“What the fuck are you doing here?” he demanded, as if the previous few minutes had never even happened.
I could feel the anger begin to simmer inside of me again. “Bridget called me. She said you wouldn’t leave. I’m just here to make sure you do.”
I pulled on Maia’s hand, drawing her back behind me slightly. Alex looked over at Bridget and shook his head, as if he didn’t believe me. The sooner he was out of here, the better.
“Come on,” I said. “Time for you to call it a night. You’ve done enough here, bro.”
That seemed to trigger him and he turned back to me as the tension in the room mounted. “I’m not your fuckin’ bro. Thanks to you, I’m not anyone’s bro, not anymore.”
It felt like a sucker-punch to the gut. I tried to tough it out when all I really wanted to do was double over and give in to the pain. But I wasn’t going to let him get to me. My priority here wasn’t me. It was Bridget and Maia, and keeping him away from them.
I sucked in a breath through my teeth and tried again. “Get out, Alex. Walk home, I don’t care. Just go.”
Alex shook his head, planting his feet firmly, getting comfortable. The familiar toxic smirk appeared and my heart sank. He wasn’t going to make this easy, on any of us.
“I don’t even know how you can live with yourself.”
Not again. “I’ve had enough of this bullshit from you. I don’t know how many times we’ve been through this already, but you need some new material, dude. This shit’s getting old.”
“You look nervous,” Alex grinned, his mouth pulled unnaturally tight, turning it into more of a grimace. “Don’t you want me to tell the replica what you’re really like?”
“Stop it!” Bridget snapped. “Her name is Maia.”
Alex nodded, as if considering the matter. “Well, Maia, perhaps you and I should get to know each other a bit better.”
I squeezed Maia’s hand then let it go, taking a step towards Alex. “Are you gonna leave quietly, or do I have to throw you out?”
Alex sneered and I had to fight the urge to punch it right off his face.
“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Afraid she’ll find out all about you? You might have everyone else fooled, but we both know the truth don’t we?”
My hand flexed into a fist and I readied myself. He’d had this coming for a long time. Suddenly, I didn’t care about Bridget or Henry or making it unnecessarily hard on them. I just wanted to know the sense of satisfaction that came from hitting him. I could almost hear Vinnie in my head, egging me on.
“Just go home, Alex,” Bridget begged, coming forward. “Please?”
“You’re such a hero aren’t you mate?” I said, the blood pounding in my ears. “Pushing and shoving your own mother around, treating her like shit too. How the hell do you sleep at night?”
Alex blinked, as if desperately trying to keep up with the shift in focus. The fa?ade slipped away and he turned to Bridget. It was incredible, the way he could turn on a dime. One minute spoiling for a fight, the next minute looking young and vulnerable and full of remorse. My head spun, just watching him.
“I didn’t hit you, Mum – did you tell him that I didn’t hit you?”
“No, you didn’t hit me,” Bridget said carefully.
“You pushed her into a table instead.”
“I didn’t push her! She fell!”
“Trying to get the hell away from you!” I cried, losing it finally. “Get out, you’ve done enough for one night, don’t you think? She doesn’t want you here tonight – come back when you’re sober, you can apologise to her then.”
Alex reached up with both hands, pulling at his hair and grimacing, as if trying to think straight through the alcoholic haze clouding his brain. “You should’ve just given me my keys, Mum! That’s all I wanted – my keys!”
“And watch you kill yourself – or someone else?” Bridget demanded, in one of the rare times I’d ever heard her raise her voice. “Don’t you think we’ve had enough heartache in this family? Isn’t it enough that Em’s gone? You’re my son, the only child I have left, and yet you insist on destroying yourself right in front of me!”
My heart pounded in my ears. I’d never heard her speak to Alex like that before.
“Don’t do that!” Alex croaked, breaking down and making a grab for the dining room table to steady himself. “Don’t lay any more of that guilt shit on me!”
“It’s not guilt, Alex – it’s the truth! Why won’t you let me help you? You can’t go on like this – I can’t go on like this! You’re breaking my heart, can’t you see that?”
Alex sucked in a gut-wrenching sob, bending over the dining table. For a second, I thought he was going to pass out, and I swapped an anxious look with Bridget. Suddenly, he swept his arm across the table, knocking a bowl to the floor, sending fruit flying in all directions. The bowl smashed, the sound ricocheting through the room.