Chapter 514 The fight between brothers

“You do not fucking touch my woman, do you hear me? Beat me as much as you fucking want, but you never, ever lay a hand on her!” Sebastian gritted out, and for the first time in his entire life, he fought his twin brother back without holding anything in reserve.

Alex laughed through bloodied teeth at his brother’s words. “My ever-so-heartless brother finally knows what it feels like to have a wife, to want to protect someone. Do you have any idea how I felt back then, when you killed mine, and my unborn child along with her? Do you?!” He shouted, swinging another punch, but Sebastian deflected it easily and threw one back in return.

“That bitch deserved to die, and that unborn child you’re so worked up over was never even yours, Alexander! Natalie never loved you! Wake up and face reality!” Sebastian snarled, shaking him by the collar until Alex’s eyes flooded bloodshot with even greater rage.

“Take it back! Take those words back!”

The fight soon spiraled into something even more brutal, both men trading blows like madmen, holding nothing back, and Viola, having found her footing again, looked around frantically, aware this wasn’t the time or place for any of this, their sister had died only hours ago, and here they were, tearing into each other, venting rage while confusing the watching crowd with every word they threw.

Jumping into the fight to separate them wasn’t a good idea, and she knew she would never be able to pull them apart. Besides, the warriors had been commanded not to interfere.

Right at that moment, Viola spotted Gilbert and Matt walking through the broken lobby doors, and relief washed over her. The two men took note of the fight and looked stunned at first at the sight of Alex, but they soon rushed forward to pull the brothers apart without a second thought.

Gilbert hauled Alex back while Matt dragged his friend away, both twins still straining to get back at each other even as blood and bruises already covered them, wounds that wouldn’t heal easily, given they’d come from each other’s hands.

“If this is about Natalie, take it up with me directly, but don’t you dare touch my wife again, or I swear I won’t hesitate to forget you were ever my brother. Do you understand me?” Came Sebastian’s warning, low and cold, aimed at the twin still glaring back at him with unrelenting rage.

“Take back what you said. Natalie never cheated on me…” Alex gritted out, but Sebastian only looked at him with something close to pity, jerking his arm free of Gilbert’s grip as he said,

“I’m done trying to protect you, brother. I’m done. You’re on your own from here on out, and believe it or not, I don’t give a single shit anymore.” Saying that, he wiped the blood from his nose, scanned the crowd until he found his wife, and seeing she was unharmed, turned and walked away, calling out as he went,

“Take the prisoners to the execution grounds. They’ll all be executed first thing tomorrow morning.” He walked off without another word, disappearing into his private elevator, every eye in the room following him as a dark, deadly aura trailed behind him, keeping everyone at a careful distance, even his own wife hesitating before she followed.

•••

(Music recommendation: Farewell Life, Arm Anderson Remix, by Christoffer Hagman.)

~°~

There are moments when the person you love most becomes a stranger, not because they have changed, but because grief has taken them somewhere you have never been.

—-

Viola stood at the door of the bathroom, listening to her husband breaking things, without a single sound escaping him otherwise. She had cautiously followed him after leaving the scene in the lobby, but by the time she’d made it up, he was already inside, shower running. He never locked the door when showering, but he had this time, and she couldn’t get in.

Viola heard something else shatter and flinched at the sound. She didn’t need to look to know he was destroying every product Zoe had ever stocked in their bathroom cabinets, all the little things she used to bring by whenever she visited. Viola realized then that maybe she shouldn’t push her way in right now, no matter how badly her heart called out to reach him. He’d shut himself off from within, sealed away even from her.

She pressed her palm flat against the cold door, and when the sounds of destruction kept going, she slowly stepped back and let him be. Maybe once he’d cooled down, she could reach him properly, but for now, she recognized the shape of a person who needed to be left alone. She wrapped her arms around herself and left the penthouse, making her way toward the elevator.

If Sebastian wasn’t ready to talk, to put words to his hurt and his loss, Viola knew she still couldn’t let the rift with his brother fester unresolved. It was time she did what she could to fix things, before the thread holding the Kade family together frayed apart entirely and everyone grows apart.

They’d already lost one of their own. The ones left standing needed to find their footing again, and stay close to one another, no matter what it cost. She’d only known Zoe for a handful of months, nothing compared to what these men had shared with her over a lifetime, but that didn’t make her own grief any smaller.

Viola made her way down to the lobby, where the crowd had mostly cleared out by now, and asked someone where Alex had been taken. She soon found her answer, he was in Zoe’s room, and went straight to him.

When Viola arrived at the door of the apartment that belonged to Zoe, the one she stayed in whenever she visited the High Tower, Viola steadied herself before punching in the passcode and stepping inside, only to find her husband’s twin kneeling in the middle of the room, surrounded by framed pictures of his sister and her scattered belongings, sobbing in a way that broke something in her own chest. She hesitated in the doorway.

Had she come at the wrong moment? She wondered, careful not to let her own eyes land on the framed photos, keeping her gaze fixed instead on his back, still turned away from her.