Surprise Delivery(83)

I stand over him, glaring daggers at my brother as he puts his hands up to his quite obviously busted nose, trying to staunch the flow of blood. There’s a look of anger in his eyes, but it’s quickly driven out by the shine of absolute fear. I’ve never hit Henry before, so this is new ground – new ground that he obviously didn’t expect and that scares him. Good.

“Duncan,” my mother gasps. “What’s gotten into you? What in the hell have you done?”

“Ask your eldest son here,” I say, my eyes still locked onto his.

Other than his groans of pain, Henry remains silent. He’s just lying there, holding his nose. Giving him a kick in the leg, I turn and walk to the sideboard, and pour myself a stiff drink. My mother continues to look at me, her eyes wide and filled with fear. Her mouth is opening and closing like a fish pulled out of the water. She’ll get her explanation once I’ve had time to have a drink or two to quiet the rage still burning within me.

I swallow down half of my drink and turn to see Henry slowly climbing to his feet. He’s glaring at me with a mixture of both hatred and fear, blood pouring out of his nose and turning his shirt a shade of scarlet. His eyes remain on me as he heads for the archway leading out of the room. I stop him before he walks out, though he asserts his last bit of defiance by refusing to turn around and look at me.

“You ever pull some shit like that again,” I warn, “and I won’t stop with just one punch. You so much as even think about her again and I’m going to fucking end you, Henry. Brother or not, I will fucking destroy you. Do you understand me?”

Without saying a word or acknowledging me or my screed, Henry continues on out of the room to clean himself up. If I was a betting man, I’d bet on him slinking out of the house without a word. That’s just who my brother is.

With him gone, I turn back to my mother. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“You’re obviously not that sorry,” she scolds. “You haven’t been able to get that self-satisfied smirk off of your face.”

“I think I have a right.”

“Oh? And tell me, what gives you the right to pummel your own brother, Duncan?”

I drain the last of my glass and then refill it before walking over and dropping down on the couch next to her. She sips her tea, looking at me with an expression of concern blended with mild disbelief.

“So? Are you going to tell me what’s happened that made you feel compelled to do – that?”

I take a sip of my drink, letting the fiery liquid calm my soul as it passes down my throat. When I feel sufficiently composed, I launch into my story, telling her everything that happened today – not to mention everything about Alexis. My mother remembers the name, but she seems to appreciate having some of the blanks filled in for her.

When I’m finished with my story, my mother looks at me sadly and shakes her head. “When will you and your brother get along?”

“When he grows up and learns that he doesn’t control me and cannot control my life,” I say. “He’s not Dad. Hell, not even Dad would interfere in my life like Henry is doing.”

She nods. “That’s true. He wouldn’t have,” she says. “He believes in learning from our mistakes.”

“Alexis is not a mistake,” I reply, my voice adamant.

“I wasn’t speaking of her,” she tells me. “I was referring to you and your brother acting like savages in my house.”

I shrug. “And I truly am sorry for that, Mom,” I say. “But Henry needs to be put in check. He’s needed to be put in check for a while now.

She sighs and looks down at her hands, which are folded neatly in her lap. “I can’t entirely deny that,” she says. “Though, I don’t agree with your methods for instruction.”

A wry laugh bubbles up and out of my throat. “I’m sure Henry doesn’t either,” I say. “But he’s one of those people who needs to have a solid impression made upon them.”

She sighs again. “I hope you’re right,” she says. “And I hope this doesn’t fracture your relationship with him forever, Duncan.”

“I hate to break it to you, Mom, but Henry and I haven’t had a relationship in a very long time,” I say.

A sad smile touches her mouth and she nods. “I know. But I’ve been hoping the two of you could patch things up. I’m not sure that’s possible after today.”

I shrug. “Honestly, it won’t bother me at all. It’s not like I’m losing out on something good.”

She grasps my hand and gives it a squeeze. “And that’s the saddest statement of all.”

Maybe she’s right. Hell, she probably is. My mom is usually right about most things. But this – this, I don’t know if it can be fixed. What Henry did out there was beyond the pale. Far beyond it.

And in this moment, I don’t really give a shit about whether I see him again in this life or not.





Twenty-Six





Alexis





It’s been about a week since “The Incident,” as we’ve come to refer to it. Duncan and I have had several long talks about it, and I’m finally feeling like I’m back on even footing again. In my heart, I know that the filth his brother was spewing isn’t how Duncan feels. I know that. But hearing somebody say those kinds of things about me, out loud and in front of a crowd no less, really threw me for a loop. It made me feel less than human.