“Quinn is under my protection.You better not show your face around her again, or I’ll be back to make sure you stop breathing.Understand?”
Bryan just cried, so Max kicked his feet.
“Hey, asswipe, understand?”
“Y-yes,” Bryan gasped.
“Good, because you don’t want me to track you down.”
Then Max left the motherfucker on the bathroom floor, crying and bleeding heavily.
****
Early the next morning, Quinn lay in bed, the left side of her face sensitive as she tenderly probed the area.Shame and embarrassment rolled together in an endless tussle, replaying over and over in her mind all the crap Bryan had said to her over time.How they would always do something he wanted to do.Or how he would manipulate situations to favor himself.Why hadn’t she seen through him?Seen that he had a vicious temper?It made her question herself.Question any judgement she’d make in the future.Two years she wasted on him, and it made her feel utterly stupid.
There was a knock on her bedroom door, and she hastily wiped the moisture from her face before telling Max he could enter.He came in carrying a cup of coffee and a little bag from the local pastry shop.She pushed to sit up, resting against the headboard.
“Got you a doughnut,” he said.When he spotted her face, he frowned.
“Are you in pain?”
“No,” she replied.
“Then what?”
“I’m feeling humiliated,” she mumbled.
He sat down on the side of the bed next to her.“Don’t feel that way.This is on his shoulders, not yours.”
“Easy to say, harder to feel.”
He took hold of her hand.“He’s never going to hurt you again.”
“Is he alive?”It was supposed to sound sarcastic, but there was a measure of unsure curiosity.
He studied her, head tilted.“Would you miss him?”
Now her heart pounded.There was an edge of steel in his voice.His gaze sharper than an eagle.The conversation they had the day before played through her head.
“Did you kill him?”
“No, but if he comes around you again, I can’t guarantee he’ll stay breathing.”
She relaxed at that.“Did you beat him up?”
“Yes.Are you scared of me now?”
His expression remained neutral, although he watched her closely, and she had this feeling he was waiting for something.As for his question, she shook her head.
“No.I will never be scared of you.You’d never hurt me.”
“You’re absolutely right about that.I’ll never lay a finger on you.”
“I won’t miss that monster,” she stated firmly.
He opened his mouth, like he wanted to say something, but shut it at the last minute and shook his head.“I just wanted to make sure you’re over him.”
“Who, Bryan?Damn right I am.If I ever see that jerk again, I’m going to kick his balls up into his rectum.”
