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Where Lachlan is forged from grit and iron, a man who builds, bleeds, and stands his ground with quiet conviction, Bron is a parasite. A hollow shell dressed in expensive clothes and falsecharm, living off the shadows of the man he’ll never become. He wears entitlement like a birthright, arrogance like armor, but beneath it all, he’s weak. Manipulative. Rotten to the core, just like his mother.

My chest heaves, my fists clench tight at my sides as I stalk down the steps after him. The pavement is dark with rain, and the sky groans overhead, but all I see is red.

“Van, what the fuck?” Bron shouts, scrambling up like a cornered rat, his dark hair plastered to his face, his clothes clinging to his scrawny frame.

“You think I’m going to let you show up and beat on her door like some unhinged prick?” I snarl, advancing until I’m towering over him. “Get away from her.”

“Are you serious?” he spits back. “She’s my girlfriend. You can’t tell me—”

“Do you want to bet?” I edge closer and swallow my smirk when he scuttles back. “Is that how you think you should treat yourgirlfriend,Bron? Calling her disgusting names and kicking her door at six in the fucking morning?”

The muscles of his throat bob and I can almost hear the gulp as it goes down. “It’s none of your business what I do with her. She—”

My fingers fist in his wet collar and I drag him to me until we’re nose to nose. “Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, fucker. I’m making it my business. I will beat you into the ground if you evertreat any woman like that, but I’ll bury you alive if you ever do that to Everly again.”

He’s breathing hard, not from fear. There is none in his eyes, but restraint. He wants to hit me. He wants to drive his balled fists into my face, but he’s a coward. He knows he’d only get the one hit before I snap him like a twig.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about. That bitch—”

I hit him.

It’s satisfying and beautiful watching my knuckles split his lip and send his whole body sailing sideways. The crunch of bones hitting concrete sings through me and I relish it for a whole heartbeat before Lachlan’s in front of me.

“Move,” I warn him.

Friend or not, this is the one time he’s not going to stop me.

“He hit me,” Bron’s shrieking, cupping a hand over the blood oozing down his face. “That motherfucker hit me.” He runs a shaky fist across his bloody mouth. “I’m fucking suing you. I’m calling Sheriff Brewer and—”

“In that case, I better make it worth your lawyer costs.”

Lachlan slaps a hand on my chest, stopping me. He gives me a razor-sharp stare before facing his son. The space between them is closed in two strides and Lachlan has Bron by the front of his hoodie.

“Get back in your truck and go home,” he growls into the boy’s stricken expression.

Wide-eyed and baffled, Bron stares into his father’s face. I don’t think Lachlan has ever put his hands on the prick.

“You’re going to let him get away with this? He hit me!”

“You fucking deserved it,” Lachlan snarls back. “He should have hit you harder for that shit you just pulled. When did I raise you to—?”

“Whendidyou raise me,Dad?”Bron spits blood at their feet. “Go on, tell me. Was it between the months you left the house every chance you got to get away from your responsibilities?” Lachlan’s hands curl into fists at his sides, but he doesn’t speak. Bron barks a laugh at his silence. “You left us. Couldn’t even be bothered to care if we lived or died. Now, you come charging in here like some white knight. Like you’re going to save the day. Did she call you? Did she beg you to be her hero?”

“That’s enough,” Lachlan warns.

“No,” Bron snaps, eyes burning. “It’s not. Because you don’t get to show up now pretending to be the man you never were. You’re not a hero,Dad.You’re just a pathetic, old man who couldn’t keep his wife from fucking half the block, couldn’t save his marriage, couldn’t raise his son. Now, you’re a sick pervert on top of all that for getting hard for a girl half your age.”

Fuck this.

I shove Lachlan aside and grab the troll by the throat. With the same momentum, I drive him back straight into the front of his shiny truck.

“Van!”

I ignore Lachlan as I bear down on the flailing worm caught in my clutches.

“Your dad is a fucking saint putting up with you and your viper of a mother. Grow the fuck up and be grateful that at least one parent still wanted you. Sure as fuck wasn’t your mother, was it, Bron? She dropped you the second the money stopped, and she found a new dick. Think about that as you get the fuck out of my face.”

I thrust him towards the driver’s side, certain he’d get the hint and leave.