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I ignored him and grabbed my brother’s arm, yanking on him. “No. Ethan. Stop. Get off him,” I shouted.
Murderous rage burned in my brother’s piercing green eyes. “Was it you? Was it fuckin’ you who raped her? I’ll kill you.”
What? What the hell? What was going on? “Ethan, no.”
He ignored me as he continued to hit Vic repeatedly. Blood dripped down Vic’s brow, and his lip was cut and swollen.
“Damn it, Ethan. Stop,” I screamed, my voice crackling on a choking sob. I didn’t think and jumped on Ethan’s back. He reacted instantly, shooting his elbow back into my collarbone and sending me flying across the foyer. My lower back slammed into the stairs, and I fell to the floor.
A low, animalistic roar erupted. With two moves, Vic had Ethan by the throat and up against the wall. “That’s your sister. Your sister. Touch her again and I won’t hesitate to put you in the ground. Brother or not.”
I crawled to my feet, wincing at the pain in my lower back and my collarbone. “Vic, please, let him go. He didn’t know.”
The wild rage in Ethan’s eyes calmed as I spoke, and his eyes snapped to me. “Macayla.”
He hadn’t even realized I’d been here. Vic released him and stepped away, instantly striding over to me, his dark eyes assessing me as they trailed down my body.
I touched his chest. “I’m fine.”
Vic didn’t move.
“I’m fine,” I repeated.
“Shit, I’m so sorry, sis.” Ethan inhaled ragged, deep breaths as he stared at me. “I didn’t know. Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah. What’s going on? Why are you here?” What I didn’t say hung in the air like a dark cloud. How did he know I’d been raped? Why did he think it was Vic? I didn’t even know Vic back then, and I’d have remembered him if he’d been at the house.
Ethan stepped closer, but he stopped when Vic turned to face him, blocking him from approaching me.
I pushed in front of him, putting my hand on Vic’s arm. “He’s my brother,” I whispered.
Vic peered down at me, blood dripping off his jaw and soaking into his T-shirt. “Who just elbowed you in the throat and tossed you into the fuckin’ stairs. Not a chance, baby.”
I heard a spitting growl from my brother, and I spun, holding up my hand as I glared at him. “I don’t know what your problem is, but this isn’t a hockey rink. What if Jackson had been here? Did you think about that?”
No. His control had been fractured. Just like it had been as a teenager. I hadn’t seen it back then, but I’d heard about it. The one thing that gave him focus, and why he wasn’t in jail or in an early grave, was hockey.
He tightened his jaw, but he stayed where he was, bloody and bruised, fists curling and uncurling.
The tension between them was volatile, and I was afraid Ethan would lose it if Vic said anything that might set him off again. And talking about what happened was explosive territory, so that was highly probable. “Give me a few minutes to talk to him.”
“Not leaving you alone with him, Macayla,” Vic replied.
“Me?” Ethan blurted with a cruel laugh. “You’re worried about me? Is this some kind of sick joke? You fuckin’ stalked her for years, then raped her.”
I gasped, the cement block in the pit of my stomach dropping. “Ethan. No. What are you talking about?”
“Were you drugged? Is that why you’re with him now? You don’t remember what he did to you.”
I felt as if I was falling face-first through a black hole. “No. Ethan, no.” I yanked myself from Vic’s grasp and staggered toward him. “Stop it. Stop it.”
Ethan glared at Vic, ignoring me. “You’re just like your corrupt father. You’re going to prison to rot with him.”
Vic’s body was strung tight, and his voice threatening. “Watch what you say, North.”
“Ethan. Look at me. Me!” Who told him what happened? Why did he think Vic raped me? Stalked me?
His eyes snapped from Vic to me, where I had stopped a foot away from him. “Get your shit, Macayla. We’re leaving.”
