Page 46 of Twisted Obsession

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Ansel

Regina stared outside the window for most of our thirty-minute drive home. The sun sat with pride in the distance, providing sparks of warmth that lightened the chill inside the car. Regina’s quiet irritation with me was warranted. I wasn’t an easy man to understand, much less learn to take.

She’d witnessed the scene in the restaurant, had fallen into the hands of her captor, and had stood at my back as I shot someone.

Even though it was a good distraction inside the restaurant, I still would have beaten that motherfucker’s ass for putting his hand on Regina. He’d better be glad I hadn’t lured his ass to a quiet, dark place.

The woman-grabbing bastard in the alley was about to face hell. His shattered knees were the least of his worries. He would tell me who sent him, or the devil would send me a personal thank you for sending him a fresh soul.

“Did you know the man that attempted to take you? Did his face look familiar?” I questioned Regina breaking the silence inside the car.

“No. But, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t work for my family.”

The sadness in her tone spilled over. She reached over and placed a delicate hand on my arm.

“Thank you, Ansel. Thank you for protecting me.”

I didn’t answer her.

“You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?” she questioned as she turned her head away from me, knowing the answer but seeking confirmation anyway.

The idea of the man’s arm around her neck as he attempted to drag her off had rage burning through my muscles and my heart set on termination. I needed to kill his ass as much as I needed Regina naked in my bed. The fact that they thought they could snatch her from under my nose had me steaming, wondering who I was going to have to kill, and how I’d carry out the murders.

I glanced in Regina’s direction. There was no use in me keeping the truth from her. “Yes, Regina. I’m going to finish killing him. And to get you prepared, starting tomorrow, I’m going to start teaching you how to protect yourself better.”

“Okay,” her low tone sounded. “I’d appreciate that.”

She turned her head back towards her window. Aaron had warned me that she wasn’t as weak as she let on. Most women would have been freaked out of their minds right now. Instead, Regina sat in silence, processing all that had happened.

After parking, I opened her door and helped her from the car. We walked in silence to the elevator. The lift went by in a blur before the elevator dinged and opened.

The silence between us was as alive as the trouble that I knew was brewing. Trouble had entered the city searching for Regina, but they had no idea the hell they’d face in their attempts.

I expected Regina to be upset over how I acted inside the restaurant. However, I think she’d learn to appreciate the demon inside of me. If I didn’t let my demon eat, he’d be a motherfucker to control, and I’d always be in beast-mode, ready to destroy any and everything in my wake.

He was the worst part of me, but it was also that part that would protect Regina at all cost. I didn’t believe Regina understood that once she had a Knox fighting for her, she’d have a beast that wasn’t going to stop until he solved whatever problem she had and destroyed every threat that came at her. If it meant dropping bodies, so be it.

It wasn’t the time to pull Aaron into this situation. If things heated up enough to require another Knox or members of our MC, all hell would get raised. The California chapter of our MC was spun from our Florida chapter. If I mentioned trouble, they wouldn’t hesitate to assist.

However, I preferred my own gang. The men I’d lived in the trenches with. The ones that had seen the true faces of evil in third world countries. The ones that had followed orders that required us to take out entire villages and towns if the government deemed it necessary. We’d all been trained, conditioned, and had acquired skills that required a certain amount of finesse when dealing with the kind of people searching for Regina.

I flexed my sore knuckles and fell onto the couch as my gaze rested on Regina retreating towards the stairs. My head fell back onto the couch, and I did my best to relax the beast stirring inside me. Deep breaths were useless as I attempted to calm myself before I left to meet my crew. The no-knees motherfucker would tell me something, or else.

The idea that I’d unsettled Regina wasn’t sitting well with me either. This was a fucking first. Since when had I given any kind of a damn about upsetting anyone?

Regina had me acting off and out of character. I worried about her well-being and safety, but I acknowledged that I was also worried about how she felt in relation to me.

The light taps of her bare feet registered as the sound grew closer. She’d changed into a pair of my gray sweats and one of my plain black T-shirts. She’d worn jeans this morning, so I’d thrown away every pair she owned. She’d let me have it too, calling me a ‘selfish, arrogant asshole.’ I’d taken her angry words as a compliment.

When she marched towards my room, I assumed she’d been furious enough to toss all my shit. Instead, she’d gone into my room and taken a few pairs of my sweats and T-shirts. She wasn’t going to let me boss her around, and I liked it. Regina had a quiet feistiness in her that turned me on.

My head lifted when she approached carrying her medical bag. The bag didn’t come out unless she was preparing to check my shoulder wound. She sat the bag on the coffee table and stepped between my splayed legs. Not saying a word, I glanced up at her, my brows pinched. When she kneeled before me and reached for my battered hand, the gesture floored me. My ass was tongue-tied for the first time in my life as my face drew into a confused frown.

I couldn’t take credit for saving her moments ago because it was an unscripted incident that could have gotten her killed. I’d also embarrassed the shit out of her inside that restaurant. I hadn’t listened to any of her pleas when she begged me to stop. Yet, here she was about to fix my scraped knuckles.

She reached back for alcohol swabs and Q-tips before she laid her hands face up to await mine. She remained kneeling before me like I was this precious package she sought to take care of. She ripped open a few swabs and swiped them across my scraped knuckles. She blew away the sting as she glanced up at me with a level of care in her gaze that I didn’t deserve.

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