Chapter 1026
[ 656 words ]
“I’m calling him right now,” Anders said, already dialing. Damn it. They were just having a card game together, and Yvonne wrecked them all. If Xander took that kind of beating, then surely his brother Shawn must’ve gotten it twice as bad.
Grumbling to himself, Anders hit “call” and put the phone to his ear.
On the other end, Shawn was having trouble believing his own reality. At first, he figured he’d only been barred from driving up—just hoof it down the main road for twenty miles. That alone made him want to curl up and die. But now?
Apparently, he wasn’t even allowed on the main road. He had to take the back way home.
He pulled up Google Maps and stared. The route snaking through back roads was nearly forty miles. Forty.
Shawn nearly passed out on the spot.
He could still hear the guard’s words echoing: “This road belongs to the Quinn family. If they say you can’t use it, then you can’t use it. Period.”
Furious, Shawn actually slapped himself twice. Dammit, why’d he have to mouth off and piss off Yvonne? Wait! He told himself not to even think about her like that. If she could read minds, he’d be dead for sure.
But ‘crazy woman’ had just slipped out earlier-right from the heart, too—and of course one of Yvonne’s people overheard him. Snitched right away.
Seething, Shawn was about to try Xander’s number again when Anders’s call popped up.
He picked up. “What do you want?” His voice was weak, all the fight gone. Just thinking about the slog ahead made his legs hurt already.
On the other end, Anders heard that defeated tone and imagined the worst. “Wait- did you get beaten up?”
Shawn was baffled. “What?”
“Yvonne did it, right?” Anders insisted.
Shawn was silent.
Anders huffed, “Honestly, serves you right! You’re Xander’s brother. If
Xander somehow walked away without a scratch, then you should’ve ended up in the hospital for at least two weeks!” Hearing how exhausted Shawn sounded, Anders felt oddly vindicated. Finally, some balance! No way should his guys be the only ones getting worked over. If you break the rules, everyone pays.
Shawn’s nerves were already shot, and Anders’s talk of hospital stays made him snap. “Are you actually deranged?” he shot back. Couldn’t this guy wish him well for once?
Why did he deal with people like this? sŵnovels
MS
Anders didn’t skip a beat: “Yeah, I’m deranged as hell! You all made me this way— watching us get pounded and you just stood by. You didn’t even ask what was happening!”
“He’s my brother. Why would I help you? Just who do you think you are to me?” Shawn said coldly, as if Anders had lost track of his own place in the world.
Anders scoffed, “Well, good for you! Now you’re beaten half to death yourself. How’s that for justice?”
“Who the hell told you I got beaten up?” Shawn spat. Every sentence rubbed salt in his wounds. Half-dead, month in the hospital, sick of hearing it.
“I don’t need anyone to tell me,” Anders shot back. “Listen to yourself-any weaker and you’d be in a coma.”
Shawn fumed, “Hate to disappoint, but I wasn’t beaten. Guess you’ll just have to live with that! Honestly, it’s a tragedy Yvonne didn’t finish you off back then, you pathetic loser.”
“Excuse me, you’re the ones who should be mourning you all played scapegoat for her. We got off easy because you absorbed all her rage!” fumed Shawn, venting every drop of frustration onto Anders.
Anders was stunned. “Wait, what? You didn’t get hit either?” This whole thing was absurd. Xander walks away untouched, and now Shawn too?
“That’s right. Not a scratch. Only you scapegoats got a beating.”
Anders was speechless. Unbelievable.
On the sidelines, Dan overheard everything from the speakerphone. The fury hit him right in the chest, threatening to blow him apart. Goddamn that woman he e could” grudgingly accept Xander catching a break because of the kid, but what about his brother? What divine favor did he have, anyway?
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