Page 76 of Truck Hard

Strong hands grab my shoulders, trying to pull me back. Warren and Mac, their voices urgent but distant. “Liam, stop! He’s not worth it!”

I shake them off, vision tunneling to Charlie’s smug face. Even beaten bloody, he looks triumphant. Like he’s won something.

“You’re right.” I growl. “You got one hit in. But I’m here now and you’re going to pay for that hit.”

Charlie laughs—a wet, choking sound. “You really think it’s that easy? One beating and I disappear?” He pushes up on his elbows, swaying. “I have lawyers. Connections. One word from me and social services starts asking questions. How stable is a single mother, really? Living in a run-down house, working for minimum wage. She can barely afford groceries without my money.”

An icy grip takes hold of my soul. He wouldn’t. But looking into those cold eyes, I know he would. He’d spend every dime of his parents’ money to destroy Hannah’s life just to prove he could.

“And Cam?” Charlie continues, voice dripping with poison. “Poor kid, stuck between a lying whore and a deadbeat dad who didn’t want him. Maybe he’d be better off with arealfather.”

Something inside me shatters.

I lunge forward, breaking free of my brothers’ grip. Charlie’s eyes widen a fraction before my fist connects. His headsnaps back, blood spraying. But he recovers fast. I’m actually impressed. I didn’t think he had this much fight in him.

We collide like freight trains, all technique forgotten in favor of raw savagery. His knee finds my ribs again, stealing my breath. My elbow catches his temple, making him stagger. We roll across the grass, trading blows, neither willing to yield.

“I’ll kill you.” He pants, fingers clawing for my throat. “I’ll destroy everything you love.”

I grab his wrist, twisting until bones grind together. “You won’t touch them.” Each word comes out like a hammer strike. “You won’t look at them. You won’tthinkabout them.”

His other hand shoots up, catching me across the jaw. Stars explode behind my eyes. I taste copper, feel warmth trickling down my chin. But the pain is distant, secondary to the burning need to end this.

Charlie uses the moment to throw me off, scrambling to his feet. Blood makes his teeth look sharper as he grins. “What’s wrong, Mutter? Afraid I’ll tell everyone what a piece of shit you are? How you fucked my fiancée, knocked her up? Left her to marry arealman?”

“Shut up.” The words come out thick, distorted by my swelling jaw.

“Or maybe I’ll tell Cam. Let him know what kind of father he really has.” Charlie circles, looking for an opening. “A coward who couldn’t step up. Who let his mother suffer for twelve years because he was too weak to—”

I don’t let him finish. My shoulder drives into his midsection, lifting him off his feet. We crash through Hannah’s flower bed, crushing carefully tended petunias.She just planted those, some distant part of my mind notes.

Charlie’s elbow catches my temple, sending fresh pain shooting through my skull. But I hang on, riding out hisstruggles until we both collapse. My fingers find his throat, squeezing.

“Listen carefully,” I growl, leaning close. “You don’t get to speak about Hannah. You don’t get to speak about Cam. You don’t get to breathe the sameairas them.”

His face starts turning purple, but his eyes still gleam with malice. One hand scrabbles at my grip while the other fumbles in his pocket. Metal glints—

“Liam, knife!”

Warren’s warning comes a split second too late. Fire races across my ribs as the blade opens a shallow cut across my chest. I release Charlie’s throat, rolling away. I press my hand to my chest and it comes away covered in blood.

I stare down at my chest as blood seeps into my shirt. I feel no pain. Just fury and the desire to end Charlie’s life.

It doesn’t take me more than a few seconds before I respond to his latest effort. If I don’t kill him after this, he’ll face a lot more jail time now. Not only did he violate the restraining order and hit Hannah, this is assault with a deadly weapon.

Charlie is done. His parents can’t save him after this.

I get to Charlie before he can swing the knife at me again. My foot stumps down on his wrist and I grab him by his shirt. I punch him again and again—fists rain down on his face, each impact sending shockwaves up my arms. Blood splatters across my knuckles but I can’t stop. Won’t stop. Not after what he did to Hannah. Not after pulling a knife on me.

The rage burning through my veins drowns out everything else—the shouts of my brothers, the approaching sirens, even Charlie’s pained grunts as I pound into him.

“I’ll fucking kill you!” The words tear from my throat, raw and primal. “You touch her again and I swear to God—”

“Liam!” Warren’s voice cuts through the red haze. “The cops are close. You need to stop.”

Hands grab my shoulders, trying to pull me back. I resist, every muscle straining to inflict more damage on the monster beneath me. Charlie’s face is a mess of blood and bruises, but his eyes still gleam with that same cruel arrogance. Even now, he thinks he’s won.

“Get off me!” I snarl, shrugging off Warren’s grip. But Mac joins in, and together they manage to haul me to my feet.

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