ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR

ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR
AIDEN’S POV
‘Talk about audacity, who the hell do you think you are to tell how I should treat my mate?’
I scoffed ‘Mate you say? The same mate you treat like she is invincible? The same mate you flaunt women in her presence? Let’s face the truth brother, you have no respect whatsoever for Isabel.’
Drake laughed ‘How I treat her is none of your business Aiden. Isabel is mine and if you think you stand a chance, then you must be delusional. This tactics of yours trying to act like you care, I can see through your thick mask dude it won’t work.’
It was my turn to laugh ‘I get it Bro, you are intimidated by me. You can see how she looks at me differently, you are pained she doesn’t even spare you a second look. How pathetic’
Drake’s look became evil ‘What the fuck do you want Aiden? No matter how hard you try, Isabel belongs to me and if I see you messing with her, I will bury you alive. Try me and see’
I lowered my voice ‘Is that a threat?’
‘I know you are slow so I will say this one more fucking time. If you even try to mess with Isabel, look at her lustfully or try any fucking rubbish, I will bury you alive. You know me, and you know how much of a heartless monster I can be.’
I smirked ‘You cannot threaten me Drake; I’m not the quiet, weak boy anymore, if you try to hurt me, Nigga I will teach you never to underestimate me.’
‘All I hear is the barking of a lonely dog who is desperate for a female’s attention because he hasn’t been getting any.’
I shook my head in disbelief ‘How hilarious, you think I’m desperate? I’m not the person who is hiding his pain by sleeping with anything in skirts thinking it will make him feel better’
He walked towards me slowly, his eyes blazing but I wasn’t going to back down.
‘And what exactly does that mean?’ he asked, his eyes narrowing.
I hissed ‘Listen, I don’t have the time to go back and forth with you. Believe I want to, but I don’t have that time. I’m here to talk about Isabel.’
He rolled his eyes and sat down ‘Why are you so obsessed with Isabel?’
I ignored the question and went ahead to tell him what I came here to say.
‘Why in lights name did you tell Isabel not to visit her sick Mum? How heartless can you be?’
He muttered ‘I don’t see how that is any of your business.’
‘It’s my business Brother. She came to you for something simple, something she needs. To see her mother. And you shut her down.’
Drake’s eyes flashed, his voice a low growl. ‘You think I don’t have reasons? You think I can just let her wander in and out of this house, risk, exposure….’
‘Risk what?’ I snapped. ‘Risk her remembering she is an actual person? Risk her holding on to the only family she has left? You are not protecting her, Drake. You are suffocating her and we both know it’s for your selfish desires.’
He shot to his feet, the desk rattling from the force. ‘Careful, little brother.’ His voice was sharp enough to cut. ‘You forget who you are speaking to.’
‘No,’ I said, stepping closer, refusing to back down. ‘I’m well aware of who am speaking to. I’m speaking to my brother. The one who used to know what it meant to fight for the people he loves. Or have you buried that part of yourself so deep it doesn’t exist anymore?’
For a second, something flickered in his eyes…..pain, anger, memory. Then it hardened again.
‘You don’t get to lecture me about love,’ he spat. ‘Not after what you did. Not after raising your hand against me’
My fists clenched at my sides. ‘You think I wanted that fight? You think I enjoyed it? I did it because someone had to stand up to you. Because you can’t keep bulldozing through everyone like their lives mean nothing.’
His nostrils flared, his chest rising and falling with the force of his breathing. The silence between us was a storm, crackling with years of resentment.
Finally, I said, quieter but firmer, ‘Isabel isn’t your pawn, Drake. She’s not your outlet for pain, or control, or whatever twisted thing you are trying to bury. She is a woman who just wants to see her mother. And if you can’t grant her that… then maybe you are more of a monster than even I thought.’
The words hung heavy in the air.
Drake’s hands gripped the edge of the desk until his knuckles whitened. His eyes, dark and furious, locked on mine. ‘Get out,’ he said, voice low with barely controlled rage.
But I didn’t move. Not yet. Because for the first time, I saw it…..the crack in his armor. A flicker of guilt, of conflict, buried deep but there all the same.
And I knew, whether he admitted it or not, I had struck a nerve.