Page 57 of Hendrix

Anna’s eyes slid to mine, and she must’ve recognized the look on my face because her lips parted.“Are you okay?”she mouthed.

I stared at her, my heart flipping over like an Olympic gymnast.

What the fuck just happened?

Dad shot me a look as if to say, ‘Shut the fuck up, asshole.’

I jerked my chin in assent, trying my best to hold my shit together.

Dad was right. For now, I had to keep my mouth shut and play along. Anna had it in her head that she was going back to Hambleton. There wasn’t much I could say to stop her from leaving, at least nothing she’d listen to, anyway. Anna wouldn’t be in danger there, seeing as I’d knifed her husband’s throat, so I had no excuse to keep her close. If I knew my woman, she’d want to restart her life and return to work so she could make plans to provide for the baby. I could already see the fierce love she had for the kid, and I recognized her need to provide for him.

Except, she didn’t need to.

I was the only provider they would ever need, and I was gonna look after them both, not just financially but in every way a man could look after his woman and kid.

If Anna thought she was gonna take off with that baby in her belly, she could think again. I’d lost her once and the regret had sliced me to the core every day since. She was crazy if she thought it would happen again.

Anna Bouchard and her kid were going nowhere.

They were mine.

Mine to protect.

Mine to love.

Mine to claim.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ANNA

My baby scan had thrown up a lot of questions, the main one being, why couldn’t I get the expression of possessiveness on Hendrix’s face out of my head.

The second I heard his growl, my eyes snapped to meet his, and a bad feeling settled inside the pit of my stomach.

Jamie always thought he hid himself from me back when he was mine, but I always saw through the mask, and I knew him well enough to be aware of every nuance of every look that flicked across his face, probably because I’d always studied him so closely.

What I deduced was that he was up to something.

I also deduced I wouldn’t like whatever it was he was up to because as much as that man had a way about him that made my heart go pitter-patter, he’d also proven he could be an asshole. I saw it back then, and to my detriment, I’d ignored the red flags.

I wasn’t about to repeat my mistake.

“A penny for them?” Tristan murmured.

“He’s planning something,” I declared.

Tristan sat back in his chair, which he’d pulled up to the small table in the packed bar, and studied me intently. “You feel it, too?”

“Ever since the scan.”

“Yeah, what was that about?” Tristan demanded. “His face turned a fetching shade of Casper the friendly ghost.”

“Seeing the baby on the screen made it real for him. He’s probably freaking out. We both know Hendrix and commitment mix like shit with sugar on top.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fucking men.”

I lifted a knowing eyebrow. “Preach, sister.”

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