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  “Well, I was hoping to see my son this week, seeing that I’m officially free for the next two months. Maybe we can get together for lunch or dinner?”

  My mom was a teacher who worked with special needs children. My sister and I had been trying to get her to retire for the past few years. She loved what she did for a living, but she wasn’t getting any younger. She was always complaining about her arthritis and her allergies. Not to mention her scare with breast cancer last year. I’d never been more terrified in my life. Talk about putting things into perspective.

  Every time my sister and I tried to broach the subject of retirement or at the very least, cutting back, her reply was always the same. It gave her something to do. Especially after my father had passed away a few years ago.

  My body leaned back into the couch so I could stretch my long legs out in front of me. Soft footsteps entered the room. My head lifted to see Lexi walking towards me in a pair of white dress pants with a navy-blue silk top. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail showing off that delicious neck that I had sucked on last night. She fumbled with her earrings and as soon as she saw me, her eyes lit up, causing my chest to tighten. God, she was stunning.

  Another smile came to life on my lips as I continued to talk into the phone. “Mom, that sounds great. Let me know what works for you.” I said, never taking my eyes off Lexi.

  “That’s wonderful dear. I’ll call you later when I pick a day. Love you.”

  “Love you too, Mom.”

  Lexi tilted her head to the side, a grin tugging the corners of her mouth. “Aww… aren’t you a sweet little mama’s boy.”

  I pushed myself off the couch, advancing towards her. The need to get my hands on her was growing by the second. My fingers grabbed her hips firmly so I could plant my lips on hers. “I’m a big mama’s boy.” I said, correcting her as the taste of her mint toothpaste met my mouth.

  She wrapped her arms around the back of my neck. The smell of her floral perfume had my dick coming back to life. The silky material under my hands only made matters worse. “That you are.” She giggled, purposely rubbing up against my new semi.

  “So, how much contact do you have with these male models?” I asked, roaming my hands up and down her back.

  She laughed, sending a shot straight to my chest. It was so warm and happy and it felt great knowing I was responsible for it. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m not attracted to guys who have to wear makeup and have their hair done. I prefer a real man with a six-pack and strong arms.” She ran her hands from my shoulders down my arms before giving me a tight squeeze making her point.

  I took her bottom lip between my teeth. “That’s good to hear.”

  “Brad!” Her eyes were wide, and I loved the fact that I could get such a reaction out of her. “You’re going to have my lip-gloss all over your mouth. I would hate to think what the guys at work would say about that.” She started to wipe my lips off with her thumb, but I brought it into my mouth and sucked on the tip.

  Her mouth parted and I couldn’t help but stare at it. I could fantasize about that damn mouth all day. She sucked in a breath before she spoke. “You say, I’m trouble.”

  I reluctantly pulled away from her, trying to block out the desperation in her voice. This girl could not be more perfect. “We better get going before I make you late for work.”

  She blinked those long, thick eyelashes at me. “Maybe I want to be late for work!”

  “You’re going to kill me, woman.” I groaned, pulling on her hand, leading her to the doorway. She grabbed her purse off the table then locked the door behind her.

  On our way downstairs, I couldn’t help but think about how much had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Whatever this was between us I sure as hell knew that I didn’t want it to end.

  Lexi’s phone started ringing in her purse. When she pulled it out, my insides tightened as Garrison’s name flashed across the screen. Without even thinking, I snatched the phone out of her hand and brought it up to my ear. “Don’t fucking call this number again!” I hit end, then handed the phone back to Lexi who was staring at me with her wide blue eyes popping out of her head.

  “You did not just do that!”

  “I sure as shit did. If he calls you again you tell me, got it?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You’re lucky I don’t like him.”

  I stopped and turned, taking her chin in my hand. “You’re right. You’re lucky you don’t like him or we would have a big problem. I don’t know what you think happened last night, but I don’t plan on you doing that with anyone else.” I warned her. I was already possessive of Lexi as it was, and last night only intensified my feelings for her. She was under my skin and I planned on keeping her there.

  She looked at me as if she was seeing me in a new light. “Great.” she rolled her eyes, letting out a dramatic sigh. “Now I have to cancel my date for later.”

  I pulled her tight against my side, smacking her cute little behind as we made our way out the door of her building. The morning sun hit my face, making me wish I had brought my sunglasses. She rested her head against my shoulder and smiled up at me. The grin on my face should have been alarming, but I didn’t give a shit. I had her in my arms, looking at me like I hung the damn moon.

  As soon as we stepped towards the sidewalk, I felt Lexi’s arms tighten around mine and her body went completely still. I didn’t have to look up to know why she was clinging to me like her life depended on it. There was only one person who could cause this type of reaction with her.

  “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

  I lifted my head and met the hard eyes of Colton Hunt. He was standing there with his arms folded across his chest looking like he owned the whole damned city.

  There was the typical noise of taxis and pedestrians rushing by and a food vendor blaring salsa music setting up for the day, but everything inside my head went silent. It was as if I was watching everything in slow motion. He took a step toward us and I instinctively placed myself in front of Lexi, holding her tight against my back.

  Colton grinned, his eyes were mocking me. If Lexi weren’t right behind me, frozen in place, I would have reached out and ripped his head off his shoulders.

  “What do you want, Colton?” The sound of her low, weak voice sent a surge of anger charging through me.

  He tilted his head to get a better view of her, which only encouraged me to move her further away from him.

  “You know why I’m here, Alexis. I’ve waited long enough. It’s time you come home where you belong.”

  Protectiveness swept over me. I wouldn’t allow him to frighten her anymore with his bullshit. “Lexi isn’t going anywhere with you, so you can march your ass right back to wherever the hell you came from.”

  His eyes narrowed dangerously. “Detective Morgan, isn’t it?”

  “You obviously know who the fuck I am, which means you should know there isn’t a chance in hell that I’m letting her anywhere near you!”

  He took a slow, deliberate step towards me like he was struggling to control his temper. This was not the ideal situation for him. A very public scene would only tarnish his already shitty reputation. He was arrogantly pushing my buttons, which could only mean one thing. He was ready to take this to the next level.

  “Mr. Morgan, let’s get something straight shall we? Lexi is my fiancée.”

  “Ex-fiancée,” she called out over my shoulder, putting the brakes on that statement. I could feel her palm shaking against my back. My only thought was that I needed to get her the hell away from him.

  Colton rolled his eyes, seeming unaffected by her rebuttal. Anyone could see that this was a sick twisted game to him and he was out of patience. “Alexis, I’ve let this go on long enough. I’ve allowed you to run off and have your little crisis of conscience, but it’s time to stop this nonsense and come home where you belong.”

  Her fingers tightened around my bicep for support. “We are ove
r Colton, and I’m not going anywhere.”

  His expression transformed into an evil look. I watched him closely, my guard was up. “You know I’m not a very patient man, Alexis. I’ve allowed you to get your revenge on me for sleeping with Laney, but this,” he said pointing to me, “is over. You’ve had your fling, now it’s time to get over your shit and come home with me.”

  It took all my willpower not to charge towards him and slam his face into the pavement. However, I was a cop. I knew I had to hold the line and prevent the situation from escalating out of control. And who the fuck was Laney?

  I tried to keep my tone as controlled as possible. “Mr. Hunt, as you’re aware I’m an officer of the court, so I’m going to ask you one last time to turn around and walk away unless you want to take a little ride downtown with me.”

  A hard laugh tumbled out of his mouth. “You must think I’m stupid. You’re fucking my fiancée; you’re not here on official business. I’ll have your badge for harassment. Alexis belongs to me. Now I would appreciate it if you stepped aside and let us be.”

  “Colton!” Lexi snapped, “I’m not yours, and there is no way in hell that I’m leaving with you.”

  His eyes sharpened, but his voice remained steady. “I see you’ve grown a little defiant while you’ve been away. I’m a little disappointed, but I’m willing to overlook it, as well as this little indiscretion.”

  My patience had boiled over and a ball of protectiveness was growing in my gut. Alarm bells were going off in my head. This guy wasn’t just controlling and manipulating, he was bat shit crazy. He was emanating the narcissist and sociopath vibe like a piece of radioactive uranium.

  My instinct was to get her as far away from him as possible. He was unstable and therefore, unpredictable. There was no way on this God-given earth I was going to let him frighten her anymore.

  “Lexi, I need you to go inside while Mr. Hunt and I have a little chat.”

  She was still settled against my back and as much as I didn’t want to take my focus off of him, my number one priority was getting her to safety. My eyes assessed my surroundings as my brain tried to conjure up my next move. Looking around it was clear that no one was paying attention to the scene that was unfolding.

  “Don’t fucking tell her what to do!” Colton snapped. A fiery rage burned through my body. All my muscles tensed at once. I was ready to break him in two.

  I could feel Lexi’s heart beating a mile a minute against my back. “Lexi, please.” I begged her hoping like hell she would listen and comply.

  “Brad, I…” her voice trailed off, but her grip on me tightened.

  The muscle in his jaw was pulsing so hard you could see the skin move. He didn’t like the familiarity between us.

  “Lexi, Please. Go. Now.” My voice was firmer then I had intended, but thank God she finally listened and walked back into the building.

  I wanted to look into her eyes and reassure her that everything would be okay. I wanted to take her in my arms and comfort her but I needed to get rid of this piece of shit first.

  Once I heard her footsteps reach the door, I sighed with relief.

  “Who the fuck do you think you are?” Colton took a step in my direction, his chest expanded and his hands balled into fists at his sides.

  “I’ll tell you exactly who the fuck I am.” I said, advancing towards him with lightning speed. Executing a basic take down maneuver I learned in training, I rolled his arms behind his back. “I’m a man who doesn’t take shit from assholes like you. I’m a man who has the ability to bury your ass in the ground, and I’m a man who protects the people he cares about.”

  Now that Lexi was out of sight, I turned Colton so we were now facing each other, grabbing his collar and pinning his shoulders to the side of the apartment building. He tried to stop me but his efforts were useless given that my hand rested firmly around his neck.

  People started to gather around us like we were a couple of kids in middle school ready to brawl.

  When I inched my face towards his, the rancid smell of coffee on his breath hit my nose. “This is your last warning. You stay the fuck away from her. Do you understand me?”

  He reached up and placed his hand around mine, trying to pull it away from his throat. I let off a little pressure but still had him pinned against the building. He was breathing heavily as he screamed out. “Fuck you, you pig.” Then the asshole spit in my face.

  I brought my hand back ready to pound his face in when I heard someone call over my shoulder. “Is there a problem here?”

  My head jerked to the side when I saw Donnie Losurdo, a fellow officer. Not letting up on my grip, I pressed even harder against Colton’s neck with the intent on draining the oxygen from his pathetic lungs.

  “Morgan?” Donnie asked. “What the fuck is going on? Let him go, you’re going to kill him!”

  I continued to eye Colton down. “That’s the fucking point!”

  Donnie shuffled on his feet and gently placed a hand on my shoulder. “Dude, come on. Let him go, nice and easy. Tell me what happened.”

  My eyes were still trained on Colton watching his face turn red. A part of me would have been happy to end it right here so Lexi would never have to worry about this piece of shit again. Blood was coursing through my veins so fast I felt every muscle in my body pop. Frustrated, I released the pressure off his neck and shoved him against the wall.

  He collapsed to his knees, holding his neck while trying to catch his breath.

  “Want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Donnie asked, placing his hand in his hips looking between Colton and me.

  Colton pushed himself off the wall and pointed in my direction. He looked like he could barely walk as he stumbled toward us. “This man attacked me and I want to press charges.”

  Donnie shot me a look as I wiped the spit still clinging to my face then he looked back to Colton. “Spitting bodily fluids on a police officer is a felony assault charge. From what I saw he was just defending himself. If anyone is going to be arrested today, it’s you.”

  Colton tugged on the strands of his hair in frustration. “Are you shitting me? He tried to kill me.”

  Donnie shook his head. “Didn’t look like that to me.”

  “Motherfucker. You guys are so fucking corrupt!” Colton shouted leveling his gaze on me. “You can’t keep her from me. You are just a blip on her radar. I’m the one she will end up with. Mark my words, she always comes back to me!”

  His words pissed me off more than I cared to admit. She may have once been his, but she was mine now.

  Donnie stood between us. He knew I had fucked up today and was covering my ass. This was not the kind of report that an Internal Affairs officer needed in his file. But my priority was to protect Lexi, and the bastard had given me enough reasons to escalate our conflict.

  After witnessing firsthand the kind of animal he was, there was no way I would ever let him near her again. I didn’t give a shit what happened to me personally.

  I gave Donnie a nod, confirming that I had everything under control and that I appreciated him intervening. He flashed me a look of sympathy before addressing Colton. “Sir, you need to walk away before your ass finds itself sitting in the back of a police car.”

  Colton edged towards me, snorting almost under his breath. “This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”

  Donnie held out his hand, stopping him from coming any closer.

  I ground my teeth together. “You stay away from her.” I hissed out making sure my voice was lethal. I didn’t care about threatening him in public. He fucked up today. Lexi has had to deal with his bullshit for too many damned years. He needed to understand that he had just declared war. His days of controlling her were over.

  Colton shook his head. I could see some of that arrogance make its way back into his features. “You just fucked with the wrong person, my friend.” He turned on his heels to walk away. “Tell my fiancée I’ll be seeing her soon.” He called over his shoulder, whi
ch caused me to charge towards him.

  Donnie blocked my pursuit. “Let him go, Morgan.” He admonished.

  I let him get the last word. As much as I wanted to destroy him, I knew I had to let him go.

  “Thanks, Donnie.” I said holding out my hand to shake his, which he pushed away.

  “No need to thank me. That punk is obviously messing with you. You sure you got this all under control?” He asked.

  “For right now I do.”

  Understanding worked its way into his features. “Better watch your back. That guy has a little psycho in him.” He said, as he checked the time on his watch. “Time to go. If you need anything you know where to find me.”

  My shoulders were slumped as I walked back into Lexi’s apartment building. As soon as I saw her, she rushed towards me throwing herself into my arms. I kissed the top of her head letting her know she was safe, for now.

  I brushed the hair off her face and kissed the tip of her nose. “He’s gone. He’s not going to hurt you.” I said, not completely believing the words myself. The look in her eyes ate at my core. It was the same look I saw the first night we met. It was the look of primal fear. It destroyed me because she had every reason to be concerned. What she didn’t understand though, was how far I would go to protect her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Lexi

  Brad pushed the door open to his apartment as I anxiously walked inside. This was the first time I’d ever been here, which was strange considering how much time we had been spending together lately.

  “Can I get you anything?” He asked, dropping my bag down on the floor.

  I shook my head and made my way over to the sofa and settled against the warm brown leather sectional. His apartment was much bigger than mine and even though it was sparsely decorated, it still had a touch of personality. I curled up on the couch and brought his New York Giants throw up to my chin. The whole apartment smelled like Brad: warm and musky. I closed my eyes and inhaled the scent that had become so familiar to me and let it calm my racing nerves.