning him to the ground.
I deliver one punch to his head after another, his blood splattering.
I lose myself in the moment. The sound of flesh hitting flesh. It's addicting.
"Boss!" Hector grabs me, hauling me off Robert. "You're going to kill him."
I wipe the blood from my fist on my pants, not that it helps much. My knuckles are split and still bleeding.
When I get home, I'm going to have to see if they need stitching up, but they probably will.
I wonder how good Summer is with a needle and thread.
I look down at Robert, giving him one hard kick to the ribs, grinning when he curls up in a ball around himself. "You're going to want to remember this for the next time you go against my orders."