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He turns back to me. “Oh, he knows what I’m talking about.” His eyes lower, nostrils flaring. “Cassie,” he says her name with conviction. “She’s a fucking victim!”
“Fuck.” I slump back in the chair. She must’ve said something to Lix.
“Well? What the fuck!” He throws his hands in the air.
Better that than in my face. I hate fighting with either of my brothers, but it happens sometimes. This time, I know I’m in the wrong.
“You can’t be with her, Brett.”
“I know!” I sit up in the chair, clenching my hands.
“You know? You’re fucking right, you know.” He glares down at me.
“Okay, let’s calm down and talk about this,” Cole says in a neutral tone.
“Ya know,” Lix seethes. “I get my anger out on the demolitions. Cole, he releases it on abusers, but you.” He leans down closer to me. “You, brother, you keep it all bottled up inside, and one day you’re going to blow, and I don’t want Cassie in the crossfire when it happens. She’s a good person.”
“I know,” I say between grinding teeth.
“Stop fucking saying that!” He stands up straight, chest pumped out and lips snarling. “See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. You’re pissed right now. You want to get out of that chair and kick my ass but no, you sit there. All that ignored anger, it’s fucking you up.” He points at me. “And that makes you dangerous.”
“Fuck you.”
He shakes his head. “You have no right being with any woman until you figure your shit out.”
I jump up from my chair—his fists lock in fighting mode.
His chin lifts as he cautiously watches me. “I know who she is.”
I glare at him. The comment racking my brain. “What?”
“She’s the Julia from Miller Lane in Sarasota.” He nods, glancing at Cole, then me. “Yeah, you assholes think I’m an idiot. Think I don’t see things. Think I don’t know what’s going on. But while Cole here is kicking the shit out of everyone and you’re busy controlling everything, I’m watching. I’m not stupid. And both of you are going to fuck this up!”
How does he know about Miller Lane? Or better yet, what does he think he knows?
I glance at Cole. He shrugs.
Lix’s cell rings. He lets it chime a couple of times before he digs it out of his pocket and answers it.
“Yeah,” he says, his eyes deadlocked with mine. “Okay. Thanks.” He shoves it back into his pocket.
“That was Willa,” he says.
“I can go,” Cole says, taking a step toward the door.
Yeah, I’m sure he wants to get out of the conversation. Lix’s bone is with me, and rightly so. I got no business doing anything with Cassie. The little shit is correct about that.
“No.” Lix lifts his hand. “I’ll go, but you”—he points at me—“you figure out your shit and leave Cassie out of it. Ya hear me?”
“First of all, little brother…” I walk around the desk, watching his hands release and ball back up. “Whatever the fuck I decide to do with Cassie is my business, not yours. Second, what the fuck do you know about Miller Lane?”
His eyes bounce back and forth between mine and Cole’s, debate lingering in each flicker. “Hurt her, and I’m coming after you.”
“I’d never hurt her,” I say with my own amount of conviction.
“Not intentionally.” He moves toward me until our chests bump.
“No.” I grin and do what he accused me of. I hold back the urge to rearrange his face. “Not intentionally. But the damage is already done. She knows about us. She knows what we do. I can’t take that from her.”
