Page 80 of The Bloke

I was more than sick of his shit. How did he even fucking know what had happened between us that night?

“Oi! Knock it the fuck off, you two.” Nick’s voice cut the tension between us like a knife as I was about to introduce Travis’s jaw to my fucking fist, just as my wife had done moments ago. “Dustin made his decision, and I suggest we all get the hell out of here before he reconsiders it. I sure as fuck know that he won’t appreciate you two pissing all over his foyer over a woman.”

Fucking Nick…

I leveled a vicious glare at Travis before turning to escort my wife out of the mansion.

“You stay the fuck away from my wife, Travis, you hear me?” I growled over my shoulder as we reached the main doors. “Or I’ll fucking kill you. I don’t give a fuck how valuable you are to Dustin.”

Nick came up behind me as we reached the steps outside and mumbled, “Watch it, Colby. Travis has more influence over him than you think. Stay the fuck out of it, for your wife’s sake.” He gestured his chin to her. “He just saved her ass in there. Dustin was ready to watch you slit her throat before Travis showed up and convinced him otherwise.”

I couldn’t believe Nick was choosing to stand by his side—but I had to agree, he had a point.

If it weren’t for Travis, her blood would be on my hands tonight, but I wasn’t about to thank the asshole for saving her life when he was the one who had put her in that position in the first place.

“Let’s go, love,” I murmured to my wife as I gestured to the passenger seat.

As she got herself situated, I glanced over my shoulder to see Travis standing pompous and proud in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Colby.” Nick barked, snapping my attention to him as he stood beside his car door. “Leave.” His stern hiss sent a shiver ofwarning down my spine, and I did as he ordered, getting into the driver’s seat and leaving the mansion behind us.

Chapter 37

Sienna

I couldn’t fucking believewhat I was seeing. Travis just showed up out of fucking nowhere, and for the first time in my life, I welcomed the adrenaline that surged through my veins, masking the pain in my chest from the bullet wound, where his words hit just as hard.

Fucking marry him?I would have never even considered the sorry fuck as boyfriend material, let alone a fucking husband.

Words didn’t even begin to describe my animosity towards him. Then rubbing my past in Colby’s face like salt on a goddamn wound?Fuck.

“Want to tell me what that was all about?” My husband asked, glancing over at me as I fumed in the passenger seat, twisting the seatbelt in my fists out of frustration.

I sighed, releasing the seatbelt from my white-knuckle grip, and leaned back into the seat.

“Once upon a time, I was reckless…” I mumbled, staring into the dark desert landscape as he drove us back towards the city.

“And you’re not now?” He chuckled in sarcasm, and I could sense his smile within his light-hearted laugh.

“I’m reckless with standards now; there’s a difference,” I smirked—at myself more than him, biting my bottom lip as I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’ve done a lot of regretful things over the years…” My voice drifted with my thoughts and memories on the warm desert breeze. “And yet, no matter how many times I revisit that first night—I can’t see myself ever regretting you.” I turned to look at my husband and admire his profile as he focused on the road ahead.

I caught a glimpse of a sly grin pulling at the corner of his lips before my husband abruptly pulled off to the side of the road. It didn’t take him longer than a split second before he leaned over my body, unbuckled my seatbelt, and pulled me over the center console to straddle his lap.

“Colby!” I stared down at him, wide-eyed and confused, my hands gripping his shoulders to keep me from falling forward with the steering wheel digging into my backside.

He looked up at me, licking his hungry lips as his eyes wandered my face, almost as if committing every little part of it to memory.

“What is it?” I asked at his silence, curious as to why he had pulled over on this dark, dirt road. There were no street lights between the mansion and the city. The long drive out here was dark and desolate.

“You—” He whispered, his hand sliding up my side, wrapping around the back of my head, and threading my hair between his fingers, “are everything I imagined a perfect life would be. A life I only ever dreamed of having with this career.” Leaning up topress his forehead against mine, he inhaled deeply, closing his eyes as he released his breath. “When I look into your eyes, I know that I have everything I’ll ever need in this life and the next. You’re a woman worth more than any Men Under Revue check could ever cover.”

I lowered myself to my forearms on his shoulders, tilting my head to nuzzle against the crook of his neck. I inhaled deeply, committing his signature scent to memory. It was not the overwhelming smell of AXE body spray that he soaked himself in every night before a show, but the teakwood and leather scent that came from him, just being him.

Clinging to my husband tightly, I could feel my body shaking with the emotions I had fought so hard to hold back. I had given myself to him weeks ago; however, after everything we had just gone through, I felt like I was giving myself to him all over again—recommitting myself to our relationship, our marriage, and my love for him.

The first time I told him I loved him was the last time I thought I would ever have the chance to say it. I felt stupid for waiting so long after he said it the first time, just waiting for me to reciprocate my feelings, only to be shot down straight after mouthing those three simple—yet complicated—words.

Pulling back, I locked eyes with his bright blues, mine swollen and glistening with wet tears that I cried into his neck and shirt, giving in to everything I felt.

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