Page 123 of Five Fingers of Death

“What happened this morning? Or do I not want to know?”

I wasn’t about to tell him how I lost my mind and started groping her, or how I made her come just by running my fingers over her body. That was for the two of us. That sated look on her face was reserved for me, and whatever happened between us was no one else’s goddamn business.

“All you need to know is that she’s mine and no one else is allowed near her.”

My fists clenched at the chuckle that left his lips. I didn’t mock him when he fell for Tahlia. Hell, I was right beside him the whole fucking time, ready to take on the whole goddamn world for him and his woman.

“Relax,” he muttered. “I’m not laughing at you. Just took you long enough.”

“To what?”

He shrugged. “Figure shit out. Never thought it would be with Izzy. She’s a little fucked up?—”

His words were drowned out by the roaring in my head. The overwhelming need to defend Izzy surged through me, and I didn’t even realize what was happening until I was being pulled off him and dragged away by my fucking scalp.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Jack hissed. His arm was wrapped around my neck in a chokehold that I knew I could break if I tried, but I was so focused on murdering Johnny with my bare hands that it didn’t occur to me to defend myself.

My eye twitched uncontrollably as red coated my vision. The only thing I could think about was taking out the fucker for daring to call Izzy fucked up. She was damaged, yes, but she was not fucked up.

“Calm the fuck down,” Jack hissed. “Whatever’s going on, you need to clear your head.”

Wasn’t that what I had come here to do? Johnny stood in front of me, wiping the blood from his face. I hadn’t even realized I’d swung at him. Everything had gone black the moment those words left his lips.

“You want to tell us what the fuck is happening?”

I was keyed up, ready to swing at the next person who walked in the room, but Jack was right. I needed to stop fucking with everyone and just figured out how to move forward. I jerked his arms off me and forced myself to calm down.

“Some shit happened with Izzy,” I told them, not saying more.

“Okay,” Jack hedged. “Good things or bad things?”

“Fucking both,” I grumbled. “I shouldn’t have let things get that far.”

Jack watched me warily and Johnny moved in closer. “What the fuck did you do?”

“Nothing,” I spat, pissed they would even think I had it in me to hurt a woman. I sighed, shoving my hand through my sweat-soaked hair. “I woke up with my hands on her, and it was good. I mean, she wasn’t flipping out or anything.”

I saw Jack’s eyes narrow at me. He wasn’t buying it.

“I swear to God. It probably shouldn’t have happened. She’s not ready for that shit.”

“How far did it go?” Johnny asked.

“All I did was touch her,” I snapped, glaring at my friend. “Nothing more.”

“That’s vague as fuck,” Jack muttered.

“You don’t need to fucking worry about that. The problem is that when I was talking to her, she fucking admitted to me that?—”

I had to cut myself off. I was so fucking pissed, and I hated that I was revealing her secrets. Not that they really were secrets. Hell, everyone around here knew what had happened, but this was an intimate moment between the two of us. But I couldn’t keep this inside. It was fucking shredding my soul.

“She hasn’t had sex willingly since before Zavala took her.”

They exchanged a look, clearly not understanding what I was getting at.

“I knew it. Hell, you knew it! But to have her sit there all fucking vulnerable, and tell me shit like that…Do you know how much I want to fucking kill that asshole? I had to sit by and listen last night as he fucking tormented her in her dreams. I couldn’t even fucking wake her up. She was so fucking lost. That asshole has torn her to pieces and I don’t know if she’ll ever get over that,” I yelled.

“And you’re telling us she’s yours?” Johnny asked incredulously.

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