Page 9 of His to Destroy

But I don’t move.

Because I know she’s bluffing. Not about wanting distance. But about needing protection.

She’s terrified. She definitely wants to be protected. Just not by me.

And she has good reason to not want me around her. I’ve caused her nothing but pain in the past.

That night, I follow the tail I suspect is watching her. He doesn’t notice me. Amateurs never do.

I wait until he slips down a narrow alley to take a piss. That’s when I move. My hand around his collar, slamming him into the wall.

He doesn’t even have time to scream.

"Who sent you?"

He says nothing. Just grins.

Wrong answer.

I hit him. Hard. A crack. Blood sprays the brick wall. He tries to twist away, but I’m faster. I grab his jaw and slam his head back. Again. And again.

"You think following a woman and her kid is brave? You think that makes you a man?"

He groans and coughs as he spits out blood.

But he remains silent.

I drag him down to the pavement, crouch low, and whisper in his ear.

"You tell whoever sent you—I’m coming. If it’s a war they want, I’ll give them one. But if they even breathe in her direction again, I will rip out their eyes and make them eat them."

He coughs. Curls in on himself.

I leave him there. Broken. A message wrapped in bruises.

The next morning, I’m waiting outside her apartment. When she opens the door, she flinches.

"What are you doing here?"

"He was followed. Your son. They were planning something. I stopped it."

She goes still. "What do you mean?"

I explain. She listens. Silent. Still as stone.

When I finish, she exhales. Slow. Long. And I see something shift in her.

Not trust. But necessity.

"I can protect you," I say.

"At what cost?"

I pause.

Because the truth is, I don’t know yet.

But whatever it is, I’ll pay it.

---