Page 32 of The Cabin-A Reverse Harem Romance
I slid off of the bed and rushed downstairs. Trevor had already opened the door and was screaming at Brad, who looked inebriated once more. His speech was slurred, his eyes were glassy, and the closer I got to him, the more he reeked of whiskey. Great. Dealing with a pissed off drunk. Seemed to be a regular occurrence with him.
Brad started shouting, “Elle, I love you, baby. I swear, I won’t lay a hand on you again. It was a mistake. It won’t happen again. I promise.”
Trevor grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him against the wall. Brad spat in his face and giggled to himself, apparently pleased with his little victory. Trevor drew his arm back and was ready to put his fist through Brad’s face. I got there just in time to grab his arm before his hand collided with Brad’s nose again.
“No,” I said. “Violence won’t solve anything.”
“What the fuck, man?” Trevor snarled. “This asshole has it coming.”
His eyes were filled with anger, a rage boiled just underneath the surface, and part of it was directed at me.
“Let him go,” I said.
Trevor didn’t immediately let him go, but a voice from the stairwell caused us all to turn around.
“Listen to Chase,” Elise said softly.
She walked down to the bottom of the stairway, and Trevor still held Brad by the shoulders. She repeated herself, her voice a little firmer and more resolute.
“Trevor, let him go,” she said. “I have something I need to say to him.”
Trevor reluctantly dropped Brad back down to his feet, and backed off a few steps, but stayed near. Elise walked over to Brad, a defiant look on her face as she held her chin up high. She walked closer than I was comfortable with, but Trevor was right there and so was I. If Brad tried anything, he’d have to contend with us, and I wouldn’t stop Trevor from turning his face into raw meat if it meant keeping Elise out of harm’s way. Hell, I’d help him. I may have been the calm one of the groups, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want an excuse to bloody the guy up, or that I was incapable of delivering a beating. Especially after seeing the bruise on Elise’s arm. All I wanted was an excuse.
Elise stared into Brad’s eyes, and there was nothing there. If she’d loved him at one time, that love was gone. As she looked at him, I saw nothing but a cold vacancy in her eyes. There was nothing but contempt in her face for him.
“Brad, I need you to listen to me,” she said. “You need help. Your drinking is out of control, so is your anger.”
“Elle –”
She held up a hand to stop him. “Let me finish, please. You really need to get yourself together. You’re a disappointment to not only yourself and me, but also to your family. Do you think your dad would appreciate you laying hands on a woman?”
Brad’s face twisted into a look of hatred. “Don’t bring my dad into this.”
“Why not? He’s a good man. A man who tried to raise his children right and did the best he could. Your dad would never have tolerated you putting hands on a woman. I know that as surely as I know my own name,” she said. “And that is not something I could say about you, if you were to be a father right now.”
Those words were like a gut punch, but I was proud of her. She was standing her ground, speaking her mind, but I feared where the conversation might be headed. Placing my hand on her arm, I tried to pull her attention to me. She side-eyed me, and I mouthed the words, “Careful, Elise.”
“No, he needs to know. I appreciate your offer, Chase, but I can’t live a lie,” she said, her voice trembling a bit as she turned back to her ex. Brad scoffed, rolling his eyes and stumbling a bit before catching himself against the wall. He was swaying on his feet, barely able to stand. When he looked at her though, it was with the most baleful, hateful expression I’d ever seen.
He said, “You want to fucking shame me?” he sneered. “You keep comparing me to my dad. Hell, you keep comparing me to your fucking dead brother.”
“Don’t you dare bring Aaron into this,” Elise said. “You’re not even half the man he was.”
“Oh yeah? A man that couldn’t even control his drug problem? A man who killed himself because he couldn’t handle the pain any longer?” he spat. “What a great role model to have, Elle. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were fucking your own –”
That was it. Bringing Aaron into this was too much for me. Before I could stop myself, my fist connected with the side of his face, the crack of flesh meeting flesh as loud as a gunshot. The calm, always in control Chase had lost it. This time, it was Nolan who grabbed me, pulling me back from Brad who was now cursing at me. I hadn’t hit him hard. It could have been a lot worse. I knew my own strength – I’d one broken a man’s jaw in self-defense once. But I pulled my punch with Brad just a bit. I shouldn’t have. But I did. His jaw wasn’t broken, and he was going to live, so he was lucky.
