AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But ten punches is all he gets.
“How old was she when you first touched her, you bastard?” Another harsh blow and with three more punches, he sends us farther and farther into the hallway until I’m flying through the door, my back landing on the doorsteps. He fists my shirt, pulling his elbow back. “How old, Florian?” A blow comes straight to my nose, my mouth filling with blood, but I barely have time to focus on it as he kicks me hard, and I roll down several steps until I end up on my stomach, spitting the blood and getting up swiftly. “You seduced a girl who grew up in front of your eyes, you perverted fucker!” He stalks to me and punches me in the gut. “I trusted you with her, and this is how you repay me?”
Hit, hit, hit.
And he reaches his ten-punch quota.
We end up on the grass, facing each other as blood drips from my nose, and I wipe it away while we both breathe heavily and stare at each other, so much hatred shining in his blue eyes that it’s palpable. “How old was she?” he yells, his entire body vibrating, and his fists clench so hard, it’s a wonder he doesn’t crack his own fingers.
“Eighteen,” I reply because she might have been the first one to kiss me, and I didn’t initiate the contact…but that’s when she became mine.
He roars and jumps on me, but this time around, I block his fist and catch his arm, surprise flashing on his face.
Oh, yes.
I know all his dirty tricks since we had the same teacher when we were learning to fight, not that he knows it.
“I wanted her all these years. And now she’s pregnant with my child. You have to accept it,” I tell him, but he frees himself and tries to knock me down as I step back and punch him hard, and it’s his turn to stumble back. “There is no other choice.”
“I’ll never accept it. Fucking never! You’re sick. Just like all these men we kill.”
We circle one another, keeping our gazes trained on each other, and I spit more blood. “Don’t compare me to them. I never forced her.” I’ll be fucking damned if anyone, least of Santiago, twists our love into something hideous and dirty. “She came to me willingly, and I have never touched her in any way or thought about her differently before she turned eighteen.”
His bitter laughter fills the night air as the whooshing wind billows our jackets backward. “Listen to yourself. You even found justification for your actions. You knew her as a child. You’re a sick bastard that I’ve allowed near my sister, and I’m going to end you.” He scans me from head to toe. “I should have known. It’s always the closest person to the family that does it, isn’t it?”
I’m on him before he can even finish the sentence properly as we engage once again in a fight, each blow becoming harder and more painful as neither of us holds back. He uses dirty tricks and slams his fist under my ribs, cutting off my oxygen for a second, but I kick him in his kneecap, earning myself a loud curse, and we stumble back.
We’re both bruised, with blood smearing our knuckles and faces while an angry energy surrounds us, and for the first time ever, we stand on the opposite side of each other, ready to fight till the end if it’s necessary. “You can think whatever you want, but don’t you fucking dare compare me to any pieces of shit we kill. Do you hear me? My love for her is not sick. I’ve never seduced her, and for you to think otherwise…well, it shows a chink in your character, not mine.”
“You’re right. But my instincts can’t be trusted anymore because my best friend got my sister pregnant. The same little sister who grew up with him all her life. The same little sister who worshipped the ground he walked on. The same little sister who spent so much time at his house, she was part of the family.” He wipes away the blood with the back of his hand, and I expect more insults to erupt from him, but what he says next is worse.
Way, way worse as this invisible arrow is aimed straight at my dark soul.
“We were born weeks apart. We’ve been best friends before Octavius and Remi, before the Four Dark Horsemen and everything else. Your dad is my godfather, and my dad is yours. Our families are so tight, people are jealous of it.” His voice breaks the heavy silence around us, and such betrayal coats his gaze. It hurts me way more than any physical pain. Underneath all these words, I hear his anguish.
Because he could always count on me and us, but I betrayed him.
“Was this how I deserved to find out about it, Florian?” I swallow as he raises his voice, shouting, “Was this how I deserved to find out?”
As he asks me this question, I know the anger is gone, and only betrayal remains.
“Santiago—”
“If you were an honorable man, you’d have come to me. You’d tell me about your feelings and act like a man. You would not sneak around behind my back like my sister is some kind of dirty secret.” We hear footsteps, swinging to find our friends joining us. “I understand now the glances between you all. You shared a secret, and I was not part of it.” More bitter laughter. “We made a vow to never lie to each other, and you were always so anal about honesty, Octavius.” My friend tenses but meets Santiago’s accusing stare. “I guess that fucking honesty went out the window the minute it involved your precious Florian. And you know what? I get it. You’re loyal to him, but you’re a brother too. And when you wanted to protect your sister, I was there. So sincerely. Fuck you, Octavius.”
He shifts his focus on Remi who has guilt written all over his features. “You’re my best friend. You were always supposed to be on my side, and you chose theirs. How could you?”
“No. I chose her side. She wasn’t ready for everyone to know. Jimena comes above anyone else. That’s what you always said.” Remi clears his throat. “Believe it or not, their secret relationship protected her. Death is…” Santiago’s splayed palm stops whatever he wants to say next.
He spins around to face me again, and I sigh inwardly at the unreadable expression staring back at me because it means only one thing.
He’s cutting us off emotionally, something he’s never done.
“If you came to me with this, I would have still punched you. I would have still called you names, but I would have respected you. I would have tried to see it from your perspective. I would have listened.” He twists his ring on his finger. “Instead, all of you chose to betray me. Lie to me while you plotted something behind my back. Only in unity we survive.” He takes off his ring and lifts it up. “You didn’t treat me as part of the unity. Fuck this brotherhood.” He throws his ring away. “There is no more Four Dark Horsemen.”
We stare at one another in heavy silence, the weight of his words almost unbearable because we’ve been friends for twenty-five years.
Thirty-one if you count only Santiago and I.
