Page 119 of Healing the Heart

She saw his lips move. The two syllables,baby, not kitten, caused a resurgence of her grief and pain. Then she lost him behind the wall of men herding him out of the lounge.

“What was that about?” Regan asked, serious for once.

“I don’t know, but I’ve never seen them stand between a dom and his sub before unless there were some major rule violations involved.” Megan sounded equally shocked and confused.

“I’m not his sub,” Fiona stated flatly. “And never really was. That’s the problem.”

“Let’s go back to our table, Fi,” Lexie said, taking her by the hand.

“I think I’d rather go home.”

“We can’t, honey. Not until Jonas is done with...whatever that was.” She waved her hand to where, without a show to see, the crowd was dispersing. “He’s our designated driver.”

“You need more margaritas,” Regan declared as she waved down their waitress.

“And some sad songs,” Elena suggested. “That’s all I sang for two years after Dex and I split. It always makes it better for some reason.”

Fiona glanced at Lexie as if to saysee what I mean? Then she asked the singer, “Do you know ‘Torn’ by Natalie Imbruglia?”

“Oh, honey,” Elena whispered, because obviously she did.

ALL BUT SHOVED OUTof the lounge and away from Fiona, Noah was not happy. But he wasn’t stupid enough to think he could take on six Rossi men on his own, especially Axyl who was the biggest, the youngest by at least ten years, and spoiling for a fight, too.

He didn’t appreciate being perp walked to the conference room like a criminal, either. But he realized, if he wanted to get to Fiona, he had to get by her elite guard. All six of them filed in behind him, Cap shutting the door with a resounding thud and sealing them inside.

Axyl wasted no time tearing into him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he demanded. “Wrecking her wasn’t enough? You had to follow her across three states to get in a few more licks?”

“I need to talk to her and get things straight,” he calmly explained, although he was anything but calm on the inside.

“What things?” the younger man asked, having taken on the role of Fiona’s protector, which only pissed Noah off further.

“That’s between me and Fiona.”

Axyl laughed. “Not if you want to get close to her. Look around you, Doc. We do things a little different in Texas. We protect our women from assholes.”

“Your women?” he repeated, in Axyl’s face again, this time as the aggressor. “You haven’t explained why she’s your business. The case ended weeks ago.”

“She’s a vulnerable sub, destroyed by a heartless fucker hours after a whack job tried to kill her. That’s most doms’ business. Good ones, leastwise.”

Admittedly, that stung. “It wasn’t hours; it was nearly a week. She was better. She’d even gone back to work, or I wouldn’t have—”

“Cruelly dumped her,” Axyl finished for him. “She was vulnerable and scared out of her mind. Of course, she’d turn to you, her protector. You took advantage of that when you should have backed off. That’s Security 101. If you haven’t learned that yet, you’re a fool, and Fiona has paid the price for your stupidity.”

“Okay,” Sean interjected, moving closer. “Let’s dial the hostility back a little.”

Axyl didn’t give an inch. “I care about her, and you. Although I don’t know why I should when you’ve got your head so far up your ass, you’ve got shit in your eyes and can’t see something special passing you by.”

They glared at one another, both seething with anger.

“Well, that certainly was graphic,” Cap drawled, wading in for the first time. “Why don’t you two have a seat and cool off. Dex? Got any whiskey stashed in your office?”

“I do,” he said, moving toward the door. “Try not to let them kill each other while I get it.”

Cap turned back, saw them still standing toe to toe, and barked with authority, “Sit down!”

They pulled out chairs side by side, but Sean intervened. “That’s not happening. Sit across the table, Axyl.”

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