asks, his shoulders heaving with heavy breath.
I rub at my jaw, stretch it to ease the pain, and pull my hand down to rub the blood between my fingers.
“I told her I’d apologize for that every day for the rest of my life.”
He grins.
“Sounds like something she’d require. Red isn’t one to let that go until you’ve learned your damn lesson.”
Which is why she’s a queen, even if she won’t accept the truth.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Did she hand your ass to you?”
My grin matches his.
“I had to kick in her front door and bedroom door to get to her. Then she yelled at me so loud her brother came in and tried to beat my ass.”
Damon’s head lifts, a stare that is identical to mine pinning me in place.
“Dylan tried to fight you?”
“To protect her.”
His brow cocks, the expression almost lost to the swelling in his face.
“About time.”
“We’ll probably need to teach him to fight. I was able to throw him off way too easily.”
Nodding at that, Damon exhales heavily.
“I know you love her, Ezra. It’s impossible not to. And if this is what makes both of you happy, then I’m okay with it.”
Relief floods me, my shoulders withering as I blink sweat from my eyes.
“Thank you.”
Dropping his face into his hands, Damon sits still for several minutes, the chaos swirling and snapping again.
There’s nothing I can say to calm that storm, to stop the spinning. He just needs to get to a point where he can let it go.
Eventually, he lifts his head again and asks, “Do you need me to talk to her? Tell her that I can live with this?”
I nod. “She won’t do this if you don’t.”
Pain flashes across his expression. Not that I don’t understand. I’d be torn as fuck if I had to tell Emily that I give my blessings for her to be with another man.
“I’ll talk to her,” he says as he pushes up to his feet.
Taking a few steps to leave, he stops in place and turns back to me.
“Treat her right, Ezra. I think you already know I’ll kill you if you ever hurt her.”
“I’d expect nothing less,” I answer, thankful that my brother will hold my feet to the fire if I start acting stupid again.
His jaw tics, but he nods his head and leaves the kitchen.
My head falls back against the cabinet again, blood still leaking from a cut on my face, and my heart crushed in my chest.
I’m worried about Damon, and once again feeling like there’s nothing I can do to help him.
One of these days, all of this shit needs to come to a head, but until then, I’ll work my ass off just to keep Damon sane.
Whatever it takes when it comes to him.
Whatever I have to do to bring him back from the edge of the cliff he’s been standing on for too many years, his eyes staring down into the depths as he decides whether to jump or step away.
Emily
The second Damon’s truck pulls into my driveway, I’m hauling butt outside. I was expecting Ezra to come back. But not this.
Waking up alone meant Ezra was out dealing with the problems between us, my throat going dry to think of how he planned to tear down the barriers.
I’ve been keeping an eye outside for hours, the flash of sunlight off a moving vehicle drawing my immediate attention.
Seeing that it’s Damon concerns me, but I wait until he’s parked behind my car to start across the driveway.
He climbs out before I get to him, turning a little to stare at the back of my car.
“What happened here?”
Which reminds me, “I got into an accident yesterday. A woman rear-ended me, and I recognized-“
My words die off as soon as he turns to face me. Rage explodes through my body, violent enough that I’m shaking when I run up to him and reach up to examine the injuries to his face.
“What the hell happened? Where’s Ezra?”
I swear to everything holy that if Ezra caused this, I’m going to hunt him down and break my promise all over again. This is exactly what I was worried he would do.
Damon laughs like it’s funny - like it’s funny - his swollen eyes softening to look at me.
“Red, relax. It’s not an issue.”
“Not an issue? Are you kidding me? How is this not an issue? Your face is bruised.”
Another soft laugh, his fingers reaching over to smooth a muscle jumping above my eye.
Instead of telling me what happened, he