Page 98 of Oathbreaker

I really fucking hate this, but I’m done. One way or another, this has to be settled. I would hate for him to not be in our lives but no one—not even one of my brothers—is going to keep me from my woman and my kid. Period.

“Whatever the fuck is going on with you, it needs to end now. Today.” I approach him without hesitation. He’s wider than I am, but I’m taller and faster. At least, I used to be faster.

“You don’t get to tell me how to feel,” Dash snarls.

“I don’t,” I agree, “but you don’t get to make Briar feel like she has to choose because I promise you—she’ll choose me.” That’s kind of a dick thing to say but he has to get past this. Somehow, some way, he has to realize she and I are a package deal.

His nostrils flare and he glares at me. “The fuck she will.”

“Dude. She loves me, and I love her. And I’m. Not. Leaving. I love both of them, more than my own life, so whatever needs to happen for you to let this go, then do it.”

“Be careful what you wish for.”

“What? You need to take a swing? Go for it. But then it’s done.”

Dash scowls, his face taut with tension as we stare each other down.

I’m not afraid of him but I'm also not back to one hundred percent yet—he could probably hurt me if he wanted to. Maybe. I’m still pretty tough.

It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking, the expression on his face shrouded but intense.

Finally, he lets out a long, put-upon sigh, the tension seeming to drain from his large frame as he says, “Fine.”

I’m not stupid—I know what’s coming, so I brace myself as he throws a punch that glances off my jaw.

Jesus, he’s still got the hardest right hook I’ve ever taken from anyone.

But I don’t react, don’t move, barely breathe…merely continue standing there, watching him. Waiting.

“You feel better?” I ask blandly. “We done now?”

Dash takes a step closer, his body taut again. “No.”

Then he yanks me into a hug that nearly suffocates me.

“What the fuck, man? Why didn't you tell me you were going back in?” he growls against my ear.

“Because you would have followed me—and somebody had to stay here to take care of Briar.”

My words seem to penetrate something deep inside him because he slowly pulls away and stares at me. Long and hard. Like he can’t quite believe it’s me, that I’m really here.

“You still should have talked to me, let me know the plan.”

“You wouldn’t have listened,” I reply. “We were attached at the hip. And with that kind of danger, we couldn’t both go in.”

“You left her… pregnant.”

“I didn’t know—I swear on Frankie’s life, I had no idea she was pregnant.”

He stares at me, a contemplative expression on his face.

“You have to believe I would’ve done things differently if I had known,” I continue.

He hesitates but then nods. “Yeah, I do know.”

Thank fuck.

“Fuck, it’s good to have you back,” he says quietly, pulling me in for another hug.