Revenge is a Dish Best Served Hot

The Reason

Briar pov

Briar kept her head down at work that day and the gossip had died down, for the most part. When she got home that night it wasn’t long before there was a knock on the door. Briar looked through the peephole to see her brother Eric. She was surprised as she had assumed her brothers had left already.

“Are you alone?” She asked through the door.

“Yes,” he responded succinctly and Briar let him in. She watched Eric quickly take stock of her apartment.

“Why are you here? I told you to leave.” Briar said coldly.

“I thought we could talk,” Eric replied. Once upon a time her and Eric had a great sibling relationship. Though that was before, before he left for the military. When Eric went overseas Briar sent him letters, care packages, anything to help him while he was gone. Eric never sent her so much as an email in response. She still sent them because he was her brother and Briar loved him. She had done the same for Oliver and received a similar response.

When Eric return from overseas the family had a party and Eric gave her a one second hug. That was all she got from the brother whom she used to spend all of her free time with before he left. His cold response had hurt the most out of all the brothers. Eric had taken her fishing, taught her to shoot, throw a right hook. Then she was just nothing to him.

“Why do you want to talk Eric? We haven’t had anything to talk about for years.” She asked still keeping with her cold demeanor.

“About that-“ Eric started but Briar didn’t let him finish.

“No Eric, please just stop I let you in because you are the most reasonable.” Which was true, out of her four brothers Eric had common sense and a calm head. “Listen to me, we are not family you haven’t been my family since I was fifteen years old. I got the memo.” Briar continued and she watched as he winced clearly ashamed of himself.

“Yeah we just want to apologize,” Eric pleaded.

“Look there are just some things that are unforgivable and what you have done to me is one of them. I don’t see myself forgiving you in the forseable future. You four need to leave. I have made myself a life here, one that doesn’t include you. I have made a family. You four should respect that. I didn’t whine or cry when you didn’t respond to my letters or care packages when you were overseas. Or when you came back and all I got was a two second hug.”

“Look I’m sorry okay!” He busted out with and she finally let some emotion through.

“No you’re not!” Briar shouted at her brother. “You aren’t sorry, you just want something from me and you are telling me what I want to hear. I don’t even know what you are doing here in the first place.” Briar was many things, but she had always excelled at reading people. She knew from the second her brothers had shown up there was an agenda. Briar just didn’t know what it was. She was no one’s fool any longer.

“You called…” Eric trailed off.

“A month ago, Oliver could have traced my location within an hour if you were worried about me.” Briar cut in. Eric looked away for a moment before nodding.

“Dad’s sick.”

“Leave.” Fury built in her at those two words in a way she had never felt before. She couldn’t stand the sight of her brother:

“Briar-“

“I said leave!” She cut him off and walked to the door. Briar waited for Eric to leave before she walked out of her house and started walking. She had to see her son, she needed him. Grayson was all she had.

Axel pov

He was sitting in his mothers bar when Oliver walked in. Axel had been trying to figure out where he had gone wrong on his lunch date with Briar earlier that day. Axel looked up from his beer he was sharing with Grim and watched Oliver sit down next to him. He was conflicted on how he felt.

“Where’s tweedledee and tweedledum?” He asked as his old friend who ordered a beer. Honestly Axel didn’t want Oliver to be next to him after he found out how he treated his sweetness.

“They are out chasing skirt,” Oliver responded.

“Small favors,” he responded as he took a drink of his beer.

“Did you really sleep with my sister,” Oliver asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Did you really abandon her and your sick mother?” He shot back. Oliver was silent.

The bar despite it being a Monday started to fill up within the next hour. One of the persons who showed up was Nicole, Briar’s best friend. She gave Oliver a dirty look, but kept her silence and sat next to Grim. It was soon after that another one of the brothers showed up in the bar and sat next to Oliver.

“How did she take it?” Oliver asked his other brother. Axel forgot his name, but he listened intently to the conversation:

“Not well, she kicked me out.”

“Damn it. Now what are we going to do?” Oliver asked lowly. “He made it very clear we had to bring her back.”

“Come on Oliver she was clear she just wanted to be left alone. We haven’t thought about our sister in years. Neither has dad, now that he’s dad and now that he’s dying he wants to disrupt her life.”

“I know, but-“

“Wait! I am not hearing you right Oliver!” Axel’s voice bursted in to their conversation. He wasn’t yelling but it was lethal enough to stop the entire bar.

“I know I didn’t hear that you contacted her after five years just to tell Briar your father is sick?”Axel asked feeling his temper ignite. The bar was silent for a minute before Nicole started screaming,

“You son of a b***h! You laid all of that on her and you just left her!” Nicole pulled out her phone and then started muttering. “Please pick up.” She turned to Grim. “Please help me look for her, I can’t do it again.” Axel was confused as hell. What was going on?

“What’s going on?” Axel asked at the same time Grim confirmed he would help Nicole.

“What is going on?” The brother he still didn’t get his name asked.

“Shut up!” Nicole screamed at him. “We have to find Briar before she does something dumb.”

“What do you mean?” Axel asked but Nicole wasn’t paying attention to him and she already walked out and headed out of the bar. Axel followed closely. He stayed back, but listened to Grim talked to Nicole.

“Don’t worry we will find her before she tries again. You go to the cemetery, I’m sure she went to see Greyson. I will stop by her apartment.”

“You are right, thank you Grim,” Nicole told his VP and when Nicole drove off in her car he showed himself.

“Why is Nicole so concerned?” Axel asked his VP.

“I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone,” Grim responded.

“Grim, you know she is my woman,” he warned as he was not in a playing mood.

“She tried to kill herself,” Grim said bluntly. “Nicole has been worried about her ever since, especially since her brothers returned.”

“Over Magnet?”

“No, her son.” Grim left him and got on his bike and Axel felt rage overtake his body. Axel turned around and entered the bar. He saw Oliver and his brother sitting there like nothing was wrong. While Briar was fighting her demons her brothers had brought back to her doorstep.

Axel charged over to them and Oliver looked at him questioningly and he planted the hardest right hook to his nose. The crunching of bone sent euphoria through his bloodstream.

“What the f**k was that for?” Oliver asked as he clutched his clearly broken nose.

“For my woman,” Axel responded savagely. The brother got in his face and took a swing which Axel easily blocked. He returned with a punch to the kidney causing his opponent to drop to the floor and Axel delivering a final punch to the cheek. The brother fell to the floor groaning.

“Now I’ve been hospitable due to our friendship Oliver, but I’m done. You have twenty-four hours to get out of my town and never to return. I have to go find Briar and make sure she doesn’t do irreparable harm to herself after what you have said today.”

“Wait what do you mean?” Oliver asked as he clutched his nose.

“Why do you care? Would you care if your sister killed herself? Leave my town and never return Oliver. You know I own it. I have to go find my woman before she hurts herself.” Axel said and left the bar the men a pile of limbs on the ground.