Page 65 of The Billionaire's Angel

I stalked down the room to the head of the table, a tide of rage rising in my chest. He could ignore me. He could put me off. He could punish me for leaving and shut me out. I'd resigned myself to that, was even okay withit.

Going after Sophie? Fuck, no. Sophie was mine, and this was a step too fucking far. I reached Aiden's chair in a few long strides that seem to take forever and reached down, my fist closing around the knot of his tie. I hauled him up, knocking his chair back. I only took a moment to register the shock on his face before I planted my fist in the middle ofit.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Gage

Aiden went down hard.His back hit the floor, and his skull bounced on the carpet. Then he was up, lunging for me. I met him halfway, arm raised and ready to strike. He hit me with a shoulder to the gut and took me to the floor. Smart move. Aiden had wrestled in high school. He wasn't trained in combat like I was, but on the ground, he had achance.

My awareness dissolved into swinging fists, kicking feet, and grappling arms. Aiden didn't have my skill, but he was driven by rage, all his pent up resentment and anger and unspoken emotion flooding out through his clenched fists as we rolled. He pinned me, getting in a good strike to my temple before I scissored my legs and threw him off, kicking him hard in theback.

I got him in a choke hold for a few seconds, managing to get enough breath to growl out, “Keep your fucking hands off Sophie,” before he twisted free and I took another fist to thejaw.

An unexpected strike to the shoulder had me looking up to see Sophie standing above us, her arms crossed over her chest, a furious look on her face. “You two are complete idiots. I’m not going to watch grown men act likechildren.”

She strode from the room as I stared after her. Aiden let out a roar and lunged at me, catching me distracted, his fist connecting with mycheekbone.

We’d fought before. We'd grown up side-by-side and shared a room most of our childhoods. But we’d never fought like this. Over a decade of pain and anger, of betrayal and disillusionment, of grief and love, spilled through me. Somewhere in the middle of it, I realized I wasn't even madanymore.

Sophie didn't want Aiden. She was mine because she wanted to be mine, not because I declared it so. Aiden couldn't take her from me. Only Sophie could do that. If I hadn't been on such a hair trigger lately, I never would've gone for thebait.

Bait.

The word exploded in my head in a flash of understanding. God dammit.Amelia. Aiden hadn't written that note. I went limp and fell to my back just as icy water splashed over us. Shocked and sputtering, I looked up to see Mrs. W standing over us in the same posture as Sophie had, arms crossed over her chest, foot tapping, glower firmly in place. An empty water pitcher dangled from onefinger.

“You boys are too old for this nonsense,” she said in a steely voice. “This is Tate's wedding, not a circus. Go sit out back on the patio and cool off. Don't think about coming back in this house until you've worked out your differences, do you understandme?”

“Yes, ma'am,” we said in unison. Aiden and I dragged our bruised bodies out of the dining room, ignoring the amused laughter of the rest of the family. I pushed my way through the French doors to the terrace and sat on the top step, the icy slate freezing my ass through mysuit.

Georgia had been unseasonably cold over the holidays, but the frigid air felt good on my bruised and rapidly swelling face. Unwilling to completely give in I said, “You still have a pussy lefthook.”

“Fuck you,” Aiden said, without heat. “Why the fuck did you hitme?”

I shrugged and winced at the unexpected pain in my shoulder. “Sophie found a note from you under her placemat,” Isaid.

“I didn't write Sophie a note. Why the hell would I dothat?”

“Yeah, I figured that out while we were beating the shit out of eachother.”

“Amelia.”

“Bingo,” Isaid.

A strangled laugh erupted from Aiden's throat, and he shook his head, pushing his hair back with the heel of his palm. “She told me if we didn't work things out she’d deal with us her ownway.”

I let out a strangled laugh of my own and felt hot liquid warmth run from my split lip to my chin. Fuck. If my face looked anything like Aiden's, we were both amess.

His dark hair was tangled and matted with sweat, falling over his forehead and almost hiding the swelling around his left eye. I could feel my own eyelid swelling to match his. By morning we'd have twin black eyes. And split lips. People had always said we lookedalike.

I braced my elbows on my knees and stared down at the slate between my feet. Letting out a long breath, I said, “I'm sorry I left. I should've stayed. I should've manned up and stayed and helped you. I know you hated me for it. I know why you can't forgive me, and Iunderstand.”

Beside me, I felt Aiden go still, and then his eyes on me. I couldn't look up. I couldn't stand to see the accusation, the blame in hiseyes.

“What the fuck are you talking about? I don't hate you. What do you mean I can't forgive you? I'm fucking pissed you took so long to come home. And I'm pissed you almost got yourself fucking killed,but—”

I shot to my feet and faced him down, finally ready to take the judgment I wasdue.

“I didn't save them,” I shouted at the top of my lungs, the words tearing from my heart in raw pain and the sheer relief of draining a wound that had never healed. “I didn't save them. I was here. I was up in my room fucking sulking because I was grounded, and I didn't savethem.”