Rook froze. The color drained from his face, his fingers curled until his knuckles turned white.
It took three seconds before he swung. A single brutal swing. Zack’s nose crunched under the impact, blood splattering the tile.
Aiden yanked me behind him as Rook grabbed Zack’s shirt and swung again. Another swing. Then a third.
“You didnotjust show me a fucking video of my sister having sex.” Rook’s voice was ragged, each word bitten off, shoving Zack into the counter so hard it rattled. “And not only that—you took a video of her? You disgusting, perverted piece of shit!”
He slammed Zack’s head back into the counter, fists clenched. “You’re lucky I don’t fucking kill you right now.”
He swung again and his fist slammed into Zack’s face—a wet crack filling the room followed by a choked shout.
Mason, Hero, and Harper ran into the room, eyes wide as they looked over the scene in front of them.
“Oh wow, plot twist,” Hero said. Harper looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed. “I thought Aiden was going to be the one getting the shit beat out of him.”
Rook pulled Zack up again. “You have one second to give some explanation!” When Zack didn’t answer, he waved Mason over. “Can you take him outside? Keep him there until I come out.”
Zack shook, trying to pull away, but Rook kept him in place.
“He’s... lying to you. You said we can’t have Evie! He’s going against what you said!” Zack yelled.
Rook snarled, pushing Zack onto the floor as Hero grinned.
“I knew you were a little rat. Didn’t realize you were a pervert, but the rat part was right.”
Zack choked on blood, stumbling in Rook’s grip. Mason and the others closed in, then pulled Zack toward the door, blood streaking the tile.
Hero and Harper followed Mason out, both laughing at something as they went, but I was frozen in place.
I already knew all the guys were violent to certain degrees, watching Rook hit someone wasn’t new, but no part of me had expected that he would hit Zack.
I also hadn’t expected that Zack would betray me and actually record us. A gross shiver ran down my spine, and I leaned into Aiden more.
The second Zack was dragged out, Rook turned to us.
His rage didn’t dim, but his eyes weren’t locked on me.
They were on Aiden.
“Get your fucking hands off her after what I had to see,” he snapped, pressing his fingers into his eyes like he could scrub the mental image away.
Aiden didn’t move, but I did, trying to let Rook have a second to breathe.
“That wasn’t how we wanted you to find out,” I said, my voice catching.
He laughed, a harsh humorless sound. “No shit.” Rook looked at the ceiling, shaking his head. “No offense, Evie, but I currently want to bleach what I saw out of my brain.”
“I don’t blame you because if the tables were turned I might already be pouring the bleach on my face.”
He looked past me to Aiden, angry again. “At what point were you confused about the not touching my sister rule?”
“There was no confusion. I understood it completely,” Aiden said confidently.
“But yet I saw proof you broke that rule.”
“Yeah, you did.”
“How long have you been doing this?”
