Masking Amaya Frazer

{16} Paint Me Black

Milo's sharp blue eyes flashed, narrowing on me as if he hadn't expected me to be in here. I didn't blame him. "What are you doing in my brother's room?" He demanded to know.

I held up my hands in mock surrender as my heart pounded in my chest. "I-I can ex-"

Marcus inserted himself between the two of us, placing a hand on my shoulder as he skirted around me. Milo's heated gaze latched on to his brother's hand as he raised a brow.

"Milo, we're not doing this again," Marcus firmly stated, grip tightening on my shoulder.

Milo stiffened, hurt filling his eyes. The emotion passed by in a blur only to be replaced by anger a second later, leaving me to wonder if I'd seen it at all. "You're right. We're not," he snapped, taking a step forward.

Milo smacked his older brother's hand off me and sent a punch packed with fury to his jaw all in one fluid motion. Marcus grunted as his head snapped to the side from the impact, causing his long, dark hair to fall in front of his eyes.

I gasped, staring in shock at Milo as his lips thinned and he brought his fists up in front of him in a ready stance. His blue eyes darkened as a dangerous storm swirled in his irises.

Marcus brought his head back around slowly and spat a wad of blood on the hardwood floor right in front of Milo's shoes. Swiping a hand across his busted lip, his voice was hoarse as he said, "Milo, you need to stop and think for a minute."

"No, Marcus, the last time I stopped to think, I convinced myself you weren't--"

Marcus smacked a hand over Milo's mouth, cutting his sentence short. I stood a foot away as a helpless bystander, chewing my lip as I debated what to do in order to deescalate the situation.

Milo didn't appreciate his brother's attempt at getting him to be quiet and planted his hands on Marcus' shoulders, giving a strong shove. Marcus faltered back a step, causing the back of his leg to connect with the corner of his bed. He took a tumble to the ground and didn't have a chance to get up before Milo was on top of him, pinning him with a knee to his chest.

Clenching the fabric of Marcus' shirt in his fist, Milo hissed between his teeth, "Do not touch me, and do not touch her. You got it?"

"Too...late," Marcus ground out.

Milo stiffened. "I thought you learned a lesson from your mistake with Mandy."

"She is not a mistake."

"Oh? But screwing my girlfriend was? How does that make any sense?"

My hand leapt to my mouth as it hung wide open. Milo's ex girlfriend cheated on him with his own brother and had a kid, making him the uncle of his girlfriend's daughter.

"Get off of me, Milo," Marcus said. "We're not having this conversation now."

"You're right; we're not," Milo agreed.

With that, Milo's nostrils flared as he drew his arm back, taking aim for a second time. I tried to yell at him to stop, but the noise failed to come out as his fist struck Marcus' cheek. The sound echoed in the room as Marcus struggled to shake Milo off.

A surge of adrenaline powered through me as I ran up to the two feuding brothers and grabbed beneath Milo's armpits as I yanked with all the strength I could muster. Unprepared for my attack, Milo fell on top of me, knocking the breath from my chest. I wheezed as he planted his hands on either side of my face, staring at me in pure anger.

"You should've flown away when you had the chance, Dove," he said, climbing off of me. I laid there for a millisecond, staring at the ceiling as my mind whirred.