Page 17 of Drax (Iron Thunder MC 3)
“Because there is only room for one of us in this town.”
He was breathing heavily, directly on my face as he snarled. I was cowering from him, but now he’d admitted it. There was no taking it back.
Crash pulled away from me and breathed out a deep sigh, like he was relieved the truth was out there now. He didn’t have to pretend with me anymore.
“Danny, you’re being ridiculous…” I tried to say but he interrupted me.
“I want the business. The contacts. The store. The Clubhouse. I’m going to take everything away from that motherfucker. I’m going to make sure it’s just us running this town.”
This wasn’t a joke. Crash meant business. I could see the determination in his eyes.
“Why do you hate him? What has he done to you?” I dared to ask. A part of me thought this was all because he had something deep-seated against Drax. But what? When we were together, Drax never spoke about Crash. We always avoided that topic, acted like he didn’t exist. Neither did my brother speak about Drax.
But now it seemed evident that they were brutal enemies.
“So you’ve been lying to me all along. Yes? You’ve been making up all these stories about Drax and putting the blame on him, when it’s been you all along. You’re the one who started it.”
Crash turned his eyes to me again. Heavy hooded and dark. This was not the man I knew. This was not my brother. He was supposed to look after me. Look after his sister and his family and his community. What happened?
“And you think that boyfriend of yours is innocent in all this? You think none of my men have been harmed?” he growled.
“You attacked first. You stole from him. You hurt his people,” I spat at him.
Crash came at me and grabbed me by the back of my neck. I gasped with fright and tried to pull away from him. My brother had never laid his hands on me before but now I was sure he was willing to take it to the next step if he had to.
“And I will do it all over again if I have to. Anything to annihilate all of them,” he hissed.
I managed to get away from him and run to the door. I pulled it open, feeling the tears run down my cheeks. I needed to leave. I needed to think. This was too much for me to handle.* * *“Where do you think you’re going, Mary-Beth?” Crash growled behind me. As I heard my brother’s voice, I also felt hands on my body. It was Eagle; he was pulling me back.
I hadn’t even managed to step out of the room before I was pulled back in.
“Let me go! Danny! What the hell!” I screamed while I struggled in Eagle’s grip.
“If you try and run, Mary-Beth, Eagle will have to restrain you again,” Crash said.
I felt Eagle release his grip on me and my body jerked forwards toward my brother.
“What are you doing? What is this? I want to go home. It’s late. I need to rest. I have a job to go to in the morning.” I could feel myself beginning to panic as I spoke to my brother. Crash was staring at me calmly now. It was like he knew something I didn’t.
I definitely didn’t know what he was thinking.
“You can go home but you’re not going anywhere else,” he said in a low voice and tipped his head at Eagle.
“Excuse me, what?”
“You’re not going to be let out of your apartment till I give the order.”
“You’re putting me on house arrest? You can’t do that!”
“I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
“Danny!” I screamed. I could feel the tears still streaming down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe this was actually happening.
“You shouldn’t have done it, sis. You shouldn’t have gone to see Drax.”
“It’s over between us. I will never see him again. You can’t take my freedom away from me!”
Crash came up to me, real close. His face was just inches from mine.
“What makes you think I will ever be able to trust you again?” he hissed. I felt his spittle fly to my face. I was disgusted. Angry. Exhausted.
“I am your sister, Danny. I am family. You can’t do this to me.”
He held my gaze for a second and then he gave a quick nod to Eagle.
I felt his hands clasp my shoulders again. His grip was like steel.
“Come on, Mary-Beth, let’s get you home and all snuggled up for the night.” That stupid grin on Eagle’s face made me want to throw up.
I gave Crash one last look. I knew nothing was going to work. He had made up his mind already. This was his decision. He was going to punish me for speaking to Drax. For questioning his behavior. For speaking up for the community.
