Page 40 of Hard To Stay

“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 over 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!”

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