Page 38 of My Broken Bodyguard 2: Ritchie & Tori

I heard screaming in the fog of my mind. It felt like it was far away. Ritchie glanced over his shoulder several times.

Who was he talking to?

“How do you expect me to leave you like this?” Ritchie asked.

The back of my head thudded the wall. “Go back to your life,” I muttered weakly.

His response was fierce and unwavering. “Fucking never. You’re my life, Tori.”

A tear escaped my eye. “I’m so sorry.”

“We need to talk to her,” Simone shouted.

“Move Romeo. We know how to help her,” Asia bit out.

I couldn’t see my friends over Ritchie’s muscled frame.

“I’ve ruined your life, Ritchie. You’ve been shot several times for me.”

“Tori, you’re my woman. You’re right, I walked through an exploding gas station for you. I tortured a man who hurt you. I’d do it again to have you in my life.”

His fingertips gently traced the outline of my face, creating a calmness washing over my body as he spoke quietly but firmly.

“Tori, you’re mine, baby. You can’t get rid of me. I’m not stupid. I knew the moment you blacked out in the bathroom in my hotel room, our journey wouldn’t be easy if I pursued you.”

My brows lifted. “You didn’t like me when we first met.”

“You stood up to a beast of a man who was broken. You stole my heart, baby.”

Ritchie had a way of making me feel like a rare flower that deserved love and attention.

He sat on the floor and pulled me into his big, strong arms.

I peeked at my best friends’ tear-streaked faces, and I mouthed. “I’m ok.”

Their shoulders slumped, and they gave me a half smile before walking away.

“You’ll have to see a therapist, Tori,” Ritchie said.

My hand curled around his bicep as my head rested on his chest.

“I know,” I sighed.

“In the meantime, you’ll stay in Chicago. Against my better judgment. But we’ll make it work. Ezra will be your bodyguard, as planned. Honestly, I knew you had to stay in Chicago. But the selfish part of me wanted my woman to come home with me.”

“I’ll work on myself, Ritchie. So one day I can go home with you.”

“To our home, baby.” He squeezed me tighter.

This man loved me. For whom I was. The fucked up broken girl who’d been fucked over.

“Thank you, Ritchie.”

“I’m in the process of purchasing our home in Evanston.”

I pulled back and stared into his eyes. “Really?”

“Yes, baby, really.”

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