Page 66 of Kill for a Kiss

Stanley catches my fist this time, twisting my arm. My shoulder flares white-hot with pain.

“Still full of that Song-Smith superiority complex,” he breathes near my ear. “Daddy’s favorite boy playing merc with a big heart in the backwoods. Meanwhile, I kept the estate from falling apart while Damon’s been away. I kept Ellesafe.”

The moment he says her name, something inside me snaps. I twist out of the hold and drive my elbow into his gut. He coughs, doubling over. I grab the front of his shirt, nearly ripping it, and slam him against a tree trunk. “You think you kept Ellesafewhile you helped Clo feed Elle lies and drugs?”

“Elle came tome!”

I punch himhard. He staggers back, blood spraying from his nose, but he doesn’t relent, still smirking like an arrogant asshole. “You don’t know what she needs,” I growl.

“Oh?” His voice drips with venom. “And you do, Sterling? When all you do is disappear like a ghost when shit gets real? You think showing up late with a guilty conscience makes you her savior?”

He laughs, even as blood trails down his chin.

“She was minefirst,” he says. “You’re just the replacement.”

Everything in me goes still. Then it all burns. My pulse spikes so fast I can hear it thundering in my ears. The trees blur. The air thickens. My hands are on him, fists formed so tightly my knuckles pop from the pressure.

I don’t think. I only see red. A searing, suffocating red. Then he does something I should’ve seen coming. He spits, right below my eye. The moment of disgusted shock costs me. I rear back with a curse, hand flying up to wipe it away, and that’s all he needs. He twists, shoves, and for a split second I’m off balance. He scrambles away, spitting blood as he coughs out a laugh.

“Still so easy to distract,” he taunts. “Guess I’m still the better brother.”

“You’re a fucking cockroach, Stanley.”

He shrugs. “Better a cockroach than the asshole who left.”

We circle each other now. He’s bruised and bleeding. I’m seething and focused.

“She wantsme, Sterling. Not you.”

“She wants you, huh?” I echo, voice dripping with disdain and disbelief. “Where the hell do you get the balls to say shit like that, Stanley? Elle isn’t yours. Never was.”

His nostrils flare. That struck deep. Good, because I want it to. He steps forward, fists flexing. “You’re talking real loud for a man who didn’t even show up until after she was broken.”

I stop cold. My blood boils. My breath comes slow, on purpose. I need to keep control, but I feel the leash slipping. It’sbeenslipping.

He rolls his shoulders back, dropping into a familiar stance. We used to practice like this, back when we were dumb boys with bruised knuckles and bleeding mouths. But this isn’t sparring anymore. This is war.

“Come on,” he taunts again. “Let’s see if you’ve still got it, dokkaebi.”

I circle him, calm, lethal, still calculating. He mirrors me. Copycat bastard. Second-rate Song-Smith.

“You know,” Stanley says casually, “I’ve gotten good at tracking you.”

I keep circling. I don’t speak, don’t blink. I’m waiting for an opening to strike and take him down. Make him useless. Insignificant. Like the insect he fucking is.

“I had to,” he continues. “You think you’re the only one who ran? You think you’re the only one who felt like they didn’t belong in that fucked-up family?”

I shouldn’t pause, but I do, even if it’s for a second. He sees it.

“I chased after you the moment I realized you weren’t coming back all those years ago,” he says, seething. “Thought I could find a reason why one of my brothers left us behind.”

I clench my jaw, but I don’t bite back.

“You were untrackable to a kid like me back then.” He grins too wide. “And now, I found you a lot faster. So easy. Almost like you wanted me to.”

“You talk too damn much,” I snap, and then launch. My fist cracks across his jaw before he can react. The hit snaps his head sideways, blood spattering from his lip. He stumbles but doesn’t fall. I follow and drive a knee into his ribs. My elbow goes to his temple.

He laughs, blocking with his forearm. “Nice try, temper tantrum.”