Page 24 of Ruthless

My hands clench into fists as I fight the urge to shove my hand down the fucker’s throat. Whoever he is, he’s much too close to Kennedy for my liking. Since we left Florida, shit’s been running through my mind, and this only adds to it. I’m a bomb about to go off. My steps never falter until I’m standing right next to her. I’ve thought of nothing else but getting to her from the moment I saw the knife through that fucking photo. Against my better judgment, I called Connor to relay my concern because I didn’t want to worry Kennedy, and it looks like it was a mistake on my part. The bastard decided to take matters into his own hands. Something we’ll be hashing out later.

Asher and Axel are behind me dealing with Connor and their women, but it all blends into background noise. All that matters to me is getting Kennedy away from that fucker in front of her. I won’t be able to settle the gnawing ache in my gut until I know that she’s okay. My brothers can deal with the rest of this shit.

I grab Kennedy by the arm and pull her gently along with me and through the first door I see. It turns out to be the locker room. The door clicks shut, leaving the outside world behind us for now, and that’s where it will stay until I’m satisfied.

A mixture of sweat and bleach fills my nose the second we enter, but I keep moving us farther into the room to the last set of lockers at the very end until we’re far enough away from the door that I don’t have to worry about her running off. After sitting in a car for the last thirteen hours, the last thing I want to do is have to give chase. It doesn’t mean I won’t if it’s necessary.

I rip the gloves off her hands and toss them away somewhere behind me. They land with a soft thump to the cement floor as I lean in with my weight and cage Kennedy in. It takes a couple of seconds for her mind to catch up to the rest of her body. That’s the only reason I managed to get her in this position as easily as I have. The moment reality sinks in, her body comes alive and jerks against me. But I have her caged in place, right where I want her. She isn’t going anywhere.

The top of her head barely comes to the center of my chest, and it only reminds me of how tiny she is compared to me. She resembles a caged bird whose wings are about to be clipped, but instead of cowering, she spits out fire.

Her head tilts back as those blue eyes smolder with promises of incinerating my ass alive from behind her glasses. A deep crimson fills her cheeks and has her looking ready to carve my eyes out with her nails. “What the hell was that for?” The veins on her neck pulse as she continues to glare at me. Kennedy’s like a lioness ready to pounce and refusing to bow down in fear. This is a new side of her. One that I haven’t seen yet. It has my blood coming alive, pumping through my veins like a wildfire.

This is the first time we’ve been this close since we got back from Vegas, and I almost forgot how fucking beautiful she is. Mere inches separate us, but it’s enough for me to see the tiny flecks of gold inside her blue eyes through the lenses of her glasses. My eyes slide down the rest of her face, taking in every detail. A light dusting of freckles covers the edges of her tiny nose. Plump pink lips that are begging for my teeth to sink into them. Images of her on her knees in front of me with those same lips wrapped around my dick flash through my mind. I have to fight back a groan.

Every inch of her is perfect, but I need to get my shit locked down and remember why we’re standing in this position in the first place. I shake myself out of it before I do something fucking stupid and lift her shirt until it’s above her ribs, revealing the smooth expanse of her stomach.

“Don’t move,” I warn as my fingers skim along the soft flesh. My healing knuckles are a stark contrast to her perfect porcelain skin.

“What are you doing?” Once again, she jumps at the contact and pushes against my chest to get away, but it’s pointless. I’m stronger.

I grip both her wrists and lock them over her head with my free hand. The movement causes her tits to press up against my chest, and the friction against my nipple piercings has me biting back a growl. Pregnancy has made them bigger. I haven’t said anything, but I’ve sure as fuck noticed. I notice everything about her.

“If I find one mark on you, I’m gonna rip that motherfucker’s hands off and choke him with them.” My teeth grind together at the thought of him standing so close to her like he had a fucking right to. Kennedy belongs to me. That makes me sound like a hypocritical asshole, considering how I’ve acted toward her, but I don’t fucking care. She’s mine. End of story.

My head is spinning, and I’m struggling with the urge to either stay in here with her or go back out there and beat his ass just for the hell of it. Then she speaks, and I’m ready to turn my ass around.

“Give me some credit. Dalian wouldn’t hurt me.”

I don’t like how she says that name with such familiarity. It pushes me closer to the edge of my control. I’m wound up so tight that I can only handle so much before I snap and unleash a monster neither one of us is ready for.

I suck in a deep breath and force myself to calm down before I lose my shit entirely and end up spanking her ass. I grind out through my teeth, “Who the fuck is Dalian?”

When she remains quiet, I lean in closer until our noses are touching, pressing her deeper into the lockers with my chest, ensuring she gets the message not to test me, but Kennedy isn’t one to bend easily.

She’s trapped in here with nowhere to run, and still, she doesn’t bend to me. “He’s thefriendI was sparring with before you came in barking orders like a damn crazy person.” Her breathing becomes more frantic the louder she yells at me. The pupils of her eyes narrow, deepening the blue of her irises the more her temper flares to life. They’re like an ocean sucking me in, and I contemplate drowning in them for a brief second, but then her words penetrate through my fog and knock me back down into reality. The vein in the side of my neck throbs the more I let them sink in. It’s complete bullshit.

“Are you out of your mind? You’re pregnant. The last thing you should be doing is sparring with some dickhead. What if something happened?” Everything inside of me coils up tight at the thought of something happening to them.

“I said I was fine.” Her voice comes out low and lethal. If it weren’t for the slight tremble in her voice giving away her emotions, I’d think she was gonna lunge forward and attack me.

“Not good enough.” I shake my head and bend down to continue checking her over. My fingers run along the top of her ribs, and she flinches again, trying to pull away. “Hold still.”

“Your beard’s tickling me.” She squirms against the locker once more, but I’m not stopping until I’m satisfied. The knot in my gut won’t settle until I have concrete proof that she isn’t hurt. I’ve learned never to take anything at face value.

After I’m sure she doesn’t have a scratch on her, I stand upright and stare her down. Everything over the last thirteen hours comes crashing into me all at once. From the time I hauled ass out of Isaac’s until we pulled up here, my mind has done nothing but come up with what-ifs and had my self-control on edge. Thank fuck, none of them came to fruition.

“See? I told you I was fine,” she smarts off and jerks her arms out of my grasp. I let her break free, giving her the illusion that she could get away from me. Truth is, my head’s so fucked up right now that I’m not sure I can let her out of my sight even for a second.

“Yeah, you are.” I lean down and press my forehead against hers as I release a deep exhale, letting the shit from the last thirteen hours fall away. The heat of my breath causes her glasses to fog over, and if it bothers her, she doesn’t say a word about it. My heart pounds in my chest, but she’s safe right here in front of me. And I’m gonna make sure it fucking stays that way.

Silence stretches between us, and neither one of us makes a move to break our connection. We’ve found ourselves in a truce that neither one of us wants to be the first to break. The room is stifled with our mixture of heavy emotions, but I can’t let her go. Not yet.

“You left.”

Her shoulders droop as her words leave her on a small sigh. “You left first.”

I open my mouth to argue, but she isn’t done reminding me of what a giant dickhead I’ve been.

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