Back in my subconscious, I wondered if this is what it felt like when Michael would lose his mind in a fit of unadulterated rage.
Because I was feeling a rage unlike anything I ever thought I was capable of.
My fist came raining down on the wall next to her head, and it wasn’t until the door burst open and my brothers surrounded me, that I realized I had seriously lost all sense of sanity.
“Gabriel. Come on, Gabe…” Michael’s voice was floating around in my ear, but it sounded far away.
I felt hands on me; my shoulders, my arm, my stomach…and voices. But the voices were drowned out by the roar of blood in my ears and the sounds of my lungs trying to operate and function. My rage was holding me captive, and I wasn’t ready to be reasonable.
Aiden was standing on one side of me, with Mason on the other, and Michael in front of me, blocking me. I looked around him and saw the girls standing next to a sobbing Justice. Like her hair was a kaleidoscope of colors, she was a kaleidoscope of emotions shimming all around her.
“Gab-”
I ignored Michael and got back to screaming at Justice. “I swear to God, if you ever let another man touch you, I will fucking kill him!” I could sense my brothers wincing around me, and they weren’t wincing because I was yelling at her, threatening to kill some unknown man. No. They were wincing because they felt her challenge as men who knew what they would do if their women ever cheated on them.
“Go to hell!” she yelled back.
I knew she was in the right. I knew all her anger and hurt was warranted. I knew this was all my fault. I had been careless with her love and her loyalty. I had been neglectful, selfish and insensitive. But none of that was going to change the fact that we were married, and she wasmine.
Marriage was sacred, goddamnit.
“Gabe, maybe we-”
This time, it was Aiden I ignored, even though I knew me yelling at Justice was probably driving him to the edge.Goddamn, Aiden.My green eyes turned towards his. “She’smine,Aid-”
“I know, I know,” he said, trying to calm me down.
“Gabriel, maybe we need to leave and give Justice so-”
My eyes flew to Mason’s grey, concerned ones. “Would you leave Shane?” It was a dick thing to say, but I was beyond thinking of anything besides Justice’s threats to leave me for someone else.
Mason stepped in, pushing Michael aside, and stared down at me. In a voice that could freeze Hell, but could only be heard by us men, he hissed, “No, I wouldn’t. But I also didn’t fuck her for six years, neglecting everything else about her. This shit storm of drama isyour fault,Gabriel. Not hers! And because of that, her feelings are what matter right now,not yours.”
Mason was right.
And I knew he was right. But…
“Mason, she can’t divorce me,” I said, the pleading evident in my voice, but I really wasn’t giving a fuck. Justice could not divorce me.
His hands grabbed onto my shoulders and his eyes stayed centered on mine, trying to anchor me. “I know,” he whispered. “She won’t, Gabriel. We…we’ll figure something out. But this is not helping your case. She’s entitled to feel everything she’s feeling and if she decides to make your life miserable for the next six years to even the score, well…then she’s entitled to that, too.”
I stared at my brother and I knew he was right on all accounts. None of this was on her.
I took a deep breath and did my best to get myself under control. I gave all my brothers a short, clipped nod to let them know I was okay, and they could quit restraining me. When they stepped aside, I looked over to see Denise looking like she wanted to make a break for it, Shane looking like she was going to start crying any second now (and then God help us all), and Justice looking like a woman ready to engage in a battle to the death. Her face was blotchy, and her eyes were red, but she was standing tall and her eyes were shooting fatal daggers at me.
Before I could say anything, Justice’s voice was like the crack of a whip across the room. “Get out of my house, Gabriel.” I was about to take Mason’s advice and concede, but then she added, “And don’t come back.”
I was standing in front of her before anyone could stop me. I looked down into her blazing gaze. “I’m going to leave to give you time to calm the fuck down,” I relented. “But you’re out of your fucking mind if you think I’m not coming back. This is not over, Justice. You’re my wife. Don’t you get that? My fuckingwife.”
Her hands were fists at her side, and she let out a hollow laugh. “I’m an idiot, that’s what I am, Gabriel. A bonafide idiot and have been for six years.” She shook her head at me. “But not anymore,” she sing-songed.
Shane stepped in between us, knowing that I would automatically make room for her. “Gabriel, let’s just…give Justice some space. I’m sure having us all here is rather…uncomfortable,” she said, her voice soft and delicate.
I looked at my sister and I knew I couldn’t refuse her. She was right. And even if she wasn’t, I wasn’t going to upset her. Mason would kill me.
I glanced over at Justice. “This isn’t over, Justice. You can go ahead with your plans to divorce me, but only because I was a dick in Las Vegas, and you deserve the kind of wedding you’ve always dreamed of.”
She looked at me and it was a miracle I hadn’t dropped to my knees. “The wedding I’ve always dreamed of included a man who I planned on loving for the rest of my life, Gabriel. And that man isn’t you.”
