Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Benny

I lower the gun and stare down at my boss. He has dropped to the floor of my living room and slumped sideways, clutching at his chest, wheezing for air. Do I feel a hint of sympathy? No. When he claimed that he would be taking Fawn with him and…and touching her, touching what’s mine…he signed his death warrant.

So no, I have no remorse for what I’ve done.

My only regret is that I didn’t strangle him with my bare hands.

The longer he remains still on the ground, the more my rage begins to ebb. Reality comes back into focus. I’ve just killed my boss. A powerful man. And I did it in front of Fawn.

I’ve subjected her to violence after I promised repeatedly to keep it out of our lives.

Still, this has to be an exception, right? He threatened to take her away from me. He has the means to do it, too. A hundred men at his disposal. I would have fought like an animal. I could have fended off ten men, maybe even twenty, but I can’t be everywhere at once. And I’m not bulletproof, either. This was kill or be killed.

One last death on my hands.

Commit murder or lose the best thing in my life.

My angel. My poor angel must be terrified.

She’ll understand, won’t she? She’ll understand I had to do it.

My heart bounces side to side in my throat as I stumble into the bathroom. I lunge toward the shower, my deafening roar of denial echoing off the walls. Red coats my vision. A fine sheen of icy cold sweat becomes a layer on top of my skin. Spinning around, I notice the open window and I don’t think twice, I simply start running. Past my boss and out the front door of my house, searching left to right wildly. Straight ahead.

The only entrance and exit to the compound is closed. And unless she knew what to look for, a slight break in the greenery, she’d miss it. There is no other way out. Not unless she climbed the walls. But my property is large and dense. There are plenty of places to hide among the foliage. That she would hide from me at all makes me bay brokenly, turn in a dizzy, sickening circle. Where is she?

“Fawn!”

My heart breaks into a million pieces at the silence that follows. For a moment, I wonder if she was only ever alive in my imagination. How else could such a perfect being want to be with me? But no. No, I can smell her on my skin. Her claw marks are still visible on my chest. My fucking head is full of her. Every smile, every giggle, every word she’s said to me.

“Fawn, please. I’m sorry.” I circle around the right side of the house, searching the tree line for any sight of her. She’s scared. She’s probably so scared and it’s my fault. I should have prepared her for my boss’s murder, even briefly. I should have handled it differently. At the very least, I should have closed the bathroom door so she wouldn’t have to witness the taking of another man’s life. “Baby, come out. You know you don’t have to be scared of me. I would die a million deaths before I let someone nick your pinkie finger.”

There’s a rustle in the bushes up ahead and I see a flash of light blue.

I run in that direction and find her huddled in a ball on the leafy ground, her knees pulled up to her chest. Tears are streaming down her face. She’s trembling so hard, her teeth are chattering. Wearing nothing but a hastily pulled on towel. The sight nearly fells me. Someone might as well rake a claw hammer through my gut.

“Fawn…”

“I know.” She swipes at her eyes. “I know what you’re going to say. You had to kill him. You had no choice. But you didn’t even try to reason with him. You didn’t even try.”

“I’m sorry for breaking my promise to you. I never should have made it in the first place, knowing what Frank is capable of. I should have known he’d want you for himself.” I dig the muzzle of the gun into my temple, possessiveness spearing me like a freshly sharpened sword. “Every man in this fucking world is going to want you for himself!”

“And you’ll want to kill them all.” She sniffs, shakes her head sadly. “I can’t watch that happen over and over again.”

She’s right. I won’t be able to control myself when she’s at stake.

There is no reason or rationality when it comes to this girl.

“Come here.” My breathing is ragged. “Let me hold you and we’ll talk about this.”

A teardrop rolls down her cheek, her attention dropping to something in my hand—and I realize I’m still holding the gun. Slowly, I set down the firearm a few feet away, so she doesn’t have to look at it. So she doesn’t have to be reminded I’m a monster. But she still doesn’t come to me. She simply huddles more securely into the towel, a broken angel in the weeds.

We’re at a bleak impasse.

She doesn’t want a life of violence.

And I can’t promise I won’t commit murder if another man tries to come for what’s mine. They will, too. She’s a bright beacon of light. She’s a sexual bombshell. She’s beautiful beyond words. Sweet and intelligent and optimistic. She’d be better off without me, but unfortunately, there is no way in hell that is going to happen.

“I’d go insane without you,” I rasp. “I’d rampage my way through Louisiana until someone had mercy on me and shot me down. But even that short time…the time it took someone to put me out of my misery…would be too much. I’d paint the world black with my fucking pain.” My teeth feel glued together. “You’re not leaving.”

“Yes, I am.” She stops trembling and her chin lifts. “Even though I love you.”

With an anguished sound, I tear at my hair. “Fawn, don’t make me tie you up. Please.”

At first, when the color leaves her face, I think it’s because of my threat. Why wouldn’t it be? I’ve just proven I’m a mad man. I’ve just threatened to imprison her, just like she was when I found her. And I can’t do anything to stop myself. I’m obsessed with her. I’m out of my mind. I can no more let her walk out of here, out of my life, than I can predict the future.

But my threat is not why my angel turns pale.

I realize that when a gun cocks behind me.

“You should have checked my pulse, you ugly bastard,” Frank grits out.

My blood stops running. Everything inside of me goes still as death. This morning, before I knew Fawn existed, I wouldn’t have cared if he pulled the trigger. Good, I would have thought. This earth doesn’t need me anyway. But if Frank shoots me and kills me now, he’ll be free to take her. He’ll put his evil hands on her perfect skin. He might even form his own obsession. Where Fawn is concerned, I’m not sure it’s possible to do otherwise. She is the most obsession-worthy being on the planet. And she fucking belongs to me.

“Hands up, Benny, or I’ll bury the bullet in her instead.”

My hands rise automatically, visions of an injured Fawn making me dizzy.

“I can see why you would commit murder for her. Son of a gun. Isn’t she just a stunning little thing?” He smacks his lips. “Never heard a man howl like that while fucking. She must be tighter than hell. I aim to find out.”

My body shakes with mounting ire.

Disbelief.

Denial.

If I turn now and lunge for him, he will shoot me, but I’m a tough motherfucker. Unless it’s a head shot or he gets me directly in the heart, I’ll live long enough to end him. I’ll live long enough to save Fawn from his clutches. She can live in my house for the rest of her life. She’ll be safe here, won’t she?

Only until Frank’s cronies come looking for him.

Helpless with rage, I bellow through my teeth, my body shaking.

Frank laughs at the sight of my agony. “Nice knowing you, Benny Beat Down.”

Fawn dives sideways and picks up my gun. There’s a sharp zipping sound and then everything goes silent. At least until there’s a loud thump behind me—and I turn to find Frank staring up at the sky, this time without an ounce of life in his eyes. No, there wouldn’t be. Not with the bullet hole in the center of his forehead.

All I can think about is caring for my angel.

I fight through my shock and walk toward her on my knees, gently prying the gun from her cold fingers and sliding it away through the leaves. Then I pull her into my lap and do my best to warm her icy skin, rubbing her with my palms, kissing her everywhere I can reach. “Oh Jesus, not my girl. Not my girl. I never would have asked you to do that. I hate that you had to do something so against who you are—”

“No,” she murmurs, sounding more than a little dazed. “I understand now. I didn’t before. But…when you love someone, the thought of them being hurt is unbearable. I couldn’t let him shoot you—and he would have. I’ve never seen evil like that. Like him. I couldn’t let him take my man. I understand now.” She turns in my lap and wraps her legs around my waist, her body shaking with silent tears. “I’d kill him all over again. For you. My sweet giant.”

“You’ll never have to hold another gun in your hands,” I vow fervently, crushing her to my chest. “Never again, Fawn.”

“But you will.” Her eyes are clear when she pulls back to look at me. “I’ve never felt fear like I did when I thought Frank was going to take me. It was naïve of me to believe men can always work out their differences with words. When someone has pure evil in them, like I saw in that man’s eyes…maybe there is only one way to stop him.” She gulps. “Are there a lot of men like him, Benny?”

I want to lie to her. To tell her the world is a magical place. She deserves to live in a utopia filled with sunshine and comfort. But I’ll never tell her another untruth. I’ll never go back on my word to her again as long as I live. “Yes, there are a lot of bad men out there, baby.”

The towel comes loose and sags. She scoots closer in my lap, blinking up at me with her big, gorgeous eyes. “Don’t let them get me, Daddy.”

“I won’t,” I promise ardently, sucking down her fragrance. “I’ll strengthen the gates. I’ll make them ten feet higher. No one will ever go near you again.”

Her warm breath coasts up my throat and my cock stiffens. Now is not the time to get turned on. I’m a bastard for panting after her pussy when she’s still upset. But God, I want to feel her around me. Reassure myself that this miracle is happening and I get to keep her, despite what I’ve done. Despite who I am.

“Good,” she whispers, reaching down to unbutton my pants. A moment later, she shifts her hips and slides me into her hot, wet cunt and I cry out like a fucking animal, shaken by the sheer intensity of my passion for her. My angel. “You’re not a murderer, are you? You’re a guardian. A hero. You hurt those who deserve it and care for the ones who don’t. Like me, like your animals. Maybe violence is okay if it’s for a righteous cause.”

I can’t speak. I can only pant into her neck and nod.

“Be violent with me,” she breathes, flexing her inner walls around me, rocking her hips. “And when you’ve filled me up, we’re going to figure out how to make you the new boss…” Her tongue drags along my jawline. “Because that’s what you were meant to be.”