Page 119 of My Broken Bodyguard 2: Ritchie & Tori

“What’s wrong, Tori?” I glowered at her.

Her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she tried to catch her breath. “Nothing.”

Furrowing my brow, I shouted, “Are you seriously going to keep lying to me?” I pulled her closer and ripped off her shirt before throwing it aside. Then I effortlessly positioned her over my shoulder and carried her with me.

She cried out in pain.

It hurt my heart that she’d keep hiding the truth from me.

“Are you hurt, Tori?”

Her fists pounded against my muscled back as I ambled into the bathroom. “Put me...the...fuck...down.”

I angrily pulled open the glass shower door and stormed inside, placing her on the bench before turning on the water. Tori’s eyes seemed to look right through me as I stood under two of the eight jets, letting the hot water cascade down my body. I picked up the shampoo, poured a small amount in my hand, and returned the bottle to the shelf. My fingers worked at massaging the shampoo into my hair as I spoke sternly. “You can’t keep things from me, Tori.”

“I have business to handle in Chicago,” she spat.

“Is that why you’re lying to me? Because you assume I won’t allow you to return.” I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair.

Her stunning brown eyes grew stormy. “You have no right to keep me here.”

I chuckled. “Oh, but I can. You’re my wife.” My deep voice vibrated the shower walls.

“I’m not your fucking property. Why do men treat me like a trophy? You think I want all this? I don’t. I’m from the South Side. I can take care of myself.”

I pointed at my chest. “Sending my fucking men to protect you doesn’t make you my trophy. Get the fuck out of here with that shit,” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“My men protect you because I love you. I’d fucking die for you, Tori.”

“Why? Why would you do that for me?” Tears spilled down her cheeks.

I realized the recent chaos caused her to miss her first appointment with the therapist.

“You almost died today, Tori. Again.”

“I have to return and kill that bitch once and for all.”

“You need to regroup.”

“I was trying to, Ritchie. I went to the hotel to deal with my demons. To get stronger. She showed up at my place of refuge.”

I approached her and knelt down in front of her. My hand gently massaged her aching ass cheek while my other hand held her face.

“She knows that’s your place. And when you leave there, you come out stronger.”

She shut her eyes tight, as if trying to hold back the tears.

“Find new places, Tori. You have a home in Chicago. A home here.” I grabbed her hand and placed it over my heart.

“You have me.”

As she exhaled, her shoulders relaxed, and sadness washed over her face. Tears spilled from her gorgeous brown eyes.

“Why did I come into your life with all of my baggage?” she lamented.

“As I’ve told you before, you deserve to be loved. In the right way.”

“I keep making mistakes with us,” she confessed.

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