Page 75 of Man of Honor
If he heard me, he gave no sign. He was drowning in so much rage, he didn’t even slow down.
Dominic wasn’t fighting back. Not the way I’d expect, anyway. His hands were braced flat on Gage’s chest like he was trying to hold back a wild animal. “Gage,” he gasped. “You don’t?—”
Another punch cut him off, splitting his lip and sending blood spraying across the floor. His head snapped back, crimson streaking his face, but still, Gage wasn’t letting up. No matter how satisfying it was to get some payback, I had to stop him. If he accidentally killed his brother, it would break him. He’d never get over it.
“Gage,” I tried again, louder this time, but my throat felt like sandpaper. I shifted in the broken chair, tugging at my ties until my wrists screamed.
“Gage!”The voice cracked through the cabin like a gunshot, and Gage froze, knuckles hovering an inch from his brother’s bloodied face.
Gideon strode into the cabin like a force of nature, and for a moment, the storm outside seemed to calm. “Get the hell off him,” he commanded, low and lethal.
“He fuckingdeservesthis!” Gage spat, voice trembling with raw fury.
“I saidget off him.” Gideon wasn’t yelling. He didn’t even raise his voice, but somehow, that made him all the more dangerous. His fists flexed at his sides, and his breathing was measured but heavy, like he was holding himself back through sheer force of will.
The hair on the back of my neck lifted. Gideon wasn’t just stepping into the violence, he was soaking in it, wearing it like a second skin. His eyes were locked on Dominic’s bloodied face, but he didn’t look angry or disgusted. He looked at Dominic like he was something precious that had been mishandled, a relic dragged through mud, and he couldn’t decide whether to save him or break him the rest of the way. I had the sense of a tether between them that was fraying but hadn’t quite snapped.
For a second, I thought Gage would defy him. Then, slowly, he sat back on his heels, clutching Dominic’s collar in one hand while his free hand twitched at his side, like he didn’t know what to do without a target.
Gideon crossed the room and reached down to grab Gage by the arm, hauling him to his feet with one commanding yank. “Let go,” he ordered. “Let him talk.”
Dominic coughed, spitting blood onto the floor, but his defiant glare didn’t waver. “You don’t get it,” he said in a garbled voice. “You don’t even know what he’s done. I was protecting you.”
Gage’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll tell you what he’s done,” he snapped. “Hesavedme. He pulled me out of this godforsaken place before it could kill me. He watched out for me, cared for me, believed in me…even when I didn’t believe in myself. It doesn’t matter whatyou think he did because Wyatt ismine.I’llalwaysside with him over anyone. Even you.”
Dominic flinched.
Gideon’s tone was frigid. “Explain yourself, Dom. What did Wyatt do?”
Dominic’s gaze darted between his brothers, and then his shoulders slumped. He nodded at Marcel, standing uneasily by the door. Clearly, this wasn’t how Dominic had wanted things to go. I understood that much. He didn’t want to break Gage’s heart any more than I did.
Reluctantly, Marcel pulled a rolled-up file from his pocket and handed it over. “It’s all there,” he said apologetically. “Prints, computer logs, everything.”
Gideon flipped through the pages, keen-eyed, and then he passed the file to Gage.
Gage held the file like it was a venomous snake. As he read, his brows drew together and his expression darkened.
“Gage,” I croaked from the floor, trying to catch his eyes. I needed him to look at me, see me, believe me. “It’s not what it looks like.”
Gage didn’t look at me. He reached the end of the file, snapped it shut, and hurled it at Dominic’s chest. “Only a stupid, untrusting sonofabitch like you would believe that bullshit!” he snarled. “You think you’re so goddamn smart, huh, Dom? The state task force starts sniffing around Vanderhoff, and suddenly the one piece of evidence that could have cleared Ben shows up with Wyatt’s prints? Some coincidence, and you’re so eager to believe the worst of him, you fell for it.”
Dominic wiped blood from his mouth and glared. “You think I’d act on nothing? Wyatt’s been meeting dirty cops, accessing restricted files?—”
“I don’t care if he hacked NASA and used their satellites to order pizza!” Gage interrupted, sharp as broken glass. “I’d still know he wasn’t doing it for personal gain. Iknowhim, Dom. Better than I know you. He loves me, and I never even had to do a thing to earn it. He’d never betray me.”
Dominic’s face twisted, and he said between clenched, bloody teeth, “If he’s innocent, why hide these things from you?”
“He was trying to protect me!” Gage lurched forward again, fists clenched at his sides. “That’s what he does. He protects people—even when it costs him everything.”
Dominic’s nostrils flared, but before he could argue, Gideon stepped between them, broad enough to cast a shadow over them both. “I warned you, Dom,” he said softly. “This road you’re headed down is only going to get worse from here. How far are you willing to go before you’ve lost everything? Will you only stop when you’ve driven us all away?”
Dominic’s lips parted, and something raw and yearning briefly flickered across his face. When he climbed to his feet, it looked painful and somehow fragile, like he’d become an old man overnight.
“I was trying to look out for Gage and Ben,” he said huskily. “I didn’t want them to hurt anymore.”
“That’s not your call to make,” Gideon replied. If they were normal brothers, he might have touched Dominic’s shoulder then, but they weren’t. He stood like a statue, implacable and expressionless.
With a sound of rage and disgust, Gage dismissed them both and headed toward me. My vision was so blurry, I could barely make out his face, but even through the haze I could read him like a book. Just like always, I could read his mood from his body alone. The quivering lines of rage were beginning to melt, sloughing off into something softer, almost tentative.