“That’s far enough, asshole.”
I closed my eyes the second Damien spoke, and in my heart, I knew what was about to happen.
“I’m gonna give you two seconds to step aside so I can talk to me girl real quick.”
Oh, God.
“Your girl?” Damien snapped, stepping forward, getting in Dante’s face. “She’s not fucking yours, you piece of shit.”
Aideen’s brothers were the only men I knew to all be as tall as the Slater brothers. Even as tall as Dante was though, Damien had two or three inches on him. I rushed over to Alec and Kane, who were just watching the lads like they were having a casual conversation.
“Do somethin’!” I demanded. “Right now!”
Kane glanced at me, then up to the lads again, dismissing me without a word.
I turned to Alec. “Please!”
“Not yet,” he answered without looking at me.
“I hate to break it to you, mate,” Dante quipped from behind me. “But she sure as hell isn’t yours!”
I sucked in a strangled breath as a dark cloud of what I knew was fury fell over Damien.
“Please,” I begged, rushing forward and squeezing between them. “Can we all just stop and breathe for a minute? This doesn’t need to end in violence.”
“No violence?” Alec repeated. “That doesn’t seem right.”
Kane snorted but kept his eyes trained on his future brother-in-law.
“Kane, do you think this is goin’ to sit well with Aideen?” I asked, hoping he would see reason. “Do you think she is goin’ to be understandin’ of you fightin’ ’er brother? Because you know you’re gonna fight ’im if he hits Damien.”
“I’m not going to fight,” he said with confidence. “I’ll just break it up if it pops off.”
“Mr Collins!” I hollered desperately for the only man who I knew would end this madness. “Mr Collins, sir!”
“He’s gone to lunch, good lookin’.”
“JJ!” I shouted, ignoring Dante. “Harley!”
“We’re ’ere, Alannah,” JJ answered from across the room. “But you need to move aside so they can sort out their differences, darlin’.”
“Fuck you, JJ!” I snapped. “And you, Harley. Neither of you speak to me again.”
“What about Gav?” Harley huffed. “He’s ’ere, and he’s not plannin’ on stoppin’ them either.”
“Fuck ’im, too!”
“Thanks a lot, dickhead,” Gavin grumbled to his brother. “Now she’s gonna ignore me when she sees me next. She’s not like Bronagh; she’s doesn’t hit me when I piss ’er off, she ignores me. Silence hurts way worse.”
I ignored them all and focused on the Collins brother who was causing me so much trouble. I shoved Dante’s chest with both of my hands, though the action didn’t make him stumble back like I’d hoped it would.
“Stop this, you’re eggin’ ’im on for no reason.”
“I have me reasons,” Dante replied to me but kept his eyes over my head as he stared Damien down. “Plenty of ’em.”
He was a lost cause, so I turned and looked up at Damien.
“Please,” I begged. “Don’t fight, Damien.”
“He called you his when you’re not.”
“Well.” Dante chuckled. “She sure as hell isn’t yours, bud, or she wouldn’t have had been on my cock otherwise.”
Damien attempted to swing at Dante, but because I was directly in the middle of the pair, he stopped before I could get hurt. His eyes though … I had never seen anger like it dwell in them before.
“Just stop!” I screamed as I pushed Damien back by his chest. “Look at me!”
He did; his eyes dropped to mine, and they softened almost instantly.
“Please,” I begged him. “Don’t do this. I hate fightin’.”
The tension in his face slowly began to fade away.
“You better listen to ’er, Slater,” Dante sneered. “Otherwise, I’ll have to fuck up that pretty face of yours some more then talk to me girl.”
Dante had the audacity to slap my behind for no other reason than to start a fight by claiming I was his. Damien’s eyes hardened once more, and he moved around me so fast I barely had time to register it. I screamed as Damien and Dante collided, but thankfully, it only lasted maybe thirty or so seconds before all the lads pulled them apart. I hadn’t realised I was crying until the shouting stopped, and my cries could be heard.
“I said stop!” I bellowed. “I don’t want anyone to fight!”
Both Damien and Dante were breathing like enraged bulls and glaring at each other. Dante’s nose was gushing blood, but Damien wasn’t bleeding. He looked as if he faired better out of the pair of them. I wasn’t even sure if they heard a word I said, but I knew the others did because I received a frown from each of them.
“Ye’know what?” I said to pair of saps, sniffling. “Kill each other for all I care. I’ve bigger things to worry about than your poxy egos.”
I stormed forward, snatched my keys from Harley’s hand without a thank you, and headed for my car.
“Alannah!” Damien shouted. “Please, wait. I’m sorry! Baby, wait!”
I ignored him. I got into my car, started the engine, and pulled out of the garage. Driving in the direction of my parents’ house, I did nothing but cry. My chest was rising and falling rapidly, and my hands had a death grip on my steering wheel. I was furious and hurt. Always fucking hurt. When I pulled up outside my parents’ house, I was glad to see my da’s car wasn’t in the driveway. I was a bit early for dinner, but I didn’t want to go back to my apartment and sit by myself. Not after what just happened at the garage.
When I got out of my car, I locked it and headed inside my parents’ house. The sound of my ma singing from the kitchen brought a small smile to my lips. She was always happy and always looked on the bright side of everything. I wished I was more like her and didn’t dwell on the things that made me miserable.
“Alannah, is that you, hon?”
I hung my coat on the rack.
“Yeah, Ma, it’s me.”
“Brilliant,” she chirped. “You can help me with dinner. I just got the veggies chopped. Da just called, and he will be joinin’ us tonight. Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah,” I echoed. “Great.”
I leaned against the wall and resisted the urge to smack my head against it. I’d already endured an awkward conversation with Dante and Damien today, as well as watch a fight between the stubborn eejits, and now I had to sit through a dinner with my parents and pretend I didn’t know that my da was sleeping with another woman.
Mondays fucking sucked.
“Alannah?”
I looked up. “Huh?”
My ma smiled at me.
“Hon, I’m talkin’ to you.”
She is?
“Sorry, Ma,” I said with a forced chuckle. “I was miles away.”
She came to my side and nudged me. “Is it a man who’s got you thinkin’ so hard?”
I looked at her, and the second I saw her devilish smirk, I laughed.
“You’re such a child,” I teased as I diced the chicken breasts.
“That wasn’t an answer,” she said, waggling her brows.
I shook my head, amused.
“Yeah, it’s about a man,” I said then clarified. “Two men, actually.”
“Two?” Ma whooped. “Gerrup ow’ da.”
I put down the knife, leaned my head back, and laughed until my sides hurt. She rarely spoke in slang, but when she did, it cracked me up.
“It’s not as excitin’ as it sounds,” I assured her, still chuckling. “It’s actually the complete opposite.”
“Tell me everythin’.”