Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
“Axel—"
“Don’t,” I snapped at him. “I really don’t care to fucking hear it, Vincent.”
I walked into the bedroom. Julian gave a relieved sigh. “Thank God,” he whispered. “Grab her. I have to piss like hell.”
I leaned down and gently lifted Meghan into my arms, being extra careful not to jostle her legs. She released a tiny noise as I moved her, but she stayed asleep. Julian rushed to the bathroom, and I sat down in the recliner, stretching it back as I slowly moved her body with mine, making sure she stayed asleep.
“Medicine has her pretty knocked out,” Julian informed me when he stepped back out of the bathroom. “She hasn’t stirred at all.”
“Deal with Vincent,” I told him quietly as I shut my eyes. “If I have to deal with him, I’ll bash his fucking face in.”
Julian sighed. “I don’t have the patience for this shit,” he grumbled in complaint, slipping out of the room.
I tightened my arms around Meghan and let my eyes slide shut, allowing sleep to take over.
* * *
✶ ✶ ✶
* * *
Julian
* * *
I glared at the coffee pot in front of me, hating that it was against my diet to have a cup. With a grunt, I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. Vincent was sitting at the kitchen table with his forehead resting on the heels of his hands.
“Are you going back home anytime soon?” I asked him.
I had been nice enough to let him stay here long enough to sober up. I understood him staying longer to see how Meghan was doing, but she was now home and healing.
I didn’t understand why the fuck he was still here.
“To what, Julian?” he asked me. “My home is being inhabited by my bitch of a wife and her new fucking man. She fucking over drafted all of my credit cards and my checking account. She emptied my fucking savings. I have no fucking home.”
“Your parents?” I asked him with a shrug.
He gave a bitter laugh. “Yeah, because that’ll go over real fucking well,” he retorted. “Mom and Dad were so against me marrying her that they didn’t even show up to my wedding. Dad, in fact, set fire to the invitation I hand delivered right in front of my face.”
I snorted. “Should have been a fucking sign,” I sarcastically told him. “You really think Meghan is going to want you here?” I asked him. “That painting she was working on earlier? That’s how she feels about you being here. This home is her home. I bought all of this,” I said, spreading my arms out wide, “for her. Frankly, I would have been fine with a damn apartment, but I wanted her to have comfort and her own place not governed by landlords and people living around her. She’s not okay with you being here, Vincent.”
“Fucking hell, man, I just want to talk to her—fucking apologize to her. That’s what I was trying to do earlier before she shocked the hell out of me by how angrily she flung open the door.”
“Maybe because she doesn’t like to be disturbed?” I asked him sarcastically. “Pretty sure Axel told you not to fucking disturb her while she was painting.”
“Well, I didn’t know when else to talk to her,” he snapped. “You two are always hovering over her.”
I set my water down on the counter next to me, my eyes narrowing at him. “It’s not hovering. It’s us fucking taking care of her,” I retorted. “You think we would leave you alone with her without us being nearby? Stupid if you fucking did, Vincent. We don’t fucking trust you. You called our woman a goddamn slut.”
“Look, I’m sorry.” He sighed. “I didn’t understand what the three of you had—"
“And yet you never tried to understand it either, did you? You fucking made her cry, Vincent. The moment you fucking did that, any friendship we had was cut with a very sharp knife. She comes first for me—always. I don’t give a fuck how long we’ve been friends.” I snatched my water bottle off the counter again. “You have eight hours to talk to her about this shit.” I shrugged. “And if she’s not awake by then, oh fucking well. And don’t try waking her up. One of us will always be with her—hovering, as you fucking call it.”
With that, I stormed out of the kitchen and back to my bedroom to watch over my goddess as she slept, leaving Vincent oblivious to the beast he was awakening in both of her men.
But Meghan was well aware of the beast that lurked inside of me. I had killed a man with my bare hands for her, and she knew that.
Fuck with Meghan, and I’ll become the monster of your fucking childhood nightmares.
* * *
✶ ✶ ✶