Page 44 of Devil's Hour
Benton covered his heart with both hands. “You hurt me, big brother.”
Royce bristled with anger. “Jace will be the one doing the hurting this time.” Their older brother might be wrestling with a ton of demons, but Royce knew the man was crazy about Holly. “What. Do. You. Want?”
“I already told you. I’m here to check on you.”
Benton walked closer, and Royce could see the telltale signs of withdrawal. The sweatiness, twitching, and dilated pupils all pointed to his condition, but more than that, his younger brother looked feral and spoiling for a fight. He recognized the look well. Benton wasn’t here because he cared about Royce; he was here to get money so he could score drugs. Tension radiated off Sawyer, and Royce could tell he was coiled tight and ready to spring into action. He remembered the way Sawyer had lovingly kissed the fading bruises on his abdomen the night they stopped fighting their feelings for one another. Royce had told Sawyer he’d gotten them in a fight during a family dinner, but he never told Sawyer he’d gone into battle because of him. The memory of Benton’s cruel words reared its ugly head.
“Too bad you got stuck with the whiny, crybaby pussy for a partner. Better not turn your back to him.” Benton sneered at him across the table. “Unless you like that sort of thing.”
“Key is a good detective. I could’ve done a lot worse in partners.” Royce kept his tone neutral to avoid giving away how much Benton’s words angered him. Sawyer wasn’t just a good detective; he was a good man who didn’t deserve to be talked about in such a hateful way.
Benton snorted. “You must like his dick in your mouth.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Royce said flippantly. “You sure seem to obsess about what other men like to do with their dicks though.”
“You calling me a faggot?” Benton demanded to know.
Royce shrugged. “I don’t use that kind of language, but I think your obsession is curious.”
Benton stood up so fast his chair crashed to the floor. Pointing at Royce, he said, “You better watch it, or I’ll fuck you up.”
Royce got to his feet and met his brother’s furious glare with his own. “You can try.”
“Sit down and shut up or take it outside,” their father bellowed from his seat at the head of the table. He banged his fist on the scarred wood when neither of the brothers seemed willing to listen.
Both men sat back down and resumed eating, but the animosity between them never faded. By the end of dinner, Royce was spoiling for a physical outlet to relieve the tension that had been building inside him from fighting his attraction to Sawyer and finding out IA had been investigating Marcus. A backyard fistfight was just the thing to make him feel better. It wasn’t long before he got his chance.
“I wouldn’t get too used to having him as a partner,” Benton said. It was their turn to wash and dry dishes after dinner, giving his brother the perfect opportunity to pick right up where they left off.
Royce dropped the towel on the counter and faced Benton. “Are you threatening him?”
Benton pulled his hands out of the sink. He’d lost the coin toss and had to wash. “I don’t need to because God will sort his ass out just like He did the pansy’s husband.”
Royce saw red. He cocked his arm back and let his fist fly, landing a solid blow to his brother’s nose. Blood gushed down his chin and onto his shirt.
Benton covered his nose. “No damage to the face, asshole.” It was their one steadfast rule at the Locke Family Fight Club.
Royce followed it up with a blow to his brother’s stomach, and the fight was on. They tumbled out the kitchen door and into the back yard, exchanging kicks and punches until they were both out of breath. Royce’s midsection was battered, but he’d still come out on top.
Bending down over his prone and gasping brother, Royce said, “Shut your fucking mouth about my partner.”
The warning had bought Royce peace that lasted for nearly two months, but the reprieve was over.
Benton’s steps faltered when he glanced over at Sawyer. “Well, well, well,” he sneered. “Looks like the sissy boy wants to take me on too. You’ll have to settle for a fight because I don’t take it up the ass.”
“Let’s do it. You and me, Benton. Isn’t that how you like to settle disputes?” Sawyer balled his hands into fists and started to step around Royce, who was temporarily distracted by the corded muscles in Sawyer’s forearms. He snapped out of it when Benton laughed with wicked anticipation. “Do you want to see what thississy boyis made of, because I’m itching to teach you a lesson?”
In a fair fight, Sawyer would take Benton any day of the week, but with adrenaline and desperation coursing through his brother, Royce knew it was too much of a risk. Benton wouldn’t hesitate to pull a knife on Sawyer. Royce would rather die first than let that happen.
“I think you should go home, Key,” Royce said tersely, pulling Sawyer’s attention back to him. “I want to talk to my brother alone.”
Hurt briefly flashed in Sawyer’s eyes before he shut it down, gutting Royce. “If that’s what you want,” he said calmly while gathering his stuff. “Talk to you later, Locke.”Locke.Not Royce. Not Ro. Not even dickhead. Just an impersonal, passionless Locke like the first day they’d met.
“I’ll call you in a bit,” Royce said when Sawyer reached the door. Sawyer flipped up his hand in a wave and kept going without a backward glance. Fuck. He was in so much trouble. Royce turned his attention to Benton as soon as they were alone. “Don’t show up here unannounced and don’t insult my boyfriend.”Fuck me. This feels right.He just hoped he retained the title after tonight.
“Dad always accused you of being a pussy, but I didn’t know just how right he was until now.”
“Why do you insist on talking like an ignorant twelve-year-old?” Royce asked. “What I do with my free time and whom I choose to do it with is none of your fucking business.” Benton narrowed his eyes as the gears in his brain started to grind as he tried to form a rebuttal. Before he could respond, Royce said, “I don’t have pain pills left over from my surgery, I don’t keep cash on me, and there’s no fucking way I’m giving you my bank card to pull money out of an ATM. You’re crashing hard. You can go to the clinic for help, or you can go back to Dad’s and try to sleep it off, but you’re not staying here.”