Page 26 of Let it Sizzle
His eyes are full of so much rage, so much betrayal, it hits harder than any punch could have.
"You fucked her, Levi," he snaps, voice cracking. "You didn’t protect her. You took her. You fuckingliedto me."
"And you’re acting like she’s a goddamn child," I bite back, heat rising fast. "You think she can’t make her own choices? Thatshe didn’t choose me? You’re disrespecting her worse than I ever could."
"Don't you fucking dare turn this around on me," he growls, stepping in close, until we're chest to chest, ready to explode. "You knew what she’s been through. You knew how fucking broken she was, and you still touched her."
I shove him back before I can think, hands fisting in his shirt. "And I’m the only one who’s been putting herback together,you ungrateful fuck."
For a heartbeat, we stand there, breathing hard, the weight of everything we ever meant to each other crumbling into dust between us.
"You betrayed me," Byron says, voice guttural, like he can barely push the words past his throat. "You’re not my brother anymore."
The finality of it punches the air from my lungs.
But I don't apologize.
I don't beg.
I just stare at him, feeling the crack that just split clean through the middle of my fucking chest.
"You don't get a say," I grit out, my voice shaking with rage. "Not anymore."
Neither of us moves. Neither of us breaks.
We just stand there, breathing fire, until Byron finally turns with a sound that's half a growl, half a broken laugh, and shoves the door open so hard it slams into the wall with a crash.
He storms out without looking back.
I drag a shaking hand through my hair, gripping the edge of the desk so hard my knuckles turn white. Every breath feelslike it scrapes my lungs raw, rage and betrayal and heartbreak burning through me in one brutal wave.
I force myself to look at Serena—sweet, beautiful Serena—but the second her wide, shattered eyes meet mine, I can’t hold it. I can't.
She didn’t even say anything. She just stood there, silent and small, while everything between me and Byron exploded into dust.
Her voice is a broken whisper behind me. "I’m so sorry, Levi."
The words hit like a bullet, but I can't take them. Not now.
I tear my gaze away, every muscle in my body screaming to stay, to fix it, to hold her. But the fear—the fury—chokes it all down.
"I can't," I rasp out, my voice like gravel.
I push past her, the brush of her fingertips against my arm almost undoing me.
"I have to go."
And I do.
I leave her standing there, holding a love I’m too wrecked to carry right now.
Chapter 9
Serena
The second Levi storms out, it’s like the air is sucked out of the firehouse.
I stand there frozen, the poster still unrolled on the desk, the door swinging shut behind him like the final nail in a coffin.
