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I shake my head no at him. Desperate to protect Jake, myself, him.
I don’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late.
Nathan grabs my jaw with one mighty hand. He’s not hurting me, but I can’t go anywhere. “Get out of the way or I swear I’ll hurt you,” he barks.
The last shreds of his control are slipping away, and I think he saved them for me. He could seriously hurt me. Instead, it takes him a total of two seconds to take a sidestep and push me hard enough to make me take a few steps back without shoving me. My heels make me slip on the tiles and my ass hits the floor.
I don’t hear what Jake says in the seconds it takes me to grasp what just happened and when I look up, they’re already beating each other up.
I hear Sam utter a ‘bloody hell, Nate’, and next thing I know two arms are helping me up. I end up face to face with a slightly alarmed Sam.
“Get Rose, hurry the fuck up.” He turns around and tries to grab Nate but it’s about as possible as catching plankton in a fisherman’s net. He’s too quick on his feet, jumping there and back, fighting like he is in a boxing ring.
I run back inside like my life depends on it. Mine might not be but Jake’s surely is. Thankfully Rose is still in the Orangery, this time on the phone. She must see my face straight away because she straightens up and her hand holding the phone falls by her side.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“J-jake and Nathan they’re…” I pant.
She doesn’t need any more explanation. In a split second she’s sprinting outside, and I follow closely. “Should I call the cops?”
She turns to me suddenly and grabs my shoulders. “No. Never, you hear me? No matter what, you don’t call the cops.”
I nod quickly and she’s back on her way.
A crowd has already formed around them, and Rose and I have to push our way through. When we get to the front, it’s worse than I thought.
I feel like my worst nightmare is unfolding right in front of my eyes. Chris is in a heated argument with Roy and Carlo, about one second away from getting in a fistfight themselves. Some people are shouting encouragement, some shouting to stop but Jake and Nathan don’t hear anyone. They haven’t tired one bit and are relentlessly going at each other. Their skills make them look like professionals.
“Nate. Nate, stop,” Rose says as she hurries towards the both of them. Of course, he doesn’t hear her.
As soon as they both take a step back from the other, she gets in front of Nathan. “You tryna go to prison or something? Calm the fuck down.”
“Why don’t you tell him to stop, huh?” Nathan replies as he wipes a bloody lip.
“I will!” She runs her hand through her hair, pointing at Jake with the other to show she’s about to go to him too.
The two brothers are using this break to catch their breaths, but they look far from over.
“No, you won’t. You won’t tell him to stop because you always side with him!” The jealousy burning in Nathan’s eyes runs deep.
Is this as far as the competition goes between them? Putting Rose in the middle of their feud?
“Nate, don’t be like this–”
“Leave, Ozy,” he cuts her off.
A sudden commotion starts next to them as Roy, Chris and Carlo go at it themselves.
“Fucking…shit,” she mumbles to herself like all of this is just a small inconvenience.
She doesn’t seem too fazed. Like this has happened too many times before.
Nathan goes around her while she’s distracted, and I suddenly feel a surge of uncontrollable panic. My whole body shakes and I have to hold my hair at my roots to try and stop it.
“Please, please, please stop,” I whisper to myself perfectly knowing none of them can hear me.
Everything is too loud, I’m too hot, everyone is too close. Everything becomes blurry and all I can focus on is Rose’s voice and her skinny form as she tries to calm down her brothers. Two arms suddenly wrap around my shoulders.
