Page 64 of Bullet

She avoided my eyes for several seconds before she finally met my gaze. Biting down on her bottom lip, her eyes filled with tears.

Seeing her like that did all sorts of things to me. I wanted to rip Matteo apart for whatever he'd done to her. I rubbed the back of her hand with my thumb. “It's okay, baby. I won't let him hurt you.”

After a few seconds of staring at me in silence, Dixyn exhaled a deep sigh. “Matteo and I were together for about a year. A few months into our relationship, he started to be abusive.” She took a deep breath before continuing, “At first, I tried to fight back, but he'd just beat me worse.” She sniffled, obviously fighting back tears. “I tried to leave a couple of times, and he put me in the hospital.”

I'd never been so angry in my entire life. Jaw clenching, I balled my fist in anger, growling, “Motherfucker.”

Her grip on my hand tightened. “It just so happened that my grandpa died while Matteo was in Mexico.” Tears trickled down her cheeks. “It was like he was saving me by giving me that opportunity to come home.”

I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of my fiery phoenix being beaten. “I'm going to kill him,” I promised.

She shook her head, wiping her cheeks with her free hand. “No. I don't want you to get hurt.”

I chuckled. “I won't.”

“He's dangerous, Ford.”

I scoffed. “Sweetheart, I know all about Matteo. He ain't half as dangerous as I am. He'll beg me to kill him when I'm done with him.”

She took my hand in both of hers, pleading, “Please don't. I couldn't handle it if you got hurt because of me.”

Looking away, I didn't say anything. I didn't want to make any promises I couldn't keep.

She squeezed my hand. “Please, Ford.”

I glanced back at her, and the puppy dog eyes she was giving me broke my heart. “Fine,” I grumbled. “I'll drop it. For now.”

Her body visibly relaxed, and she let out a sigh. “Thank you.”

I pulled out my cigarettes. “I need a smoke.” I offered her the box. “You want one?”

She took one and put it to her lips. I lit the end, then did the same with my own, taking a long drag. “This is some fucked-up shit.” I chuckled.

Dixyn laughed while blowing out smoke. “Tell me about it.”

I watched her as I took another puff. “You know I'll protect you, right?”

Her eyes locked with mine. “Will you?”

We stared at each other for several seconds. I'd been denying my feelings for Dixyn since the moment we'd met, but the answer that blared in my head spoke clearly. I'd kill for her. I'd risk my life for her. “Yes.”

Her eyes watered as she darted them away from mine, putting the cigarette to her lips again and inhaling. She didn't speak until after slowly blowing the smoke out a few seconds later. “What is this, Ford?” She brought her gaze back to mine and gestured between us. “What are we doing?”

I didn't have an answer to that. All I knew was I wanted her and didn't want anyone else to have her. I blew out a breath and tapped the ashes of my cigarette in the ashtray on the table. “I don't know.”

She put out her cigarette and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I don't want to be one of your groupies, and I don't want you fucking anyone else.”

I arched a brow, holding back a laugh. She was so intense sometimes. “Is that so?”

“I'm not kidding, Ford. Last night you said that you claimed me. What does that mean? Are we together? Are we exclusive? What?”

Taking one last drag of my cigarette, I put it out and blew out the smoke. “I don't know, kitten. We can't really go out on the town holding hands now, can we?”

She rolled her eyes. “You're such an asshole.”

I chuckled at her. “What? It's the truth, isn't it?”

“So what are we going to do? Just keep doing what we're doing?”

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