Page 19 of Consequences

Laughing, Zane surprises her as he walks over and backhands her. “You took everything from me!” he screams. “Everything!”

She falls to the ground, cursing herself for not being more on-guard. With his state of intoxication, she underestimated him by assuming his reflexes would be slower. But she’s ready when he winds up and kicks her.

Grabbing his leg, she rolls, tripping him onto the ground. His face scrapes the edge of the sidewalk, cutting his cheek. “I took nothing from you. You’re just too damn stupid to see what’s right in front of you. Your daughter needs you, Zane. Man up for once in your life.”

“Man up? Really?”

“Lane would be embarrassed to see you like this. Look at your daughter. Margaret is scared, and if your wife was alive to witness you like this, she’d leave and never look back.”

The punch comes as another surprise, and she lands on the grass with a loud thud, knocking the wind out of her. “I will do whatever the fuck I want! You get no say in a damn thing in my life anymore!”

He might actually kill me. I can’t let them see this. Breathe, Lex. Air in and out. You can do it. Fucking breathe.

“Leave her alone!” Lucas screams as another punch hits her. “Stop it!”

Zane lifts himself, and she doesn’t remember him on the ground with her. It’s a strange thing to focus on, and she wishes she’d paid better attention when his steel toe boot hits her ribs, rolling her further into the yard. A familiar crack and shooting pain in her side would make her cry out if she could take a damn breath.

The exhaust of at least one motorcycle fills the air, and she kicks Zane after seeing him smack Lucas again, this time in the eye. Lucas falls to the ground with a groan, and she prays Colt’s come home.

Zane’s heavy weight sits on her chest as his large hands grip her throat. “You killed her, and now I’m going to kill you.”

Clawing, pushing, kicking. Everything she can think of to get away, she does. There are no rocks or any sort of weapon she can use to hit him with to get him off of her, and the world begins to fade to black.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Colt’s voice shouts, but it sounds far away. “Motherfucker!”

She’s yanked to her side as Zane’s tackled to the ground beside her, and Lex cries out as she gasps for air, her ribs shooting in pain while her lungs burn.

Punch after punch, Lex just watches her husband beat on her brother while she tries to catch her breath. Lucas runs to her, fear in his eyes, and she pulls herself up to sit when Ky pulls Colt from Zane.

“If you kill him, you’ll be in more trouble than he is,” Ky shouts.

“He fucking choked my wife and hit my son!”

Looking at Lucas, Lex gently touches his face. “You’re bleeding, baby.”

Tears fill his eyes. “You, too,” he says and touches her face back. “I heard the crack.”

“I’m okay.” She hopes she sounds convincing because the last thing she feels right now is okay. “I’m tougher than I look. Promise.”

Another bike pulls into the driveway, and she rolls her eyes to see VP hopping off and running towards Zane on the ground. “What the fuck happened?”

“He tried to kill my mom,” Lucas says. “Knocked me around when I tried to stop him.”

“He’s fucking lucky Ky came with me, otherwise you’d be burying your fucking son,” Colt spits out and walks to Lex. “Are you okay, baby?”

Okay? Is she okay? Hell no, she’s not okay, but she can’t share that in front of Lucas.

“What are you doing here?” Lex asks as she shifts and touches her ribs.Yep, fucking cracked.

“Margaret called.”

“Noah called me,” Colt says, helping Lex to her feet. “Fucking glad he did.”

Zane pushes his father away. “She’s trying to stop me from taking my daughter home! That bitch needs to be taught a fucking lesson.”

“You’re fucking drunk!” Ky shouts. “I can smell you from here, and you think it’s a good idea to take anyone, including yourself, on a motorcycle? Is your plan to kill your entire family?”

“Lose your wife because your sister killed her, and then come talk to me about drinking,” he says, staggering to his bike. “Fuck all of you. Keep her. Keep her since you’re so goddamn scared that I’ll be just like Lex and kill one of the only people who means anything to me.”

---