Page 29 of Uncaged Obsessions

“I made sure the security had a heads up before we got here.” She shrugs.

“Whoareyou?” I ask her and she just smiles.

We pull up to the front of the house, and as soon as Adam has the car parked, Caine is bursting out and storming up to the front door. The rest of us aren’t far behind but he’s already banging on it roughly.

“So I guess we’re done playing it cool,” I comment.

“He has her in there. You think I give a fuck about playing it cool?” Caine snaps.

He bangs on the door again, not giving anyone on the other side enough time to do anything before he's pushing it open. It wasn't even locked, and as soon as we're inside, there's a scream I know immediately is Max.

The four of us race up the stairs toward the noise, needing to get to her as quickly as possible. By the time we clear the landingon the second floor and make it to the door where the screaming was coming from, she's stopped.

Caine bursts through the door, and my eyes immediately find Max, her white dress stained with red, and worry that she's hurt gnaws at my gut. Especially when I note that her dress is shoved above her hips and that she's not wearing any panties.

Then I see the man who was wrapped around her all night, face down hanging off the bed, the blood seeping from him dripping into a puddle on the floor.

Caine’s already rushed across the room and pulled Max into his arms, and I breathe out a small sigh of relief. I don’t think the blood is coming from her.

“What happened?” Adam asks, surprisingly calm.

“Did he touch you?” I snap.

She shakes her head against where she's pressed to Caine's chest. "He didn't get that far. I learned from the best."

“Damn right you did, killer,” Caine tells her, then looks over at the body slumped on the bed. “Always knew you would be one.”

I expect her to flinch or have some sort of reaction, but she just smiles up at him. And fuck if that doesn’t do something to me. But then I remember the dead man in the room, and it brings me back to the day with my dad.

Except this is worse. Because it’s Max’s life on the line. She can’t get caught for this, she doesn’t deserve to be punished for saving her life.

“Are you okay?” I hear Adam ask. I watch as she moves out of Caine’s hold into his, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face into his chest.

I wait to see if he'll move her, but he doesn't. He tenses for a second before wrapping his arms around her as well and holding her against his chest, letting her rest there. I know he doesn't do well with being touched, and the fact that he's allowing her to right now means more than any words ever could.

“Yeah.” She rests her chin on his chest.

Adam presses a light kiss to her forehead that has her eyes closing.

She moves from his arms to mine, and I squeeze her tighter than necessary. It doesn’t feel real to have her here in my arms again.

“I’ve missed you so much, little one,” I tell her, not wanting to let her go. It doesn’t matter that we should get out of here and definitely do something with the dead body. I just want to keep holding her.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Danner snaps right before there’s a loud thud.

I look up to see that Caine has pushed the body onto the floor so Carson’s blank eyes stare up toward the ceiling. Now, with him laying prone on the floor, I can see that the shirt that used to be white is completely stained red with blood from the wound in his chest. The wound that my woman inflicted.

I grip her face in my hands, angling her face up to look at me, taking in the blood splatter on her clothes and skin, and checkher eyes, trying to see how she’s feeling. She still looks like Max. Like my feisty, fiery Max.

“Who the fuck cares? He’s dead,” Caine argues with Danner.

“The cops are going to fucking care.” She steps over, looking down at the dead man. “We have to deal with him.”

“We will. You take Max home,” Adam insists.

“And just how’re you going to do that?” Danner scoffs.

“We’ll figure it out. But I don’t want either of you involved anymore than you already are.”

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