Page 8 of Make Me Your Hitta

Xenobia whirled around, eyes flashing wide as she caught my gaze. She wore a strappy black mini dress with the back cut out and accessorized it with gold hoop earrings and strappy black heels. “I was thinking I’m going to go out and enjoy my fucking life for once.”

“At two in the fuckin’ morning? You could’ve been killed!” I roared, feeling the words rip from my throat. “Do you have any idea what’s out there? What they’d do to you dressed the way you are?”

She stepped closer, chin raised in defiance like it always fuckin’ was. “I’m twenty-four. I don’t always make the smart choice every time. But I’m smart enough to know I can take care of myself,” she confirmed before flashing me a small pistol strapped to her thigh.

The sight of it made me chuckle. “Like hell you can with that baby ass gun.” My hands itched to grab her shoulders and shake some sense into her stupid ass. To pull her close and never let go. “You have no idea what you’re up against.”

Xenobia’s scoff was brittle. “And you do? Last time I checked, you weren’t bulletproof, Adonis. You’re just…you.”

Just me.The words stung more than they should’ve. I was her protector, her shadow, nothing more. Why the fuck wasn’t I okay with that?

“Let’s get one thing straight. I’m the one keeping your ass alive,” I declared, my voice rough with emotions I couldn’t name. “You need to fuckin’ be grateful and listen more than you speak.”

Xenobia’s eyes narrowed, a devious smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. “I’m never going to make this easy on you. You wanna come running home like a lost pup when Daddy calls, then I’m gonna make you work for every fucking penny.”

I opened my mouth to retort when my phone buzzed.Fuck.I shouldn’t have answered for Luca, but curiosity overrode everything else.

“What?” I barked into the receiver, keeping my eyes locked on Xenobia.

Luca’s voice on the other end was hushed and urgent. “Adonis. Your father’s men are on the move. He’s officially put a hit out on Xenobia. It’s happening soon.”

My blood ran cold. I ended the call without a word, my mind galloping with one dreadful thought after another. The threat I’d been warning Don Hawthorne about for months was finally here, and Xenobia was standing in front of me, beautiful, defiant, and vulnerable all rolled into one. Thank God Don had the foresight to bring me back before he left the state. Even if he hadn’t, I’d have been here.

No one would take my Nobi from me.

“We’re done here,” I established, my voice harsher than intended. “Get in the fuckin’ house. Now.”

Xenobia’s eyes widened slightly, picking up on the shift in my tone. I thought she might argue for a moment, but something in my expression must have warned her off. She turned toward the house, her clicking steps measured and deliberate.

I watched her go, my heart pounding as I resisted the urge to pull her dress up over her waist and bury myself deep inside her. How badly I wanted to grab her and press my lips against hers, forcing her to feel the things she’d long buried. I’d sworn to protect her, but how could I when my feelings were compromising everything? My father’s men were closing in; that was a fact, and I didn’t have time to sit in the what ifs. I’d made my bed and lay in it as soon as the threat was neutralized.

I barreled into the security room, my mind a flurry of strategies and contingencies. The monitors flickered with scenesfrom around the estate. I barked orders to my team, my voice tight with barely contained tension.

“Double the patrols. I want eyes on every inch of this place. If a squirrel so much as chomps a nut wrong, I want to fuckin’ know about it. No one takes breaks. If you need to piss, whip it out and piss where you are. Sleep breaks will be in four-hour increments, and you do not leave until your relief has taken position. Understood?”

My comms crackled with a chorus of affirmations. My fingers flew over the keyboard, adjusting camera angles and recalibrating motion sensors. Each click felt like a ticking clock, counting down to an inevitable confrontation. My father’s army wasn’t as powerful as the Hawthornes had once been after retaliating for the death of Xenobia’s family members, but recently, they’d been gaining ground, offering power and promise to any young mothafucka who’d fall in line. Taking Xenobia out would all but ensure the destruction of the Hawthornes.

“I’m gonna go get some coffee. You need some?” I asked Titus, my second in command, as I stood.

“Nah, boss, I’m good,” he confirmed, barely sparing a glance at me as I turned and left.

I wandered the halls, drawn to the east wing where our bedrooms were. The sun was rising, and the maids were already awake, bustling around, cooking and cleaning. The kitchen was alive with the smells of freshly baked biscuits and sizzling bacon, but I didn’t care. I kept wandering until I stood in front of her room. The door was ajar, and I saw Xenobia’s silhouette in her window with a glass of wine in hand. I considered saying something about it but didn’t. It had to be five o’clock somewhere.

She was so damn gorgeous. Even from where I stood, I could see the tension in her shoulders, how she carried herself like shewas always ready for a fuckin’ squabble. My throat went dry as I watched her, remembering how it felt to hold her once upon a time, to taste her… to love her. I should’ve left, but instead, my fists clenched. I couldn’t look away. She looked so damn sad, and I knew it was partially because of me.

Xenobia turned, catching sight of me. For a moment, we just stared at each other. Then she raised her glass in a mocking toast, her lips curving into that smirk that always got under my skin. I wanted to go to her. To scale that fucking wall she’d built around her heart and smash through the cracks if I had to. To feel her skin under my hands, to—

“Sir?” One of my men approached, snapping me out of my thoughts. “The night patrol is ready to switch out. It’s your shift.”

I cleared my throat, forcing myself back to reality before I closed her door. “Right. Let’s go.”

As night fell,I prowled the grounds outside, hyperaware of every shadow and rustle of leaves. The air felt thick and heavy, like something was coming. My hand strayed to my Glock, fingertips brushing the cool black metal for reassurance.

But all I could think about was Xenobia, alone in that room, vulnerable. Strong as she was, she didn’t know what was out there. The last man who’d attempted to take her life was a rookie. Someone with something to prove. But this time, my father’s men wouldn’t take it easy. They’d finish the job. She had no idea what kind of monsters were hunting her.

Monsters like me, maybe. Because, fuck knows, I was no better than the animals I was protecting her from. Not when it came to her.

I leaned against the cold stone wall of the pool house, my eyes scanning the darkness. Every beat of my heart felt like a betrayal.Thump.I was her protector.Thump.I was her brother’s childhood friend, for fuck’s sake.Thump.I was the reason her family was attacked.Thump.I still want her to be mine.

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