The Space Between

Chapter 9

Silence followed the slam of the door behind Nicholai, Mikhail, and the police officers accompanying them. The only sound was Carter's rapid breathing as he gathered himself after the fight. Connor on the other hand was red; red in the face, the ears, I swear steam was flowing from his ears.

"What the hell was that?" With those five words I saw just how scary Connor could be. Now over the years I have seen a lot of scary people. From drug dealers to wanna be mob bosses to school bullies. All scary and intimidating people; however now I know Connor takes the cake. His voice was a deadly quiet, the sharply edged calm that occurs before the storm. In that moment, seeing his expression and hearing that one question, I was so happy not to be Carter.

"Eh," Carter shrugged, clearly disinterested in the topic. I stood with my back to the door, watching the standoff, waiting to intervene.

"That's all I'm getting?! Eh?!" Connor yelled out as he strode across the cell to where Carter leaned against the wall casually. "You! Idiot! Why do you do pull such dumb stunts? Better yet, why do I let you?!" Connors hands weaved through his hair, tugging at the strands.

"Carter, do you know what you've done? Do you know the repercussions for this? Why if Dad saw that he would-"

"He would what?" A cold voice said from behind me, Causing me to flinch back away from the door where the two men stood. I silently moved to stand behind the twins who now froze and stared sheepishly at the men glaring down from the doorway. While the younger of the two had blonde hair and the older had graying brown hair, both had the same piercing eyes that swept over the twins before landing on me.

"Daxton?" The blondie stiffly asked in a way that made me unsure of his words being a statement or a question.

"Who wants to know?"

"Chill bros," Carter said before walking calmly over to blondie and clapping a hand roughly on his thickly built shoulder. "This twat is Alexander, aka big bad boss man."

Carter laughed alone as everyone else in the room glared sharply at Carter while I just kept a blank expression.

Connor gave a soft sigh as he visibly unclenched his fists, still wound up from the fight, and turned to speak to me. "This is our eldest brother and our Father."

After his words I slowly studied the two stiff men before giving a small nod and moving to the more serious matters at hands.

"What's happening and where is Briella?"

"She's out in the waiting room, she's fine. We just paid bail for whatever fight occurred in the airport that I'm going to assume was Carter's fault." Connor silently nodded at the first words I had heard from my sperm donor.

After his little speech he walked out the door swifty, Alexander and the twins following in his wake. With a sigh I tagged along as we walked down the dimly lit halls till we reached the front of the building. It was filled with rows of chairs where both citizens and criminals sat as cops strode in and out of the room.

Glancing hastily around for Briella I blindly followed my family I suppose is the word for them someday hopefully. With my mind and eyes occupied I didn't realize everyone stopped walking till I practically ran into Alexander. He merely glanced back at me, unfazed by me ramming into him. It took a moment before I realized that they had stopped to look at something or someone.

I shoved Carter aside, knowing I had no chance of getting Alexander to budge, only to freeze at the sight before. Briella. My Briella. Sitting on Mikhail's lap. Staring into his eyes, their faces merely inches apart. Then Connor coughed, a loud hacking cough that had Briella jolting from her spot perched on his lap, Her eyes widening at the sight of us all staring at her and him.