Page 57 of Drax (Iron Thunder MC 3)
He wasn’t looking at me anymore.
“And who is feeding you all this? Your boyfriend?”
“Drax let you live. For my sake.”
“And what does he want from me? A standing fuckin’ ovation?”
“Some gratitude won’t go amiss,” I replied. Even though I couldn’t see his face, I knew he was rolling his eyes.
“Danny, please look at me. Please?” I tried urging him, but he wasn’t going to turn. “Okay, then just listen to what I have to say.”
I waited but he didn’t respond.
“You have a second chance; do you get that? Drax let you live but on the condition that you don’t stir up any more shit. That you get…get help. Let us help you. I want you to come out clean on the other side.”
“Come out clean?” he growled and finally whipped around to face me. He was never going to admit it, that he had a drug problem. If he did, that would be admitting weakness.
“You can start all over again. Do you see that? This is your chance.”
Crash was glaring at me like he wished I’d just disappear. Like he hated me. How could he hate me? How couldn’t he see I was here to help him? Why didn’t he want my help? What had the drugs done to him?
I felt the sting of hot tears in my eyes again.
“Please, Danny?” I whispered. He clenched his jaws and took in a deep breath.
“Never. Go and tell your boyfriend that.”* * *I was frustrated. I was incredibly frustrated with Crash. I was mad at him enough to want to punch him myself. But Drax had already done that for me.
How could he be so stubborn? How could he not see that I was trying to help him?
“It doesn’t matter what you want. The fact is that we won, and you lost. Drax kicked your ass,” I said. My voice was a hiss. I didn’t care about being calm or kind anymore. I was done with this.
The color rose in his cheeks and he shuddered again a little. I could see his temper rising.
“The Silver Knights is finished. I hope you get that through your thick skull. You should be kissing the ground Drax walks on because he’s let you live.”
Whatever my brother wanted to say to me, he was biting back his words. I had to admit, this was satisfying. I couldn’t remember the last time I had spoken to him like this. Probably never. But now I wasn’t holding back.
I took a few steps toward him and noticed the tightness behind his eyes. His fists were clenched into balls. He knew he couldn’t touch me, as much as he wanted to smack me. He couldn’t. All I had to do was scream once and Flash and the other guys would storm this room. The punishment for touching me would be much more severe than whatever else Crash had faced already.
“The only reason you’re still alive is because Drax treats me like a Queen. Because he knew I would have wanted you to live. So, don’t make him regret that decision. Don’t piss him off.”
I was close to spitting on him and wanted to do something. I wanted him to understand that he was under Drax’s control now.
“I know everything. All the stupid shit you pulled. All the ways you tried to gain control over Iron Thunder. But none of that worked because Drax is superior to you. In every way. And you should be ashamed of yourself.”
My brother’s eyes softened. I could only hope that the words were hitting home, but I didn’t have my hopes up. He looked dulled. I wasn’t even sure he was capable of thinking straight right now.
“So it doesn’t matter what you want, dear brother. All that matters is what you’re going to get. Admit it or not, we are going to do something about this problem of yours.”
Crash was gritting his teeth. So hard that I was sure they would crack.
“You’re going to get clean and then you’re going to make a deal with Drax. A deal in repayment for sparing your life. Then you’re going to crawl under some rock and stay there till we are convinced you aren’t going to pull some stupid stunt again.”
With that, I whipped away from him and walked to the door. I wasn’t going to give him a chance to respond. I didn’t even want to hear what he had to say. I just wanted him out of my sight.
I knocked on the door once and Flash was quick to open it.
“You can lock this up now,” I said as I walked past him.* * *Maybe I should have gone straight up to the room and talked to Drax, but I needed a breather. Seeing my brother in that state—the conversation we ended up having, the threats we both made to each other—seemed to have taken a toll on me.
