I fucking hated the pain. Most days it was manageable, but with the spring weather, pills were sometimes my only solace.

I’d spent months pretty much blessedly free from migraines, but they seemed to be back with a vengeance. Between the stiffness and pain, I could find no comfort or reprieve.

Scar tissue tugged, exacerbating my symptoms. It felt like the black hole I’d lived in for years was swallowing me up again.

Lila’s touch seemed the only thing able to soothe me.

“This hurts you a lot, doesn’t it?” she asked as she trailed her fingers down my scar.

“Yes. There were broken bones, sliced muscle, and chewed-up organs. Lots of damage that left lots of problems.”

She felt around at my ribs, digging in a little until she found what she was looking for. Following a line, she counted when she found the remodeling on each rib.

“Five?”

I nodded. She took hold of my hand and placed it against her ribs on the left side in almost the same spot. The same remodeling bumps, only smaller.

“Your stepbrother?”

She nodded.

“Do you have a plate here?” she asked, her fingers deftly dancing across my wrist.

“Yes.”

“And your knee?”

We both glanced down at the second largest scar on my body.

“Completely decimated. The femur shattered at the knee. There’s so much metal under that scar.”

Her brow knitted, and she snuggled into my arms. “I wish I could take it all away.”

I wish I could take it all away from you, too.

The next day things got worse, and I was numb to the world. After work we stripped and I pulled Lila into bed. She lulled me to sleep by running her fingers through my hair.

 

 

I considered myself to be the type of person who could get along with just about anyone. It seemed the accident may have busted that up as well, because after more than a month, I still couldn’t stand Andrew.

Ever since he popped back into Lila’s life, I hated him. The way he looked at her gave him away. Work luncheons didn’t happen often, and they were usually with large clients of the firm. Four attorneys—Andrew, Benjamin, Lila, and myself—sat around a table with the CEO of a regional chain of grocery stores to talk about the takeover of a city-wide local chain.

It was past the lunch hour, the restaurant mostly empty as the hostess guided us back to a small private room. The moment I saw the large, round table, I adjusted my position from Andrew, making sure Lila was not next to him.

Instead of Andrew on her other side, it was Benjamin who was seated there. I’d seen him around Lila before and it was obvious all his attention belonged to his wife.

As the talks began, I placed my hand on Lila’s thigh. That was the start, the catalyst. I teased her mercilessly until she had to get away.

To avoid suspicion, I waited a few minutes before excusing myself and following her. I snuck in the ladies’ restroom and slipped inside her.

Quick, dirty, and exactly what I fucking needed to calm the jealousy that raged inside me.

“We need to get back out there,” Lila said as I regained my breath. I had her bent over, using a wall support as I fucked her.

My cock was spent, the agitation of Andrew’s presence lessened. Another minute, and I stood and pulled out. Some come dribbled down to the floor.

“Come on, Honeybear, we better get cleaned up real quick and get back out there before they send out a search party,” I said as I stuffed my dick back in my slacks.

She was smiling as she straightened back out. It took a few minutes, but once everything was back in place, we headed back to the private room.

“There she is,” Benjamin said with a smile. “And she found Nathan.”

We sat down, and I noticed Andrew was avoiding looking at Lila, which was odd.

“We sent Andrew out to find you two, but he came back empty-handed,” Benjamin said.

My jaw twitched as I glanced at Andrew. Fuck. That was the change in his demeanor. He heard.

“I caught her coming out of the ladies’ room and dragged her outside with me for a minute,” I said, coming up with the most plausible lie I could, but the cloud around Andrew didn’t change. “We had something we needed to discuss.”

As lunch wore on, my suspicion that Andrew overheard us became more concrete.

 

 

“You were a very bad boy today, Mr. Thorne. I don’t know if I should let you in tonight,” Lila teased that night when we were in the elevator of our building on the way home.

The corner of my lip pulled up. “Oh, really? And how are you going to manage that when I have a key?”

“Hmm, good point.” She tilted her head and tapped a finger against her lips. “I could deny you access.”

“Could you?” I asked in challenge. I knew for a fact she couldn’t, but I really wanted to see her try.

“I think I could,” she said, standing straighter.

Challenge accepted.

I leaned into her and pressed her into the elevator wall, one hand on her hip, the other cupping her face as I leaned in to whisper against her ear. “Could you?”

I ghosted my lips across her cheek before pressing them to hers. She relented and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in as close as possible. Her hands fisted my hair, pulling me back to look in her eyes.

“Could you?”

“Never,” I admitted. “I could never deny you.”

That was my issue from the beginning. From the moment I met her, I was fucked. It took little effort on her part.

Our want became a raging need, and by the time the elevator pinged for her floor, our clothes were a mess. We stumbled out into the hall, bumping into walls as hands grabbed.

I let out a groan as her tongue ran along my exposed collarbone, while I worked to pull her skirt up. We were frantic, unbalanced as I pulled her leg up to my hip, causing us to fall against the opposite wall.

It was exactly the leverage I needed. I got her other leg up, and she locked them around my waist, pulling my hips in, letting my cock press into her heat.

I rocked into her as I nipped along her jaw, completely overcome by the drive to be inside her.

“You aren’t going to walk straight when I’m done with you tonight.”

A moan slipped from her lips while I continued to trail my teeth down her neck. I was ready to fucking pin her to the wall with my cock when we were interrupted.

“What the fucking shit is going on?”

We stopped from shock and turned to find Andrew a few feet from her door.

I groaned and turned my head back into her neck.

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” I hissed against her skin.

I straightened and stretched my neck, the beast waking in excitement.

“I told you to fucking stay away from her!” Andrew yelled, his face red, body tense. He was itching to punch me, but wouldn’t do anything while I was so close to Lila. “And I told you to stay away from him!”

What the fuck right did he have to tell her that? She wasn’t his.

I let go of her legs and let out a hard breath before starting down the hall. Everything was tense, readying for a fight. It was long past time we had it out.

“What fucking right do you have to fucking say that to either of us?”

His lip curled up, and he stepped forward and attempted to lean over me, but there was only an inch between us and he wasn’t intimidating.

“I can’t fucking stand you,” he seethed. “Now, get the fuck away from her.”

“Make me,” I said in challenge, our faces inches apart. “If she wants me to get away from her, she needs to tell me, not some overgrown, jealous Neanderthal.”

Lila’s small hand pressed against me, the heat from her touch calming me enough to listen to her.

“Boys, we need to get inside before my neighbor comes out, and you both know how she is.”

Lila turned to the door and fumbled with her purse in search of her keys. It was taking too long, so I pulled mine from my pocket and handed them to her.

“Here.”

The fucker gasped in shock.

Yeah, you don’t have a key, do you, asshole?

She ushered us in, handing me my keys.

“Are you kidding me? He has a fucking key? To your condo? Hell no,” Andrew growled.

Lila threw her bags down and slammed the door shut before turning on him. “Andrew! You don’t know anything about what is going on, so shut up.”

“He’s fucking playing with you, Lila. Open your eyes. He sticks his fucking dick in anything that has a pussy!”

I closed the distance between us and got right up in his fucking face, ready to deck him. He had made me blood-thirsty from the moment I first met him.

“You don’t know anything.”

“How long have you been stringing her along? Making her think she’s different from the other girls?”

“As I said, you don’t know anything. Because if you did, you would know the only woman I’ve been with for almost four months is Lila.”

The expression fell from his face, and he looked toward Lila. She wasn’t impressed by any of our posturing. There was a satisfaction that sunk in as his eyes grew wide. Fucking finally he knew—he understood.

She didn’t want him. He finally knew all the marks left on her were from me.

Lila was mine.

“No. Him?” He pointed toward me. “It was him at the bar? It’s him who marks you? Him who understands you?”

Lila simply nodded, refusing to elaborate. Which was good, because he had no right to our relationship.

I stepped up, getting his attention. “Yes. Me. I see her. I’m the one who sleeps with her every night. It’s my cock shoved in that fucking tight pussy of hers,” I growled. My arm shot out, and I pointed to the door. “So, get the fuck out of here so I can pin her against the wall and make her forget that anyone other than me has ever been inside her.”

He needed to fucking go. He didn’t belong.

Suddenly, his hands were fisted in my jacket as he pulled me so we were face to face.

“You don’t deserve to be in the same fucking room as her.”

I pushed him off with so much force, he stumbled back. “What the fuck is your problem? You just can’t let her go, can you? Wasn’t it you who left her?”

What the fuck kind of claim did he think he had on his ex-girlfriend?

“And what do you know about me, Andrew? That I fucked around with women over the last two years? Yes, that’s true. I needed an outlet for my anger, frustration, and sexual needs. Who the fuck cares? She doesn’t.” I gestured to Lila.

“If that’s all you know and that’s all you care to know, then leave,” she said.

Andrew stared at her, and I could see the hurt, but I really didn’t care.

“This is a breach of both of your employment contracts. You know that, right?” he asked.

“Of course we know,” Lila said. “Are you planning on saying something so we’ll both get fired? Is your prejudice of Nathan that great? So great you would endanger my job as well? And my happiness?”

“I… Lila…” He let out a sigh as he begged her with his eyes. “I don’t want to see you get hurt, and I think he could damage you.”

“Nathan has no devious plan, no ulterior motives. He’s a good man, and you need to open your eyes and see. Because all you’re looking at is the act, what he shows you, not the real man.”

Fuck, I wanted to kiss her.

“Now get the hell out of my home, and don’t fucking come back until you’re ready to know him—ready to know us. I’m an adult and can make my own goddamn decisions. I choose who I want to be with. And it’s him. He’s the one I want.”

Fuck, yes, we are, the beast growled from his cage.

His body slouched in defeat. “Good girl.”

Good girl? Was she a fucking dog, or was he really that clueless as to how strong she could be?

She smiled back, and he turned to leave.

His love for her in whatever capacity could render him an ally, as much as I hated to admit it. Much like Caroline, he did have her best interest at heart, and I had to commend him on that.

“If you want to find out some truth—as true as the news will give you, anyway—then do what Caroline did and Google my name,” I said. His eyes met mine, the animosity gone. “And once you’ve done that and found some truth, then you can come and try to tell us what kind of person I am, but not before. Because I guarantee your opinions will change.”

He nodded and headed to the door.

Seconds after the door clicked closed, I had Lila pinned against the wall as I devoured her mouth. It was what I needed to calm down and I slowed, nuzzling her.

“Mine,” I said.

Her fingers caressed my cheek as she smiled up at me. “Always.”