Page 76 of Moonlit Thorns

I nod. His gaze roams my face for a bit before he dips down and places a chaste kiss on my lips.

“You’re fucking him?” Galen booms. “Are you serious? How fucking stupid can you be? Didn’t take you for a slut.”

There’s no warning as Asher pulls away from the kiss and, in one fluid motion, cocks his fist back and punches Galen square in the jaw.

Galen stumbles back and ends up on his ass on the floor.

“Consider that a warning. Next time, there won’t be one.” Then Asher takes my free hand. “Let’s go.”

He leads me out the door, leaving behind a roomful of people gaping at our backs.

Chapter

Thirty-Two

ASHER

When Cinder texted me to tell me some guy was bothering Anabelle at the bar, I couldn’t get there fast enough. I was already worked up on the short drive there. But when I walked in and saw him gripping her wrist, I just about lost it.

I wanted to race across the bar and pummel him into sawdust. I knew if I did, I would probably black out in my rage as I had once before in my life. And I didn’t want Anabelle to witness that. That was the only thing that prevented me from crossing the distance between us.

But when he called her a slut? Fuck. There was no way I was letting that go.

That piece of shit can try his worst, I don’t care. I have enough money and influence to make myself untouchable. Something he should already know.

Once I have Anabelle safely in the car beside me, I sit with my hands on the steering wheel, knuckles white while I try to control my breathing and slow my heart rate. I need to calm down before I can speak rationally with Anabelle.

She seems to instinctively know this, because she doesn’t say a word.

Once I’ve gathered myself, I turn my head and look at her. “Are you okay?”

She nods. “How did you know where I was?”

“After you mentioned that you go there sometimes on Saturday nights, I called the owner and told her that if there were ever any problems for you, I was to be notified right away. She told her workers. Put your seat belt on.”

Anabelle does as I said without argument. Perfect. She’s always so perfect.

“Are you upset that I did?” I don’t care if she is. I’ll do what I have to in order to protect her.

“I probably should be, but no, I’m not.”

The sensation in my chest from her words has me rubbing it after I slide on my seat belt. I pull out of the parking lot, anxious to get her back to Midnight Manor. Not seeing her for two days was fucking torture.

“My car is here.” She looks out the window as we move farther away from it.

“I’ll send someone to pick up your car. Give me the keys.”

She pulls them from her purse and passes them to me. I slide them in my pocket.

“Given that you were at the bar, I take it your visit with your mother didn’t go well?”

I hear her sigh, and I glance at her again. Pain coats her features like paint.

“No, same as last time. No change.”

After I press the button for the gates to the manor, I squeeze her hand. “I’m sorry.”

The vehicle moves through the low-level fog on the grounds tonight. It’s not common this time of year in general, but it’s not uncommon here at Midnight Manor all year. It’s just another one of the unexplainable things that add to the manor’s lore.

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