Page 227 of Celestial Combat

Trevor’s gun lowered fully. I watched the anger in his eyes.

Zane stepped within distance.

And then Trevor punched him. One hard fist to his jaw, the sound loud in the sunlit room.

Zane stumbled but didn’t fall.

Maria called out something, and Zach stepped forward.

Trevor lunged – pure fury behind his muscles – and football-tackled Zane to the floor with a grunt that shook the walls.

Zane hit the hardwood with a thud, the breath leaving him, but he didn’t fight back. Trevor mounted him fast, fists landing hard in his ribs and stomach.

Zane curled his arms up over his face, elbows locking, protecting his head. He didn’t swing. He didn’t shove. Just blocked what he could, teeth grit in silence.

“Fight me, you piece of shit!” Trevor shouted, stopping his hits, but still holding Zane down.

“No! We’re family!”

My brother’s face twisted with even more angered confusion.“Are you fucking kidding me!? Now, I’m your fucking friend, you jerk-off!?”

Finally, Zach interfered, pulling Trevor back once he saw the guys took their anger out and weren’t fighting anymore.

Trevor pulled away, but still shook off Zach.

“Twenty years!” Trevor roared. “You point a gun at me. Threaten my wife and family. And you’ve been sleeping with my sister when you were supposed to keep her safe? You’re a shitty fucking friend, Zane!”

His voice ripped through the air.

Zane got up too. His breath came hard, but his voice was low and steady. “I’m sorry about what I said about Natalia and your baby. It was stupid, disrespectful, and it won’t happen again. I was bluffing.”

“You never bluff, Zane!” Trevor’s fist slammed into the wall, splintering wood. “For fuck’s sake!”

“I would never do that.” Zane’s jaw clicked. “C’mon Trevor, you know that!”

“That’s the thing!” Trevor snarled. “I don’t know! I don’t fucking trust you anymore!”

Silence swallowed the room again.

I stood there, heart breaking in half – for both of them.

The silence had weight – thick and breathless – hanging in the sunlit villa like the tension before a thunderstorm. Trevor had stepped back, his fists lowered, but the air still hummedwith heat. Zane caught his breath, the imprint of betrayal still sharp in the space between them.

“Yui was Zane’s mother,” I said quietly, voice steady even though my heart pounded. “We found out who killed her and got revenge. That’s it, Trevor.”

Trevor’s eyes cut to me, and for a second, I saw the crack in his armor – the edge of confusion slicing through all that rage. He looked at Zane, then back to me, the weight of what I said starting to settle.

“Zane just needed to get the men’s name from you,” I added, softer this time.

Trevor turned his full attention to Zane now, still breathing hard but no longer swinging. “Aslanov?”

Zane shook his head.

“Ivanova?”

Zane opened his mouth. Hesitated. Jaw clenched.

I stepped in. “It was Zane’s old mentor. Yakuza.”

---