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She was gritting her teeth and staring daggers at Anthony, who was still watching Aero.
“Um, I brought donuts.” Aero handed the box to Sam and stepped past her brother, not giving him his back.
“There’s been a misunderstanding,” Sam said, trying to conjure her calm teacher voice.
“Why, what’s—” Aero started, but then saw the bruising on the side of Sam’s face, guilt washing over him all over again. The pieces clicked together, and his chest pitched.
“Anthony, look, I can explain,” Aero said, but it was no use.
“Nothing you could explain is going to fix that.” Anthony pointed at Sam’s eye, making her flinch.
“I know,” Aero said, trying to remain calm. “I did not hurt Sam on purpose.”
Anthony let out a hysterical laugh that made goosebumps break out on Sam’s skin.
“All right, we can either sit down and have an adult conversation, or—” Sam began, but was cut off.
“What did you do to her?” Anthony demanded. “Those are old bruises. What else have you done?”
His eyes were wide, his spine ramrod straight, and his fists clenched.
Aero ran a hand over his hair, trying to gather his thoughts and explain them in a way Anthony might understand. “It was an accident. I hit Sam in the eye when—”
Aero didn’t get to finish his sentence because Anthony’s fist connected with the side of his face.
“No!” Sam shouted, dropping the donuts and reaching for her brother.
“How do you like it?” Anthony growled, delivering a second punch to Aero’s face.
Aero grunted and stumbled, raising his hands to cover his face as he bumped into the hall table, sending a lamp and several picture frames clattering to the floor.
“Stop!” Sam yelled, horror in her eyes, as she watched Anthony go for Aero’s groin with his knee.
Aero shifted, rushing forward and planting his shoulder into Anthony’s stomach, shoving him backward. The men fell back, crashing into the television stand and sending the flat screen to the ground with a bang.
“Sam, what the fuck?!” Molly shouted, appearing in the hallway and looking around wildly.
“Aero, Anthony, stop it!” Sam hollered again, but they didn’t hear her.
“I’ll fucking kill you,” Anthony said, gaining his footing and shoving Aero back.
“I didn’t hurt her,” Aero insisted, holding up his hands in surrender.
“The hell you didn’t.” Anthony moved to hit Aero again, but Sam put herself in his path just as his fist came up. His knuckles connected, and she shrieked, dropping to the floor.
“Sammy.” Aero went to help her up, but Anthony shoved him out of the way.
Now Aero was angry. While he’d taken the blows from Anthony with little retaliation and likely would’ve let him continue until the anger was out of his system and they could talk rationally, nobody was going to stand between him and Sam, especially if she was hurt. Rage welled up inside of Aero, taking over his system and blocking out everything but his target.
“Leave her alone,” Aero growled, narrowing in on Anthony and grabbing his wrist, yanking it behind his back, making him yelp in pain. With a swipe of his foot, Aero kicked Anthony’s ankles together, and he fell, breaking through the glass coffee table, which promptly shattered, diamond shards scattering over the dark wood floor.
A loud, ear-piercing whistle snapped everyone to attention, their heads whipping toward Molly.
“That’s enough!” she barked.
Anthony sat up, surrounded by what was left of the coffee table, his breathing ragged, while Aero stood shaking, adrenaline surging through him.
An eerie silence settled over the apartment, broken only by a sob from Sam, who stumbled to her feet, backing away from both men and joining Molly in the hallway.
