Iron Rose Ch. 05

"Why?" Ruth cupped Carter's cheeks, looking into his eyes. "Did Miguel do something to you?"

"He's my blood brother!" He hollered and ran away as quickly as he could, leaving Ruth looking stunned and dumbstruck.

***

Miguel was coming down the stairs, busy talking on the phone with his most loyal guard, Mark right behind him. He was wearing a beautiful red blazer with a see through shirt inside, revealing his cute chest because his blazer wasn't buttoned. He had a gray skinny jean on with black shoes and his red hair was on.

As he came downstairs, he cut the call and almost immediately spotted Brandon coming inside or rather rushing in with a frown on his face. He looked really mad and Miguel knew the reason why. Miguel had just received a call from his office that Brandon had thrown a tantrum there and at that moment, the last thing he needed was drama. His life was already filled with it.

"Leave us!" Miguel said, looking at Mark.

Mark gave Brandon a crappy look before he bowed and left.

"Miguel, what the fuck is going on?" Brandon snapped, clenching his fists. "What do you think you're doing? I just went to your office and your stupid guards wouldn't let me there, telling that you gave specific instructions not to let me inside."

Miguel stared at Brandon, not even bothering smile. "Uh-huh!" He muttered, nodding his head.

"Are you being serious?" Brandon chuckled bitterly, furiously putting his hands on his hips. "You're fucking with me, right? Right?"

"Calm down and listen..."

"Listen to what?" Brandon's voice was rising. He was so mad at Miguel. "Do you know how embarrassing it was to be treated like an outsider?"

"I know and I am sorry." He sighed, folding his arms on his chest. "But the truth is that I am done, Brandon." He said softly but his voice was so sharp that it cut right through Brandon like a razor blade. "I can't..."

"No, wait..." Brandon chuckled in denial as his heart began racing. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I am done." Miguel rasped, furiously dropping his hands. He got closer to Brandon, giving him the angriest eyes Brandon had ever seen from him. "I can't have you around me anymore. You just disgust me and..."

"Really?" Brandon chuckled, thinking it was a joke. But his heart was already miles away and fear was starting to creep right through him. He was scared because what Miguel was telling him was just... impossible. "Are you really serious or you're just..."

"What's the use?" Miguel shrugged, fixing his gaze on him. "You've been helping me with my revenge on the dragons but for some time now, I have been thinking and..."

"Miguel, please..." Brandon's voice sounded low and weak. "...I am not finding this funny. You very well know that you and..."

"What's the use of helping me with the monkeys if you yourself is abusing and beating up people?" He yelled, right in Brandon's face. "You know I do not condone such behavior and I have been warning about this for a long time."

Brandon felt a sharp pain in his chest. He was hurt and he lost his smile, starting to breathe like a predator in heat.

"Miguel, you can't do that to me." He shook his head, staring into those beautiful eyes that rocked his world every night. "You can't do that to me. In these moments, I need you more than I have ever needed you." Brandon knew very well that things were bad with him because of Pablo and Marcus' deaths and also Lawrence's rape. Miguel was powerful and he was the only one that could save him. "Miguel," He got closer and held Miguel's hands, sweetly rubbing on them. "I love you so much and I need you right. You gotta help me because some of the things that I have done are for you, only for your happiness."

"My happiness?" Miguel chuckled as he furiously got his hands from Brandon's, looking at him sternly. "I never asked you to rape Lawrence." He yelled. "I never even asked you to kill Marcus or those other people that you had beaten up and abused in the past. You did that on your own and I pretended to have forgotten but not anymore. I can't do this anymore."

"Miguel..."

"I feel so disgusted right now." He glowered, feeling rage sweep him off his feet. "Right now, I want you to get out of my face and out of my house."

To say Brandon was shocked would be an understatement. His eyes were wide open as his heart pounded violently in his chest, failing to accept what Miguel was telling him. There was no way in this world that Miguel would tell him that... but it was happening. Never in his life had he thought a day like that would come.

"Don't make me remind you of what I am capable of because you know me very well." He warned, pointing into the blank face of the pig. "I don't make false promises so get the hell out of here before I treat you like one of those dragons and if you dare squeal on me..." He chuckled sinisterly, scaring Brandon. "...I will cut off your tongue. You know me very well. Get out!"

Brandon trembled at Miguel's words. He started taking a few steps back, still trying to come to terms with what Miguel had said. He didn't wanna stay there because he knew Miguel was gonna kill him. Miguel might have been younger than him but he was far more powerful and more influential and really dangerous. He needed to go. He quickly turned and left with a frown on his face.

Miguel was done with Brandon. He didn't wanna associate with an abuser, a rapist, something that he had been fighting.

"Good riddance." He muttered.

He shook his head and went to meet with Mark.

***

Christian was put in a small room with little lighting and only a chair and a table. He was told to sit down and wait in there and he wondered what was going on. He was still deeply lost because of what Carter had told him and not forgetting that lecture his mother had given him in the afternoon when she had come to see him. He could very well remember her words,

"I don't care about what you say to me right now." She had yelled at him, almost slapping him. "Stay away from that boy. In fact, stay away from those two men." She had warned. "Sleeping with two brother is nothing but shameless and despicable. I love Carter but stay away from him too."

He was still lost in deep thought but when he slowly raised his face, he saw Miguel coming inside, looking really delicious in what he was wearing. Shit! Seeing him after weeks, Christian couldn't help but feel a tingle of excitement go down his spine. He felt as if a cold breeze had just blown on his face, making him freeze.

Shit, Miguel's curves, his body and his face simply drove him crazy. He couldn't help but remember all those times they'd made mad love in his room. He wanted to hold him, kiss him and make love to him right in that room. Just thinking about it made him really excited and he got semi hard.

"Miguel..." His voice sounded different, filled with love.

"Chris, I am so sorry for not showing up all these weeks." He apologized, staring into the eyes of the man that he loved so much. God, it was so hard. "I am truly sorry."

Christian stood in front of his lover, getting tempted to kiss him. Both of them were staring into each other's eyes and none could deny the need for the other.

Christian sighed, biting his lip. "Marcus is dead..." He said simply, feeling a tightening in his chest. He had found out all these things while he was locked up through his friend, Darren who had promised to investigate and found Brandon's car. "...and Brandon is involved. He killed him because Marcus knew about Brandon's involvement in my father's death."

Miguel felt tears building in his eyes as he stared at Christian. "I had no idea that the man is dead." He apologized, feeling worse than he had thought. "I will not lie to you anymore, Christian." He sighed. "I have lost control of Brandon. I don't even know what he's been up to for months now and I am so sorry about Lawrence's rape too. I just don't know. I feel responsible and I am truly sorry for everything."

Christian gulped, feeling his hands tremble. "Are you also sorry for Carter, how you abandoned him? Did you really fight your own brother just for me?"

Miguel felt his heart pound sharply as his breaths stopped for a second. He felt really cold and didn't need to be a genius to know that Carter had paid Christian a visit.

"How did you know?" Miguel was shocked.

"Carter was here earlier!" Christian didn't need to hide anything. "But I just don't understand how all this time when we were together, talking about family and kids, you never even bothered to say anything."

"After everything that I've been through." Miguel chuckled, rubbing on his temple. "You expected me to talk about my family when it hurts to even remember them. My life was ruined back then and I had no idea Carter was alive until just a few months back." He said abruptly. "My life hasn't been a bed of roses, Christian and you know that. I explained everything to you, how my parents were killed and my..." He couldn't say it.

Christian quickly took Miguel's hands and kissed them softly. "I am sorry if I made you remember that. I cannot judge you because I understand you completely because of the tragedy that happened to you years ago. Believe me, I do."

Miguel felt a tear go down his cheeks but he quickly rubbed it.

"I wish I had never met the dragons." He rasped, shaking his head. "This wouldn't be happening right now. Those bastards ruined my life."

"But even at that, Miguel..." Christian held his hands tightly. "...you shouldn't have left Carter all alone. He is the one that has suffered a lot."

"I know." Miguel nodded. "I can't even hold him although he's my brother. I became a different man after that incident but now..." He paused and sighed, locking his eyes with Christian. "...I am a new man. Yes, you asked about why I fought him. The answer is, I wasn't willing to lose you under any circumstances. But that all changed when I learned Carter almost died, when Yvette saved him. I care about Carter in my own and I am not asking you as his rival but his brother..." He took a deep breath as he took his hands away from Christian's. "...I need you to stay away from Carter because I know that you don't love him that much or at least, he owns half of your heart. I don't need to explain where the other half is."

"What?" Christian's mouth shook. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from Miguel. "Miguel, you're not one to predict what I feel for you or him. I am the one that..."

"No!" Miguel furiously shook his head. "I knew what you felt the last time you visited me. We slept together, Christian." He couldn't hold himself anymore. "We met, we slept together, we made love. You still desire me as much as I do you but..." He was fighting his pain. "...our passion will bring nothing but pain."

Christian felt like his heart was getting ripped because of the painful words Miguel was using on him.

He quickly took Miguel's hands and started kissing them like he was going insane. "Miguel, what we have is..."

"What we have is over, Christian!" He hollered, furiously releasing his hands from Christian's grip. He watched as his lover's eyes became glassy with tears and it hurt him. "I have my limits and I am sure of this. You and I can't be together, ever!"

Christian couldn't fight his tears. No! There was no way Miguel was doing that to him. "Miguel, think about everything that we've been through, all those times when we were happy and..."

"Have we ever been happy?" Miguel snapped at Christian. "Have we, really? Maybe those times we didn't care about anything but right now, there's a lot at stake and it's better if we all go our separate ways, Christian. I love you but I can't do this anymore."

With those words, he quickly turned to leave but Christian's hands quickly gripped him and he soon found himself close to the hunk, their gazes fixed on each other. Their bodies were closer and their faces were brushing, each burning with passion. They wanted to kiss each other. Christian's hands trembled on Miguel's waist as his heart punished him.

"Miguel, please, listen, at least..." He swallowed as he started breathing harshly. "...tell your brother the truth. Tell him about your past, the dragons and maybe he'll understand you."

"No!" Miguel shook his head. "I can't do that. I can't let Carter know the truth and much less for the remaining dragons to go near him. My life is more complicated now and I have no idea who can attack me anytime. Should they fail to get to me, they might go near my brother and I can't take that."

Christian cleared his throat. "Dragons like Daniel, right?"

Miguel remained quiet but he dropped his eyes to the floor as he released himself from the hunk's embrace. He felt empty because he needed more than that. He just wanted to stay with Christian for good.

"I have done what I wanted to do, Christian. I am leaving."

Christian held Miguel's hand without any intentions of letting go.

"Don't go, Miguel. I don't want you to leave. At least, listen to what I have to tell you."

"What?" Miguel muttered.

"I was seeing Alejandro at the foundation frequently visiting Daniel." He said softly. "They seemed to have known each other for a long time and their conversations were usually in secret. I think that Alejandro might be one of the dragons."

Miguel felt his heart pound deep in his chest as he stared at Chris like he'd just sprouted wings. Then out of the blue, he started laughing at the top of his voice, holding his chest. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from Christian. And he had been thinking Christian didn't like making jokes. It was really funny.

"Christian, can you hear yourself right now." He was still laughing. "Alejandro can't be a dragon. It's absurd because he's my friend and he's saved me countless times. He's loyal to me."

"I know that but these dragons have learned how to blend in." Christian was being serious. "I am sure that you haven't known this man your entire life. You can't trust him. He and Daniel seems to have known each other long before now. Even after you went missing, they used to see each other."

Miguel wasn't laughing anymore. He just stared at Christian without even saying anything to him. Then he just left quickly without saying anything to Christian.

When he got back to his house, he started thinking about what Christian had told him and still couldn't believe it. Alejandro was a really good friend of his and aside from that, he was also one of his most trusted business partners and he was a coward to some extent. There was no way he was one of the dragons.

"Don, what's bothering you?" Mark asked, worried because his boss was awfully quiet. "You haven't said a word since we came back."

Miguel sighed, looking at Mark. "Christian told me he suspects Alejandro to be one of the dragons, the last one. But I think it's beyond absurd. This is the man that we've been doing business with and also the shady type. He's never betrayed us."

Mark got closer to Miguel with his ever serious face. "What will you do if you find out that everything Christian said is the truth?"

Miguel remained quiet again, staring at Mark like he had just grown another head. He had no idea what to do or what to think. All he knew was that he was gonna kill Alejandro like the other dragons. But then he started thinking about all the times when Alejandro had acted weird around him and started making sense of the whole situation.

"I want you to go Daniel tomorrow morning." He ordered. "Find out if what Christian is suspecting is true by mentioning Alejandro's name. If he gets anxious..." Miguel folded his arms on his chest, an evil grin appearing on his face. "...we've got our dragons."

"Yes, mi don!" Mark bowed and left.

Miguel shook his head as he started heading to his bar. He was really tired and just wanted to drink something strong to calm him down and make him forget about Christian and his love. But he had barely reached there when he received a call from Brian.

"Have you heard the good news?" Brian screamed on the other end.

"News?" Miguel frowned, wondering what Brian was talking about.

"Yeah, Felix has just helped Christian out of jail. He's now a free man." He was just so excited because his Felix had helped Christian.

"Felix..." Miguel laughed, rubbing on his lips. "...it's funny that he's helped Christian out of jail which makes me wonder why."

"You just don't understand, Miguel!" Brian breathed in deeply. The man was just so in love. "Felix just wanted to help because he knows that Christian wasn't wrong. By the way, Brandon was also arrested today." He chuckled. "He was brought in after Christian was released."

"Brandon was arrested?" Miguel couldn't hide the surprise in his voice.

"Yes, he attacked George at his house because he got information that George was sleeping with Ximena and it was possible she was pregnant for him too." He was still really happy and it was annoying. "However, George had called the police and they arrested him there and will be trying him on all the crimes he's committed. Felix is gonna be helping." He squeaked, making Miguel slightly move the phone slightly from his ears. "Isn't my Felix the best man in the world? I feel really lucky to have him in my life and oh..."

"You know you annoy with that kind of talk, Brian." Miguel snapped, rolling his eyes. "I don't want to hear anything about my ex okay? I don't like him and you know that."

Brian sighed on the other end. Obviously, he was a bit hurt. "I am sorry. Anyway, when are you going to see Christian?"

"I saw him today." Miguel said in a soft voice, getting emotional again. "I told him to stay away from Carter."

"What?" Brian gasped. "Why?"

"Don't get me wrong. I am not doing this to get him back. We're over." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I know that Christian doesn't love my brother enough and I can't have him hurting Carter."

"You may be right." Brian said. "But you know that he loves someone enough, you. You might have told him you don't wanna see him but doesn't he wanna see you?"

Miguel got dumbstruck by that question. He stood still without responding to the question before he finally cut the call.

"How am I supposed to stop loving you, Christian?" He sighed, tears forming in his eyes.

***

Carter was busy putting the files together so that the office could look a little presentable when or if Daniel came back. He had been missing for many weeks and no one seemed to know where he had gone to. Carter and his friends had come to help out people at the foundation so that they could make Lawrence feel better because he hadn't been himself since he had gotten raped and they were all hoping it was gonna help him.

As Carter was busy putting his files away, being careful not to hurt his hand, he heard footsteps behind him and he quickly turned only to get the surprise of his life. A smile popped up his face as he gasped, staring at the man lovingly who was still looking handsome as ever.

He was putting on a simple red and black striped shirt, gray trouser and black shoes. His hair was combed perfectly and though he was just staring at Carter like he wanted to hug him, Carter wouldn't have liked it any other way.

"Daniel!" He gasped, covering his mouth. "My God, it's been really long. Where have you been?"

But Daniel was just staring at Carter, dying to hug him and tell him everything. He was really scared because to start with, Miguel had no idea he had escaped or rather been set free but his dragon brother, Alejandro. Alejandro had followed Miguel to his hideout and then found Daniel there.

He had released him and although he had refused to go with Alejandro because he had wanted to stay and earn Miguel's forgiveness, Daniel had gotten out after hearing that Miguel had a brother, an older brother. He still didn't feel safe because he knew Miguel was gonna kill if he got to find out that he had escaped.