Page 60 of Obey

I probably shouldn’t swing the door open, standing balls out, wrapped in a towel with his former fiancée’s promise ring dangling from a chain on my chest, but I can’t fucking help myself. The urge to stick it to him, and the opportunity, are too good to pass up.

When I swing the door wide, it slams on the wall, bouncing off and making the picture frames shake. “What the fuck do you want?”

Harry, the cowardly fuck, recoils, takes a full step back, and the color drains from his face like he’s seen a ghost.

But he’s not alone. There’s a woman who looks like an older version of Talia, except her hair is long, blonde and wavy, and her clothes scream money.

Talia’s parents. Wonderful. This was not on my fucking bingo card for today.

“Is Talia in there?” Harry curls his lip.

The urge to pick him up by his throat and beat him into next week is strong. But these people will press charges and make sure I go away forever. They’d throw the book at me. SoI swallow down the burning bile on the back of my tongue, dig deep, and try to find some element of civility in my body.

This isn’t for me to drop her in trouble with her family, so I turn to her to see what she wants me to say. She’s barefoot, wet hair soaking the shoulders of her t-shirt. Her fresh-face looks pale, and she’s balling the front of her t-shirt, shrinking back inside herself right in front of my eyes.

“I’m here.” Her voice is small as she steps forward, joining me in the doorway.

The look on Harry’s face is comical. His jaw drops, snaps shut, drops, snaps shut, and the more he stares between Talia and I, the more his fists flex at his side.

I’m silently daring the dumb fuck to take a swing. He’d be in a body bag before he lands a single hit.

Talia’s dad hasn’t taken his eyes off Talia, while her mom’s gaze is fixed firmly on my chest. Whether it’s the tattoos, the nakedness, or the fact her daughter’s promise ring is hanging around my neck, I don’t know. But there’s a silent staring stand-off, and no one’s daring to so much as breathe.

After a long, quiet moment, it’s no surprise Harry breaks the silence. Prick never did know when to keep his goddamn mouth shut. “Tali, what the fuck did you do to your hair?”

She visibly bristles. It’s not the same shiver she gets when I call her pet names or say dirty things about her pretty pussy in her ear. It looks painful. Her face falls, and her shoulders curl forward.

“Get your things, Talia. We’re leaving.” From the stern look on her face, Talia’s mom seems pretty determined.

Half-Pint’s head snaps up, eyes wide for a fleeting beat before she clenches her teeth. “I’m not going anywhere but back to my house, Mama.”

“We need to talk, sweetheart.” Her dad seems to be good cop.

“I can talk here.” Talia folds her arms across her body like she’s protecting herself. It takes all the strength in my body not to step in front of her to protect her.

Honestly, I’m not sure whether she needs it or not. And I don’t want to piss her off more, or worse, hurt her if she thinks I’m not in her corner, or believe she can’t fight her own battles.

She stares at her parents for a long, drawn-out moment. “We can talk downstairs. But I’m not leaving the building with you.”

The fire blazing through my veins is out of control. I’m proud of my girl for standing her ground. I’m proud of her for telling them she wasn’t leaving with them because they said so, but I can feel from the way she’s holding herself that she’s going to crack.

“Half-Pint?”

Her watery eyes meet mine.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

Harry huffs out a breath that makes me flex my fingers into a ball at my side. In my periphery, he takes a step back. Good. He should be scared. He might be a controlling prick who has Talia under his thumb, but he doesn’t control me.

It’s shitty of me, but I take a step toward her, sweeping her hair behind her ear. “You want me to come with you?”

As she’s nibbling on her lip, her head tries to turn toward the people at the door, but I hold her chin firm so they can’t influence her decision.

“Is this why you refuse to marry Harry? Because you’re shacked up with this... man?” Distain drips from her mother’s words, making my skin prickle with irritation.

Judging people is human nature. But standing here in nothing but a fucking towel I’m honestly not sure if this woman’s issue is that I’m half naked, I have tattoos, or maybe even that I’m black. Either way, fuck her and her judgment.

Talia opens her mouth to answer, but I can’t help myself. Stepping in front of her, I shield her from their vitriol.

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