I groaned and turned my head back into her neck.

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” I hissed against her skin.

I straightened and stretched my neck, the beast waking in excitement.

“I told you to fucking stay away from her!” Andrew yelled, his face red, body tense. He was itching to punch me, but wouldn’t do anything while I was so close to Lila. “And I told you to stay away from him!”

What the fuck right did he have to tell her that? She wasn’t his.

I let go of her legs and let out a hard breath before starting down the hall. Everything was tense, readying for a fight. It was long past time we had it out.

“What fucking right do you have to fucking say that to either of us?”

His lip curled up, and he stepped forward and attempted to lean over me, but there was only an inch between us and he wasn’t intimidating.

“I can’t fucking stand you,” he seethed. “Now, get the fuck away from her.”

“Make me,” I said in challenge, our faces inches apart. “If she wants me to get away from her, she needs to tell me, not some overgrown, jealous Neanderthal.”

Lila’s small hand pressed against me, the heat from her touch calming me enough to listen to her.

“Boys, we need to get inside before my neighbor comes out, and you both know how she is.”

Lila turned to the door and fumbled with her purse in search of her keys. It was taking too long, so I pulled mine from my pocket and handed them to her.

“Here.”

The fucker gasped in shock.

Yeah, you don’t have a key, do you, asshole?

She ushered us in, handing me my keys.

“Are you kidding me? He has a fucking key? To your condo? Hell no,” Andrew growled.

Lila threw her bags down and slammed the door shut before turning on him. “Andrew! You don’t know anything about what is going on, so shut up.”

“He’s fucking playing with you, Lila. Open your eyes. He sticks his fucking dick in anything that has a pussy!”

I closed the distance between us and got right up in his fucking face, ready to deck him. He had made me blood-thirsty from the moment I first met him.

“You don’t know anything.”

“How long have you been stringing her along? Making her think she’s different from the other girls?”

“As I said, you don’t know anything. Because if you did, you would know the only woman I’ve been with for almost four months is Lila.”

The expression fell from his face, and he looked toward Lila. She wasn’t impressed by any of our posturing. There was a satisfaction that sunk in as his eyes grew wide. Fucking finally he knew—he understood.

She didn’t want him. He finally knew all the marks left on her were from me.

Lila was mine.

“No. Him?” He pointed toward me. “It was him at the bar? It’s him who marks you? Him who understands you?”

Lila simply nodded, refusing to elaborate. Which was good, because he had no right to our relationship.

I stepped up, getting his attention. “Yes. Me. I see her. I’m the one who sleeps with her every night. It’s my cock shoved in that fucking tight pussy of hers,” I growled. My arm shot out, and I pointed to the door. “So, get the fuck out of here so I can pin her against the wall and make her forget that anyone other than me has ever been inside her.”

He needed to fucking go. He didn’t belong.

Suddenly, his hands were fisted in my jacket as he pulled me so we were face to face.

“You don’t deserve to be in the same fucking room as her.”

I pushed him off with so much force, he stumbled back. “What the fuck is your problem? You just can’t let her go, can you? Wasn’t it you who left her?”

What the fuck kind of claim did he think he had on his ex-girlfriend?

“And what do you know about me, Andrew? That I fucked around with women over the last two years? Yes, that’s true. I needed an outlet for my anger, frustration, and sexual needs. Who the fuck cares? She doesn’t.” I gestured to Lila.

“If that’s all you know and that’s all you care to know, then leave,” she said.

Andrew stared at her, and I could see the hurt, but I really didn’t care.

“This is a breach of both of your employment contracts. You know that, right?” he asked.

“Of course we know,” Lila said. “Are you planning on saying something so we’ll both get fired? Is your prejudice of Nathan that great? So great you would endanger my job as well? And my happiness?”

“I… Lila…” He let out a sigh as he begged her with his eyes. “I don’t want to see you get hurt, and I think he could damage you.”

“Nathan has no devious plan, no ulterior motives. He’s a good man, and you need to open your eyes and see. Because all you’re looking at is the act, what he shows you, not the real man.”

Fuck, I wanted to kiss her.

“Now get the hell out of my home, and don’t fucking come back until you’re ready to know him—ready to know us. I’m an adult and can make my own goddamn decisions. I choose who I want to be with. And it’s him. He’s the one I want.”

Fuck, yes, we are, the beast growled from his cage.

His body slouched in defeat. “Good girl.”

Good girl? Was she a fucking dog, or was he really that clueless as to how strong she could be?

She smiled back, and he turned to leave.

His love for her in whatever capacity could render him an ally, as much as I hated to admit it. Much like Caroline, he did have her best interest at heart, and I had to commend him on that.

“If you want to find out some truth—as true as the news will give you, anyway—then do what Caroline did and Google my name,” I said. His eyes met mine, the animosity gone. “And once you’ve done that and found some truth, then you can come and try to tell us what kind of person I am, but not before. Because I guarantee your opinions will change.”

He nodded and headed to the door.

Seconds after the door clicked closed, I had Lila pinned against the wall as I devoured her mouth. It was what I needed to calm down and I slowed, nuzzling her.

“Mine,” I said.

Her fingers caressed my cheek as she smiled up at me. “Always.”

CHAPTER 25