Page 219 of Wicked Brutal

“Fan behavior,” Iz mutters.

Danny nods. “Deep fan behavior.”

Victor ignores them. “One would think nearly dying because of one Pennington would have taught you to stay clear of the family altogether.”

Kaid stares at him. Then smiles again, and there’s nothing nice in it. “One would think being this fucking old would’ve taught you not to blame kids for what grown men did to them.”

A low sound rolls through the students watching. Not laughter. More like — damn. Victor’s eyes narrow.

Kaid shoves his hands into his pockets, easy, unbothered, which is exactly the thing that costs Victor the most. “You want to keep talking about Cat?”

“I didn’t say anything untrue.”

“No.” Kaid tilts his head. “You just said it like a cunt.”

“Monaghan.”

“Did you want respect?”

Victor’s jaw ticks. “You mistake vulgarity for strength.”

Kaid grins. “And you mistake age for authority.”

Oh, fuck.

X makes a delighted sound beside me. Victor turns toward him.

There it is. Next target.

“Anderson.”

X beams like Victor just handed him something. “I was getting jealous.”

Victor looks him over. “With you, I hardly know where to begin.”

“Take your time.”

“The fights, perhaps.”

X’s smile gets bigger. “What about them?”

“How many this year?”

X actually looks up like he’s calculating. “Define fight.”

“Assaults.”

“Oh.” X nods. “That narrows it.”

Someone nearby laughs. Victor’s expression goes cold. “You think violence makes you impressive?”

“No.” X pauses, timing it. “I think winning helps.”

Another laugh. Even Kaid cracks. Victor looks disgusted, and disgusted is worse for him than angry, because it means he’s stopped performing control and started feeling it slip.

“You spend enough time hitting people that I imagine you would.”

X shrugs. “It’s relaxing.”