Page 90 of Make Me Whole

The little shit turned his sorry ass face to me. Because the idiot didn’t know what was good for him, his lips stayed curled up in that fucking toothy grin and his paws remained around my woman’s neck’s.

“Oh . . . how sweet! Lover senior comes to rescue the whore in distress.”

I quickened my pace and through clenched teeth ordered, “Let her gonow!”

The dumbass ignored me.Big mistake!

The sight of Sky’s lips turning purple propelled me forward like a supersonic missile. Once I was close enough, I closed my fist, raised my arm, and punched that sorry son of a bitch with full force.

My fist hit his jaw with a dry thud that erased that motherfucking smile from his face. He released Sky and took a step backward. I watched her limp body collapse to the floor. My instinct and love urged me to go check on her, but the rage Eli had awakened within me made me deaf, blind, and dumb for vengeance. I wasn’t gonna stop until I had tasted his blood.

The limp dick cursed me and raised his fists close to his face. He moved his body from side to side, imitating moves he probably saw on UFC or some shit like that, then threw a jab in my direction. It was slow and sloppy and very off target. I barely sidestepped, and he missed me by a lot.

He was untrained and clearly weaker than me. Just like Sky was when compared to him, which gave me a prime opportunity to give the bastard a taste of his own medicine.

His guard was open, so I stepped closer and gave him two consecutive body punches. Coughing, he stepped backward until his back was against the fridge.

Teeth bared, I wrapped one hand around his neck as he had done to Sky and growled, “I once told you that if you valued your life you wouldn’t touch the lady, and you have. Since neither of us values your life, I’ll take it from you.”

My words still echoed in the kitchen when my fist connected to his face again. The blow was hard enough to make him groan, but not to draw blood. I punched the sucker again. And again. Finally, a few drops of blood trickled down the side of his mouth, but it was not enough to satisfy my anger. I pulled my arm back once more and drove my fist into his nose.

Blood gushed out of his mouth and nose. The son of a bitch cried and cursed and moaned, but I barely heard him. All I thought about, all I saw and heard, was Sky begging for my child’s life as he choked her.

A new wave of anger surged through my veins, and I took my punches from his messed up face to his gut. After two punches, he bent over, begging for mercy, but I was determined to show him as much of it as he had shown my family.

“Stop,” a familiar voice yelled behind me.

It wasn’t Sky’s voice. So I, of course, paid no attention and delivered another blow to the asshole’s stomach.

“Max, stop!” the voice yelled more firmly.

As I prepared myself to hit Eli again, arms wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me away. I fought to free myself, but the surrounding force was relentless. By the fridge, that asshat fell to the ground.

“You better not have fucking killed him,” Nick’s voice added. “That’s shit even I can’t save you from.”

Though my feet itched to kick him in the balls, the idea of killing him shook me back to my senses. I opened my fists to show Nick I was done punishing the bastard—at least for now—and turned my attention to Sky. My lawyer released me and went over to check on Eli, whose chest was clearly still moving.

I had no idea how long my altercation with Eli had lasted, but Sky hadn’t moved. Fear that something terrible had happened gripped my insides, making me hate myself for indulging my fury instead of going to make sure she and our baby were okay.

Heart in my throat, I ran to her side. Her neck was red and already bruising. There was also a red line at the side of her face as if someone had hit her with a stick. My murderous urges returned. My body fizzed with the need to get up and finish the job I had started with Eli, but then Sky’s beautiful eyes fluttered and a tear rolled down her face.

“Max?” she whispered, her voice hoarse and sounding not like her own. “Are you really here?”

I smiled and combed her hair away from her eyes. “Of course, I’m here. I told you I wasn’t afraid of Eli and that I’d find a way to get you...” I paused and put my hand on her belly as I added, “both of you back.”

38

SKY

Every part of my body hurt. My face, my head, my throat, my muscles, my heart. Everything. Still, the moment Max placed his hand on my belly, all the pain disappeared.

Both of you, he’d said. I didn’t know how, but he knew about the baby and he wasn’t mad. At least, he didn’t seem mad. I had to confirm it before getting my hopes up.

With tears pooling in my eyes, I forced my sore throat once more and said, “I know you didn’t want more children. Are you mad?”

To my surprise, Max chuckled. It was more of an incredulous chuckle than a funny one, but I’d take it.

He ran a gentle finger down the sorest side of my face, the spot where Eli’s paper bat had struck the hardest, and shook his head. “I’m mad about a lot of things, Sky, but I’m not mad that our love created life. How could I be?”

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