The sound of the trailer door slamming open and hitting the wall had me spinning around in shock, and there stood Lexi on the top step, panting hard and green eyes huge with fear.

As if she wasn’t seeing anyone else, her gaze zeroed in on mine, and voice shaking, she said, “No, Austin, don’t do this. Please don’t do this!”

Gio stepped forward and hissed, “Who’s this ugly bitch?”

I saw red.

Jumping forward, I spun Gio around, punched him square in the jaw, and he dropped to the wet, muddy ground. Stepping over his sprawled-out body, I made a move to get to Pix, when Axel grabbed the collar of my shirt and smacked me against the Prius’s hood.

“What the f**k is she here for?” he snapped, his voice guttural with rage and his face only an inch from mine.

Kicking my legs, I tried to throw him off, but with no luck. The position he had me in ensured I couldn’t move. I did catch Lexi screaming for him to let me go, though, and it just about killed me.

“Leave her the f**k alone!” I shouted.

Axel’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he seemed genuinely taken aback by my reaction.

“You screwing the bitch? The f**kin’ bitch who witnessed the deal and no doubt squealed to the f**kin’ dean!”

Rearing back, I shot forward, bashing my forehead into Axel’s nose. Axel fell back, his hands cupped to his face, and I took the chance to jump to my feet. As my boots landed on the mud, my feet slipped in a puddle. My hands hit the dirty ground, and when I looked up, Gio had gotten to his feet and was marching toward Lexi, who was frozen in the doorway.

“NO!” I screamed and set to running, when Axel tackled me from behind, bringing us both to the mud.

“Gio, if you touch her, I’ll kill you!” I said as loud as I could manage under Axel’s heavy weight.

Gio glanced back at me and took his penknife from his pocket, a streak of lighting in the distance reflecting off its blade.

“No!” I tried to turn my head to Axel, but his elbow had me pinned. “Axe, get the f**k off me. He’s gonna hurt Pix!”

“Pix? What the f**k does that mean?” he spat into my ear.

“She’s my f**kin’ girl, you dick! She’s my girl! And if anything happens to her, I’ll f**kin’ put you in the ground, brother or not!” I threatened.

Axel stilled, and I could hear the rain pelting against the ground and Axel’s heavy breathing… that and the sudden screams from Lexi.

Snapping my head to face Pix, I roared out in frustration when Gio gripped her by her hair and dragged her into the flooding yard, forcing her to face my way. Tears were streaming down her face, but those tears soon dried when Gio ripped along the seam on the back of her loose sweater, pressing himself along her back, smiling in my direction. “She’s your girl, Austin? The bitch that saw my business at UA?”

I froze and, through gritted teeth, said, “So you did tell him about her, Axe? I told you I had it f**kin’ handled! I just hoped for once you wouldn’t be a bitch and tell Gio everything.” Axel didn’t say shit in response and the betrayal of my brother only seemed to fuel Gio more.

“Yeah, Aust. Axe here told me all about it. I told you if you touched me again, you’d pay for it. And it seems this ugly freak is your Achilles’ heel.” Gio threw Lexi’s shredded sweater to the floor and ran his index finger down the length of her spine, all the time with that f**kin’ creepy grin on his face.

Lexi’s face went vacant, and my heart split in two. She was in her bad place. She’d checked out… all because he was touching her f**kin’ back.

My eyes closed, and I told Axel, “You have five seconds to get off me, Axe, or no joke, we’re done.”

I caught the sharp inhale of Axel’s breath. We might not share the same ethics or moral codes in life, but I loved him. He was blood, and he got the significance of what I was saying.

“Get the hell off her!” I heard a panicked male voice shout and, opening my eyes, saw Levi standing in front of Lexi, his arms stretched out toward Gio. At first I didn’t see the gun, but as Gio held up his hands, his face like stone, I caught Levi’s shaking arm as he towered over Pix’s hunched-over body, her eyes firmly fixed on the ground. She was muttering to herself; she was listening to the voice.

“Fuck!” Axel hissed, and he was suddenly off my back and lunging for Levi. Levi saw Axel coming and flicked the gun between Gio and our brother.

As I pushed off the ground, my black shirt and jeans now pitted with mud, I approached Levi slowly.