CHAPTER EIGHT
Aidan came awake with the taste of rage bitter on his tongue. As he heard the fighting outside his bedroom, his anger built to a stellar level.
"Leta," he snarled, throwing himself toward the door. He snatched it open to see her on the floor at Donnie's feet.
Without stopping, he dove at his brother, catching him about the shoulders before they fell to the ground. His gaze turning red, Aidan slugged him with everything he was worth, over and over again. Donnie tried to throw him off, but he was having none of it. He was through with his brother's crap.
"I hate you," Donnie shouted.
"Feeling's mutual," Aidan said an instant before he slammed Donnie's head against the slate floor as hard as he could. Blood exploded over the hardwood floor. His brother's blood should have appeased him. It didn't.
And as he looked into his brother's dilated eyes that were an exact match to the shade of his own, Aidan wanted to weep.
How had they come to this? How?
That moment of weakness cost him as Donnie kicked him back. His brother grabbed him by the shoulders and rolled until Aidan was pinned to the floor. There was no mercy in Donnie's eyes as he rained blows on Aidan.
"How could you?" Aidan demanded furiously as he blocked most of the hits.
"Because I hate you, you piece of shit. You got everything that should have been mine. Everything! The looks, the money, the hot girlfriend. It's not fair for you to have so much and for me to have so little."
That was so not true. Donnie had been even better looking than Aidan when he'd been younger. Where Aidan had been lean and had to work for muscle tone, Donnie had always been naturally muscled. Donnie had been the one to get married and have a family. Tracy had only left him because he'd cheated on her. As for the money, Donnie could have had that too, but rather than start a business for himself, he'd been content to make the steady salary of a cable installer. Good money that he'd spent on drugs, alcohol, and strippers-which had also caused the break-up of his marriage. "You're insane."
"Yeah and you're a dick. Do you have any idea what it's like to watch your wife lust after your kid brother? To listen to her sing your brother's praises and tell you how you don't measure up?"
What was he talking about? Tracy had never seen him as anything more than a little brother. Donnie's wife had barely even spoken to him the handful of times he'd been around her.
"Youstole Heather from me."
"No," Donnie said bitterly. "The bitch still loved you even after we hooked up. All she could talk about was you and how good-looking you were. How much money you made and all the great places you'd taken her when you dated. How you couldn't go out without being mobbed by people who loved you. She was as obsessed with you as Tracy was. It's why I offered her soul to Dolor first."
Aidan was so stunned by the words that he allowed Donnie to land a solid punch on his jaw. He tasted blood before he kicked him back. "What?"
Donnie caught himself. He stood before Aidan with twisted lips, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Whiny fucking bitch. The only reason she even went with me was to hurt you. She didn't care about me. She just wanted you to think there was someone out there who didn't find you irresistible. She thought you'd come crawling back to her, begging for her to take you back. So I broke out of jail, cut her throat, and used her blood to wake Dolor."
Aidan cursed. His heart bleak, he rushed at Donnie and caught him in a headlock. He glanced to Leta on the floor who appeared to be breathing easier than she had before. He wanted to check on her, but knew better than to try. Donnie wouldn't let him near her until he was down for the count.
Aidan tightened his hold on Donnie's neck. "How could you kill Ronald? He was your son!"
"He may have been my blood," he said in a raspy tone, "but he wasn't my son. He loved you more than me. He always did. My house wasn't as fancy as Uncle Aidan's. My money wasn't as good. He wanted to apologize to you. Tell you how sorry he was for everything we'd done. He said we had no right to hurt you, so I told Dolor to take him out and use his body to get to you."
Aidan felt sick at the words. How could his brother be reduced to this? "I loved you, Donnie. I would have done anything in the world for you." His grip loosened as he tried to reach through the hatred to find the brother he'd once known and loved.
"Then die." Donnie spun on him with a kick that landed hard on Aidan's ribs.
Aidan grunted as he caught his balance.
Donnie pulled a knife out of his pocket and flipped it open. Aidan caught his wrist before Donnie could plunge it into him. He wrenched Donnie's hand and sent the knife flying before he backhanded him and kicked him down.
Aidan sneered at him. "I never once in my life thought I was better than you until now. I could never have hurt my family the way you have. Loyalty is everything to me. It always has been and always will be. But you... you don't know how to love. Your jealousy won't even let you recognize it when you have it. I can't hate you anymore, you wretched excuse for a human. All I can do is feel sorry for you."
Donnie shrieked before he ran at him.
Aidan caught him and slung him back to the ground.
"You're pathetic."
Donnie pushed himself up. "You're the one who's pathetic. You got nothing now."
"Not true. I have my dignity and a million people in this world who love me. The only thing you have in your life is anger, bitterness, and a mistrust that you'll never overcome. All you know how to do is envy other people. You'll never have anything. Your hatred and greed won't let you."
Donnie launched himself at Aidan, but before he could reach him, Leta was there between them. She kicked Donnie back.
Aidan kissed her hand before he stepped around her. "Thank you, Donnie, for allowing me to recognize and appreciate real friendship. Had you not screwed me over, I would have married Heather and allowed her to make me miserable for the rest of my life, because unlike you, I don't walk away from important relationships. I don't turn my back on the people I love. Hell, I was even one step away from signing my entire estate over to her before we married. More than that, you flushed all the snakes out of my garden and set me free."