[HUNTER'S POV]
I stared at the pile of files in front of me. All of them needed to be signed and approved by the morning, but my mind was stuck on Violet.
Where is she? I heard her say they were going to some club. She probably will get herself into some kind of trouble. Getting drunk makes her wild. Atleast Chase was there, he always made sure to keep her in check. I could feel a burning sensation in my chest at that thought.
I want to be the one who's there for her.
Not him
Not any other guy.
The door to my room opened and my father barged in. Before I could even process what was happening, I was already on the ground, blinking back tears. I tried sitting up, but my chest hurt a lot. He had knocked the wind out of me. Water began to build up in my eyes as I received another swift kick to my stomach.
"You're good for nothing!" He hissed, grabbing me by the collar then releasing. My head hit the floor with force. I just laid there. It was better this way. Resisting made it worse, I had to learn it the hard way.
"That fucking whore of yours kissed her bodyguard. A fucking bodyguard!"
What?
Did Violet kiss Chase? She likes him?
I coughed out blood as he punched me in the face.
"I will send Will to take care of that guy."
I immediately got up, staggering a bit, "No! I- I will take care of him. It's my fight, Father."
When he finally left the room, I let myself crash to the floor and closed my eyes, wishing I could lie like this forever. Why can't I ever please him? I heard footsteps nearing me. I could tell it was Dylan but I didn't dare look. I laid there in silence for what felt like hours. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 words were stuck in my head. I finally got up, looking over to where Dylan had dozed off, sitting on a chair. I woke him up and asked him to gather a few of our men and the house doctor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She hates me. I could see it in her eyes when she saw me with the gun. I sighed and buried my head in my hands.
"Sir, we're here."
I looked outside the car window. The same dreadful place which felt like home only when she was in it. I got out and put on a blank expression. A figure came into my peripheral vision, his eyebrows were pulled up together in a worried expression.
"Dylan?"
"Sir, um, Mr. Arch uh-"
"What is it?!" Before he even said it I could already feel it.
"He's...with Mr. Ash."
It felt like someone was holding my head underwater, I struggled to breathe. I pushed past the crushing weight on my chest and ran all the way up to my father's office. Will stood in front of the door.
"He ordered not to let anyone in."
I pulled out my gun, clicking off the safety and pressed it to his temple, "The day you forget your place is the day you lose your head. Got it?" Pushing past him , I rushed into the room. I froze at the scene that unfolded before me.
Ash looked fear-stricken, barely trying to stand. My eyes fell to the huge gash on his arm and a deep cut just above his eye. I clenched my jaw, trying to hold in the urge to kill the man on spot. I clenched my hands in a fist to stop them from shaking in anger.
"You promised you wouldn't touch him."
"Hunter.." Ash finally looked up. I let my eyes meet his just for a second before turning them back to my father.
He smiled, " Yes, if you got Violet, but you're too slow. I hope this will help you fasten up the process." He kicked him in the shin and Ash fell to the floor, groaning in pain. When I looked at him, I saw a reflection of myself in his eyes.
The room was same as now, but this time it was me on the floor. Barely breathing. My shirt ripped in places, with blood seeping out on the floor.
I reverted back to reality and strode across the room. Pulling up Ash by his other arm, I supported him.
Looking at my father in the eye, I spoke, " Give me some time, I'm doing my best but you break your promise, you'll never hear from us ever again."
His face contorted to that of rage but he kept his mouth shut as I dragged my brother away with me. Taking him to his room, I sat him on the bed.
"Pack your bags by tomorrow, I'm sending you back to Canada. You can do your graduation there"
"I don't want to go there."
"Fine, you can go to Thailand, I think we still have some relative there. I will look into it and-"
"No, Hunter." He placed his hand on my arm, "I don't want to leave here. This is my home, stop sending me away." His voice broke towards the end.
"Home?" I removed his hand and got up," What home? You don't have a home, Asher. The man that you call dad, he doesn't give a shit about you. Did he ever call you in all the five years that you were away?" I shouted.
Sadness flitted across his face.
I ran a hand through my hair, "I'm doing all this to protect you, it's my job to look out for my little brother and I don't want this life for you."
"No it's not Hunter, it's not your freaking job. I'm my own person and can make my own decisions."
"You're so fucking scared of everything, you think it's easy doing the things that we do. You think I didn't see you back there. You were literally trembling, Ash, you went into complete shock after seeing Chase bleed."
He stared at me for the longest while before speaking, " You think I'm a coward but it's always been you who trained me to run away when things get hard." He got up from the bed and walked towards the door. Without turning to look at me, he spoke," You were right. I don't have a home. I never had one."
And then he walked out.
He just walked out of the room but why does it feel like he walked out of my life?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was silent and peaceful, the only sound that could be heard was of the waves hitting the shore.
I screamed into the ocean.
I screamed out of anger.
Out of frustration.
Out of tiredness.
'Whenever you feel like you're being attacked by a shitload of emotions, just come to this beach and scream. Scream until your voice drowns out the sound of the ocean.'
I laughed to myself thinking about the advice, a thirteen-year old Violet gave me. The laugh slowly turned into sobs and I collapsed onto the soft sand. Taking a swig from the bottle in my hand, I stared into the distance. I was reminded of a quote I read a long time ago.
'Maybe we feel empty because we leave pieces of ourselves in everything we used to love.'