Chapter 21
Xander
THAT ZEN FEELING OF KILLING A MAN
I need to leave.
It seems to be the same chant every night in my head.
Only this time, she goes to sleep knowing I’m here, watching her.
The sun is already high in the sky, but the temps aren’t too bad.
At least I won’t be sweating my ass off when I head out to the desert.
Which I really need to fucking do. The last thing I want to do is piss off my sister-in-law by being late for dinner, all because I needed to spend as long as possible torturing the piece of shit who touched Quinn without her consent.
I swear her freckles glow as I stare down at her, wrapped up in my arms with her face resting on my chest.
Right where she belongs.
In another life, I might believe it. But I’m not lucky enough to be blessed with an angel in this one. And she’s too sweet to get tangled up with a fucked-up monster like me.
As soon as I walk out of her apartment, this is over.
We agreed to a one-time fuck. And that’s exactly what we have done.
We fucked like animals. She screamed and moaned and cried literal tears as her orgasms tore through her.
Sounds I will replay in my head for the rest of my life.
And I’ll pretend that none of them meant a single thing to me.
That I won’t be ripping out my soul and setting it at her feet forever when I leave her apartment.
Because if there’s one thing about last night I can’t deny, it’s that Quinn Summers was put on this earth to teach me that the pain I felt after Nicola’s betrayal is nothing to the true fucking pain of walking away from my sunshine.
Slowly and gently, I uncurl myself from her warmth. Her softness that I grabbed and spanked and kissed… and would fucking worship every night of my goddamn life.
But I can’t.
So it’s time to fucking go.
By the time I’m dressed, I hate myself, and all I want is a strong drink. That will happen later. First, violence. Lots of it.
I turn around to stare at Quinn one last time before I leave. There are so many questions I want to ask. Somehow, despite all the times we’ve spoken, I still don’t know the important things. Like what size ring she wears and whether she wants kids.
“Fuck,” I mutter quietly, scraping my hand over my face before I storm out of her apartment.
Instead of going to my place, I pull out my keys and head down to the garage. I’ll shower later. I want Quinn’s come on me when I kill the man who dared to touch her. Maybe I’ll make him suck my dick just so he can get a taste of her.
The thought of that… another man tasting her, even if it’s from my own cock, makes my blood boil.
After the engine of my Lambo roars to life, I pull out my phone and send a group text to my brothers and Caleb.
Xander: Heading out to the desert.
Caleb: About fucking time. It’s been a serious challenge not killing this asshole before you got here.
Beckett: Kian and I are on our way. We’re bringing tools.
I smirk at my phone. Tools means things to torture that asshole with.
Cash: Can’t fucking wait.
Cash: Xander Savage, you fucking asshole. This is Jordyn. Thanks for not answering my texts. Is Quinn okay?
A chuckle rumbles up my chest as I close out of the group text and open the one from Jordyn I hadn’t already checked.
The first half of her dozen messages are demanding to know how Quinn is, and the second half are her threatening me with bodily harm if I don’t respond.
I find myself grinning at the screen as I quickly type in a response.
Xander: Quinn is fine.
Ha. There. I answered her.
A notification pops up from Cash in the group chat.
Cash: Oh, dude. You should know better than to fuck with my wife.
He’s not wrong. I should know better. But I should have known better than to fuck Quinn last night, and I still did it. Because I’m an idiot.
Xander: Yeah, well, apparently I like to torture myself.
Jordyn’s name pops up on the screen again, so I switch to her text thread. Jesus. I’m going to be sitting in my car all damn day answering my sister-in-law’s questions.
Jordyn: Gee, thanks for such a broad answer. I guess I’ll just corner you tonight to get the information I want. Now, go make the asshole suffer for what he did to her.
Awesome. I already can’t wait for dinner.
Not. I have a feeling I’ll be answering more than I’m comfortable with.
Jordyn is a little pit bull. Cute and sweet, but also loyal and fierce if someone fucks with her or anyone she cares about.
I adore and respect the hell out of her for it.
I’m also a bit scared of Jordyn in a way; I think she might actually poison my drink if I piss her off too badly.
After tossing my phone onto the passenger seat, I pull out of the parking garage and head toward the desert.
Cash, Kian, Beckett, and Caleb are all standing around, waiting for me, by the time I arrive.
There’s no doubt they’re going to give me a bunch of shit and ask their own nosy questions. It’s going to annoy the fuck out of me, especially since the only thing I want to do right now is forget Quinn exists.
Yeah, like I’ll ever be able to do that.
Cash smirks at me and steps forward before pulling me into a backslapping hug. “Aw, our brother is in the same clothes he went home in, which means he must have stayed the night.”
I glare at him, then also shoot my younger brothers a glare as they both chuckle. Caleb stays silent, but the corners of his lips twitch like he’s fighting a smile.
“Of course I stayed with her. She was attacked last night. What kind of asshole would just drop her off and leave?” I snap back.
Beckett laughs this time and strides toward me, stopping for a second to lift his finger to my neck. “We knew you wouldn’t leave her. We just weren’t sure if you were going to fuck her, too. But these scratches on your neck tell us exactly what we need to know. Congrats, bro. She your girl?”
Yes.
She’s mine.
Only mine.
“No,” I bite out. “She’s just my neighbor.”
“And,” Kian says as he walks past us, “our employee. So whatever you do, tread carefully. Now, let’s fucking do this because I’m in the mood for violence.”
My stomach twists at the mention of her being our employee. Fuck. We have strict rules not to get involved with any of our employees. And I just ignored them completely, potentially putting all our livelihoods at risk.
Shit.
I really am an asshole.
Instead of giving them any kind of response, I follow Kian and the rest into the plain, unassuming warehouse. It’s one of dozens we have placed strategically throughout the desert. After all, why have this beautiful land surrounding us if we don’t use it for a good purpose?
“Get him out of the cell and bring him out here, unrestrained,” I command two of our men, who have been standing guard within the building.
The area we’re in is wide open, with offices and hallways that lead to other parts of the space.
All of it is dark and dingy. The only remnants of a once-used building, now only used for torturing people who crossed the line.
And this piece of scum didn’t just cross it.
He touched what’s mine. And that was the worst thing he could have done.
Our men bring the asshole out to us, and it’s clear that Caleb has already been working on him throughout the night, based on how bloody and swollen his face is.
A slow, evil smile spreads across my face as I stare at him, stumbling slightly when one of the men pushes him forward.
“Well, well, well. It’s good to see you again, man.
I hope you found the accommodations to be to your liking.
” I take a step forward, rubbing over the knuckles of my right fist. They’re still not fully healed from the last thing I punched, but I can hardly wait for the pain of splitting them open again.
Especially knowing I’m doing it for her.
“Man, I’m sorry! I didn’t know she was your girl. She came onto me, man!” the guy says, spittle flying from his swollen lips as he speaks.
I pause, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.
Did she come on to him? Did Quinn want this guy? Did she go to that hallway to meet him there?
Fuck.
I didn’t ask any of those questions.
And that’s why I was completely blindsided the first time I got fucked over.
“The fuck did you just say? Are you suggesting that our employee, who has been nothing but professional since the day we hired her, tried to come on to you?” Kian stomps up to the guy, pure rage written on his face.
Kian’s right. Quinn wouldn’t do something like that. I don’t even care how professional she is or isn’t. Quinn isn’t that type of woman.
She isn’t Nicola.
“She didn’t want anything to do with you,” I growl. “The only person she wants is me. And by putting your hands on her, you sealed your own fate.”
The man’s eyes widen as he looks from me to Kian and then back at my brothers.
“I wasn’t going to rape her. It wasn’t like that!” he says, swaying a little.
I can hardly wait to knock this motherfucker on his ass with one punch.
“She told you no. I heard her. That was a clear rejection.” I shout and take a step closer. Kian stands close by, breathing heavily as he shoots a deadly glare at the guy.
“I have Cassian Black on the line,” Caleb says as he walks up and holds out a phone to me.
As soon as I take it, I put the phone on speaker.
“This is Xander.”
“Hello to you, too,” Cassian says. “I love getting called in the middle of the night to wake up and do your research.”
I stare at the poor excuse for a man in front of me. “I’ll make this worth your time. Whatever it costs, it’s worth it to me.”
Cassian snorts, and I can practically see him shaking his head. I need to send him an expensive gift to say thank you for reaching out as much as I have lately.