Anything else he might have said was immediately and violently shut off – along with his air flow - as Kane’s hand was suddenly around Aidan’s throat. Kane had moved so fast Aidan had barely had time to react, but nothing he could have done would have prevented Kane from slamming Aidan’s back against the wall and lifting him several inches off the floor by his neck. Kane’s eyes glowed like blue ice, cold and hard, and Aidan knew what it was like to look into a man’s eyes right before he killed you.
“Let him go, Kane,” Jake said quietly from beside his older brother while Ian stilled, mentally preparing himself. He didn’t want to have to take Kane down, but he would if he had to. With Jake’s help. And possibly Kieran’s. And Shane’s.
After a few tense moments, Kane released him. Aidan dropped back to the floor clutching his throat and gasping for breath. “Come on, man,” Ian said, taking Aidan by the upper arm and trying to usher him away, but Aidan stubbornly refused, shaking him off.
“Too good for my sister, Callaghan? Is that it? She’s not good enough for you?”
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” Kane growled. He was sitting at the far end of the bar again, his shoulder to Aidan.
But Aidan would not be denied. “You know that dog she’s got? Does he remind you of anyone? Freakishly huge and dark? With blue eyes? What kind of fucking dog has blue eyes like that, huh?”
Kane growled low in his throat, a final warning. If Aidan kept running his mouth, then no one – not Jake, not Ian, not Jesus himself would be able to save him.
“They were going to put him down. He was too big and mean to be around people. No one could get within ten feet of him without him snarling and showing his teeth. Yeah, just like you’re doing right now. But Becca? She takes one look at him and you could just see her melting inside. Ignores everyone and walks into the room with him. She’s with him for five minutes and he’s laying himself at her feet like a fucking lovesick puppy.”
The bar was eerily silent. Kane turned his head, his eyes boring holes right through Aidan, but Aidan was too far gone to notice.
“And do you know why? Because that’s what she does. She cares. About people, animals, the goddamned earth. Things that everyone else has given up on. She can’t help it.” Aidan was shaking his head, talking almost more to himself now as if realizing the truth for the first time. “And anyone who tries to change that – myself included – is a fucking idiot.”
Aidan extracted some bills and laid them on the table, offering one final parting thought.
“You and that fucking dog, you’re just alike, you know that? Except he wanted to be saved. And now he will get to spend the rest of his days being more loved and cared for than any other fucking dog on this planet.” Aidan snorted. “Not to mention that he isn’t stupid enough to turn on her when she invites him into her bed at night.”
Aidan grabbed his jacket. “Call me a cab, Ian. I’m too fucking drunk to drive home. And I will not be the next man to abandon Rebecca.”
Ian reached for his jacket, but Kane stood abruptly. “No.”
All eyes turned to him, each conveying a different thought. Jake’s said, “Oh, shit. Don’t do this man.” Ian’s said something like, “Fuck. Lexi will never forgive me if Aidan buys it.” And Aidan’s: “Fuck.” Followed closely by, “Bring it.”
“I won’t kill him.” Kane said without taking his eyes from Rebecca’s brother, but the tone of his voice wasn’t giving anyone the warm and fuzzies.
“I’ve got it,” Ian said, reaching for his keys, already halfway to the back door. “Tell Lex I’ll be back - ”
“I said I’ll do it.” Those words, spoken in low, dangerous tones, nullified any further argument.
Aidan shrugged and looked at Ian with a brief, albeit nervous, smile. “It’s alright, man. I’m good. I mean, you guys are witnesses, right?”
The look Ian gave him in return told him he was a damn fool. “That just means he’s got to come back and kill us, too, man.”
*
“You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that,” Kane said finally after they’d been driving for a little while. They’d passed the turn-off to Aidan’s townhouse several miles back. Aidan kept quiet, thinking that bringing up that little fact was probably unwise. The bourbon wasn’t sitting well in his stomach. Or maybe that was just the fear a man felt when he realized he was going to die and his personal reaper was just looking for a convenient spot to dump his body. Or what was left of it.
“Yeah,” Aidan said with a nervous chuckle. “Let’s go with that. And the wet spot on my pants is where I spilled that last drink.”
Miracle of miracles, one corner of Kane’s mouth curved upward. It was just a tiny curl, but Aidan latched onto the opportunity like a lifeline. “You are one scary son of a bitch,” Aidan added, figuring a little flattery definitely could not hurt at this point.
“You and Rebecca,” Kane said. “You’re a lot alike. She’s not afraid of me either.”
“Then maybe you’re not as smart as I gave you credit for,” Aidan said, earning another growl. “Because I am literally one step away from pissing myself, and you are probably the only thing in this world that Becca is terrified of.”
“I would never hurt her.”
“Wrong again. You didn’t hurt her. You destroyed her.”