Page 65 of Broken Vows

“What the fuck did you say to her?” Theo barks, his eyes filled with a vicious, murderous rage. His gaze snaps to me, checking me up and down for any injury, then he shoves Cody back against the wall. “You don’t get to talk to her like that. Ever.”

A stumbling, dazed, red-faced Cody blinks at me through blood-shot eyes and back at Theo. “Who the fuck are you?” Everything is still for a few, long, sickening seconds as Cody’s eyes narrow at Theo.

And then, he lunges.

“No!” I scream, but my voice is snuffed out by shuffling, stumbling bodies, and shouting men. How is Theo here? Why is he here? What the hell is happening? “Please, stop!” My words fall completely useless in the chaotic sea of grunts and shoving. There’s nothing I can do. I flatten myself against the alley wall. Cody balls his hands into hard fists, and leaps at Theo. Oh God, oh God… I slam my hands over my mouth. The hard crack of Theo’s fist meeting Cody’s face echoes in the alley, and acid shoots through my stomach.

A stunned Cody stumbles back from the impact with blood rushing from his nose. Are they done? And holy shit… Theo’s here.

I need to leave but instead, I’m frozen in place.

Cody wipes the blood from his nose and bolts like a bull released from a cage and tries to swing, but Theo’s right hook meets Cody’s jaw. One hit, two, so lightning fast that I barely register what’s happening. Theo grips Cody on the collar and slams him into the concrete with a sickening thud. Theo drops to his knees, his elbows flying up, hitting and punching and raging. “You motherfucker,” he’s yelling, driving Cody into the pavement. “How dare you touch her…” Cody’s face is a mess, blood spilling from his nose, his mouth, streaking down his chin. Oh God. “You don’t get to put your hands on her,” he snarls. “Ever. If you so much as speak to her again, I will kill you. I will fucking gut you. Do you hear me?”

The words crash over me, loud and vicious.

“She’s mine,” Theo growls. “Mine.”

What the hell is happening? There’s too much noise. Too much blood. My brain can’t keep up with the violence, the shouting, the fact that Theo claimed me as his.

Over and over, Theo lands brutal hits, pure rage driving every blow. The alley fills with the sickening sounds of bones breaking. My stomach churns, bile burning at the back of my throat, yet I still don’t move. I don’t pull Theo off. I don’t scream for help.

I just watch.

I know it’s wrong. And still, a dangerous heat coils low inside me, because he’s doing this for me. Because he didn’t hesitate. Because he was willing to burn everything down to protect me.

It’s toxic. It’s sick.

And it terrifies me how easily that thought takes hold, because the man in front of me doesn’t look like Theo anymore. His eyes are black with fury, his movements wild and relentless.

He looks like he’s going to actually kill Cody.

“Theo! Stop. Please.” When his elbow jerks up, I grab him—both hands locking around his bicep—and wrench him back. Muscle cord hard beneath my grip. Blood slicks his knuckles. Cody’s? His? I don’t know.

Theo staggers away from Cody’s barely conscious and broken body sprawled on the ground. His fists are still clenched, his chest heaving.

Then he looks at me.

His eyes are wild, unfocused—burning with fury—he doesn’t really see me yet.

It takes a few seconds for him to come back to himself. But as soon as our eyes lock, time stops. This has to be a dream. A hazed, fevered unreality. None of this could have just happened. The world around us fades, drowned out by the rush of my breath and the thunder of my heart, and for a terrifying moment, I think I might pass out.

Our gaze breaks as Theo glances down at Cody, then back at me. Something shifts in his expression, a split-second hesitation, before he turns and storms towards me. He rakes his bloodied fingers through my hair and crushes his mouth into mine. Fuck… The shock sends me stumbling back a step before instinct takes over and I capture his mouth. The kiss is brutal—rushed, possessive, bruising. His dirty, bloodied hands are everywhere: my jaw, my neck, my ass, leaving streaks of blood in his wake that should make me recoil in fear but only turn me on more. His mouth is intoxicating—soft and devastating all at once—a promise of pain and longing and ruin. I’m already lost to it. He owns my mouth, tugs my hair, bites down just hard enough on my lips to make my breath hitch. My legs tremble. My pulse skids out of control.

I cling to him, pulling him into me, pressing myself closer and closer into his hard body.

“Oh, Lexie,” Theo murmurs, low and wrecked. “You taste so good.”

The words hit me hard. The velvety tone in how he said “Lexie”… Wait. Stop. What am I doing?

I yank my head away and shove him back, scrubbing at my mouth like I can erase the last few seconds. “What are we doing?” I manage, my voice breaking.

Oh God, oh God, oh God. We just kissed. I want to spit him out, cry, and do it again all at once. “Get the hell away from me!”

“Wait, no, listen to me.” He reaches for me with his bloodied hands, but I put up my arms to stop him.

“Don’t say my name. Don’t you dare fucking say my name. Oh my God, what the hell have I done?” I push at him, once, twice, then over and over as he stands there and takes my blows. “You’re getting married. Why… why did you just kiss me? Why did you come here?” My stuttered breath locks inside my trembling body. I’m flushed with want and regret and adrenaline, sick from what I did, disgusted that I want more. I finally stop pushing him and step back on my stumbling, shaking feet.

What am I supposed to do now? My body burns. My mouth is raw, scratched from his facial hair. Rage fills me.