Page 108 of Savage Obsession
I’M GOING TO FUCK HER UP
Three months later…
Xander
That wasthe quickest hand of poker I’ve ever lost, but I didn’t really want to play in the first place. One of my brothers will win the pot anyway, so at least my quarter of a million buy-in is staying in the family.
I weave my way out of the poker room and through the casino floor. Cash catches up to me and lifts his chin, grinning as we go to find our wives. At least I’m not the only one in the family who is totally obsessed with their girl.
Quinn is behind the bar, smiling as she talks to a group of customers while mixing their drinks.
When I first left rehab, Quinn told me she didn’t want me to visit her at work anymore because hanging out in a bar could be hard for me. What I needed to make her understand was that the only addiction I truly have is her. Everything else, I’d give it upin a heartbeat for her. She’ll be my first choice every single time, no matter what.
As soon as she sees me, her smile grows, and that warm feeling inside me spreads as I take in my beautiful wife. Now that she’s in her second trimester, she’s no longer getting sick and is sleeping better. She’s glowing, if you ask me.
I wink at her and head over to sit next to Cash and Jordyn at the far end, so we’re out of the way of paying customers. Most employers probably wouldn’t approve of an employee’s family hanging out at work with them, but it’s a good thing we make the rules around here.
The entire time she works, I watch, admiring every curve of her body as she makes customers fall in love with her over and over again. It doesn’t matter how much money I’ve tried to give her; she hasn’t touched any of it. She still comes to work and does her job because she enjoys it and it gives her a sense of independence. If I could buy that feeling for her, I would, but she explained to me that it is something she has to do for herself. I call bullshit, but whatever.
Before I went to rehab, I’d already buried Mike Baker in the middle of the desert. After I’d tortured him, of course. What that asshole was doing to Quinn was unforgivable.
It wasn’t until after I got home that I took care of Jason. It was only the fact that he had helped Quinn get away from her mom that I gave him a little mercy and just put a bullet between his eyes before I buried him. That, and I wanted to get back to my pregnant wife.
Quinn hasn’t gone to see her mom, and I’m not sure if she ever will. She’s currently working that out in therapy every week. I never thought I’d be the type of guy to believe in therapy, but it’s truly helped me, and I’m so proud of my girl for deciding to try it. All she needs to know is that I’m going to support her and have her back in whatever choices she makes. If, one day, shetells me she wants me to slit her mother’s throat, I will skip the fuck out of our house with a filleting knife. Because my only goal in life is to make my wife happy and know she’s loved.
My thoughts are interrupted by a gasp coming from Jordyn. Tearing my gaze away from my wife, I glance at my sister-in-law, but she’s staring at something in the distance.
“What’s wrong?” Cash asks, trying to look in the direction she is.
“Nicola,” she hisses.
Every hair on the back of my neck stands on end as I turn and scan the space until I find her.
My ex.
And when I do, I feel absolutely nothing toward her.
But suddenly, I feel even more protective of my wife.
Quinn
What are they looking at?It’s like they’ve seen a monster.
I turn and try to see what it might be, but nothing jumps out to me. Shrugging, I notice someone approaching the bar. I go to greet the woman, but when I get a look at her face, I freeze.
It’sher.
His ex.
The one I decided to internet-stalk one night after I found her last name in a random article online, naming her as Xander’s date to a fundraiser. I wasn’t proud of myself that night, but Ihad been surviving on zero sleep, and I was missing him terribly. It was a low moment in my life, to say the least. I haven’t looked her up since because she doesn’t deserve my energy, but now, seeing her here, in his bar. Inmybar. I’m not feeling quite as Zen.
Just as I take a step toward her, a large hand wraps around my bicep, stopping me.
My Daddy.
“Baby, no,” he says quietly.
I turn to face him, eyebrows raised. “I trust you and let you handle the people who have hurt me. Give me the same gift in return. I’m a big girl.”
