Page 67 of Oblivion

“She’ll be fine,” I assure them coldly.

“Does she know the guy, Trevor Landon?” he asks.

“I don’t believe so.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Hunter questions.

“We don’t know,” Bastian says. “The girls were dancing when those guys approached. You took Bunny, Clay went to January, I called Starling to me, and then suddenly, Sammy was rushing to Evan and crying.”

“Did this asshole hurt her? I’ll hold him down while you fucking kill him if he did,” Hunter growls angrily.

“No, he didn’t hurt her.”

“Then what the fuck is going on?” Bastian asks, his well-held anger slipping free.

Sighing, I explain. “Sammy is mine. I know it, you know it, and Sammy knows it. I warned her that if she tried to use someone else to piss me off, I would ruin their life and that of their family. I told her that she could choose to tease me, she could make the choice to allow others to touch her, but that the consequences of that choice would rest solely on her shoulders. Today, as you were laying claim to your wives, she was taunting me, dancing while that fucker watched and edged closer to her, wanting to make her his. She let him touch her, and now I’m going to destroy him and make her watch.”

A choked laugh bursts from Clay’s lips as he visibly relaxes, leaning back in his seat. “Well, fuck. So, she’s upset because she tried to test you and lost.”

“Exactly.”

“Don’t push her too far. She’s not as tough as she pretends to be,” Bastian says, his voice low and gruff.

“I know exactly how far to pushmywoman,” I growl.

His jaw clenches, but he concedes with a slight nod of his head. “Let me know how I can help.”

“His family owns Landon Coffee. It should be fairly easy to incite a hostile takeover. Once Clay has a better idea of their financial situation, we can discuss how best to destroy them. First, though, he needs to leave Kingsacre. Clay, would you mind arranging for his expulsion?”

Clay laughs, then shrugs and lifts his cell. “Do not tell January that I did this. She will kick my ass.”

“Them?” Hunter asks. “You plan to ruin his whole family, not just him?”

“All of them. I don’t want him to have anyone to turn to for help. Perhaps in a few years, I’ll allow them to regain some of their wealth.” I sound robotic and mercenary to my own ears, but this isn’t about Trevor or his family. This is about my woman understanding the lengths I’ll go to, to keep her.

Not interested in talking about this anymore, I push out of my seat and head for the refrigerator. Grabbing a couple of bottles of water, I put some berries in a bowl and take some cookies from the cabinet.

“Night,” I say, not looking back as I leave the room and head for the stairs.

Pausing on the landing, I question if I should head up to Sammy’s old room at the top of the house or if she’s been sensible enough to go straight to the room we now share. My gut tells me that although she might have wanted to run from me, she won’t have.

Turning for my own room, I open the door and step inside, closing and locking it behind me. Just as I anticipated, she’s here, her tear-soaked face looking up at me from the couch.

Instead of going to her, I walk past her, head for the bathroom, and wet a washcloth. Coming back into the living space, I sit down beside her on the couch and carefully wipe her face with the cloth, cleaning the mascara-stained tear marks from her cheeks.

“Please don’t do this, Evan,” she begs, her voice thick with emotion.

“It’s too late for that now,” I answer evenly.

“It’s not. It was a mistake. I was looking at you. I didn’t let him touch me. It was just his hand on my stomach.”

Placing the washcloth on the edge of the coffee table, I shuffle forward, unfurling her legs and pulling them over my lap. Cupping her cheek with my palm, I lean in until our foreheads are pressed together. “I don’t want to tame you, my beautiful wild girl. That’s why your choices will always be your own. But I told you what would happen if you let another man touch you…didn’t I?”

“Yes, but?—”

I cut her off. “And you allowed him to touch you…didn’t you?”

“No. I was looking at you,” she argues.

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