Page 56 of Secret Obsession
She probably broke it. I felt the bones click back into place when I aligned it. I can’t remember how many scuffles I’d gotten into in hockey that resulted insomeonebreaking their nose. And our coach in high school was usually the one to set it before they went to the ER.
“Better to do it fast,” he always advised, forcing the kid to stand still as he gripped their nose.
At least it’s not bleeding anymore.
But I’m going to have two black eyes—and that’s going to be a great story that neither of us will be able to share. Willow’s eye is darkened, too, from Amanda’s shitty punches. We fucking match.
When I find the correct street, and then the brownstone building, Willow frowns. She doesn’t ask any more questions, though. I park. And then we’re at the front door of a brownstone, which has a list of names and corresponding buzzers.
Then the door swings open before I can hit one, or any, of the call buttons. It forces Willow back as a woman in a long coat sweeps past us. I lunge for the door and catch it before it closes, then hold it open for Willow.
She scowls at me.
So far, so good.
“I don’t know what we’re doing,” she whispers. “Where are we?”
“We’re just going up a level,” I say. I run my hand along her shoulder, brushing her hair to the side for access to her neck. There’s a hickey just under her ear from where I was sucking and nipping at it earlier… One day, I’ll cover her in them.
“I don’t understand.” Willow glances at me.
“You think I’m going to fuck you and run away.” I spit out the words.
She stiffens.
I grip the back of her neck, my fingers curling around and digging in. She shakes her head to deny it.
“You think so because my brother trained you to believe it’s what people in love do,” I argue. We climb the steps, and my hand doesn’t leave her neck. “I’m not faulting you for that. I’m just stating a fact.”
“It’s—”
“So, this is how it’s going to go.” We get to the right door, and I rap my knuckles on the wood. “I’m going to fuck you, and then I’m going to make sure you know I’m not leaving. No matter how much you might want me to do so.”
Willow grimaces.
“And I’m going to make sure you know that no other man is allowed to touch you.”
The door swings open.
“Willow?”
My hand slides free from her neck. Lost cause, anyway, as she stumbles backward. I launch forward, though. No time to waste.
I punch Ronan Pierce in the face as hard as I can.
Willow screams behind me, but the fucker in front of me has most of my attention. Not all of it. I think there’s a part of me that’ll always be focused on the girl at my back. He rocks back into his apartment, and for a moment, I lean forward like I’m going to follow.
Nah.
Instead, I manage to snatch the front of his shirt and haul him into the hall with us. I shove him against the wall beside his door and point at Willow. Her mouth is covered by her hand, her eyes wide and pupils dilated.
Fuck, she’s sexy.
“Do you see her?” I ask him in a low voice.
He eyes Willow, then jerks his head in a nod.
“No,” I correct. “You don’t. You don’t see her, and none of your friends will see her. If she’s sitting alone at the bar, you don’t fucking buy her a drink. If she’s sitting alone at lunch, you leave her be.”
