I’d spent months pretty much blessedly free from migraines, but they seemed to be back with a vengeance. Between the stiffness and pain, I could find no comfort or reprieve.

Scar tissue tugged, exacerbating my symptoms. It felt like the black hole I’d lived in for years was swallowing me up again.

Lila’s touch seemed the only thing able to soothe me.

“This hurts you a lot, doesn’t it?” she asked as she trailed her fingers down my scar.

“Yes. There were broken bones, sliced muscle, and chewed-up organs. Lots of damage that left lots of problems.”

She felt around at my ribs, digging in a little until she found what she was looking for. Following a line, she counted when she found the remodeling on each rib.

“Five?”

I nodded. She took hold of my hand and placed it against her ribs on the left side in almost the same spot. The same remodeling bumps, only smaller.

“Your stepbrother?”

She nodded.

“Do you have a plate here?” she asked, her fingers deftly dancing across my wrist.

“Yes.”

“And your knee?”

We both glanced down at the second largest scar on my body.

“Completely decimated. The femur shattered at the knee. There’s so much metal under that scar.”

Her brow knitted, and she snuggled into my arms. “I wish I could take it all away.”

I wish I could take it all away from you, too.

The next day things got worse, and I was numb to the world. After work we stripped and I pulled Lila into bed. She lulled me to sleep by running her fingers through my hair.

I considered myself to be the type of person who could get along with just about anyone. It seemed the accident may have busted that up as well, because after more than a month, I still couldn’t stand Andrew.

Ever since he popped back into Lila’s life, I hated him. The way he looked at her gave him away. Work luncheons didn’t happen often, and they were usually with large clients of the firm. Four attorneys—Andrew, Benjamin, Lila, and myself—sat around a table with the CEO of a regional chain of grocery stores to talk about the takeover of a city-wide local chain.

It was past the lunch hour, the restaurant mostly empty as the hostess guided us back to a small private room. The moment I saw the large, round table, I adjusted my position from Andrew, making sure Lila was not next to him.

Instead of Andrew on her other side, it was Benjamin who was seated there. I’d seen him around Lila before and it was obvious all his attention belonged to his wife.

As the talks began, I placed my hand on Lila’s thigh. That was the start, the catalyst. I teased her mercilessly until she had to get away.

To avoid suspicion, I waited a few minutes before excusing myself and following her. I snuck in the ladies’ restroom and slipped inside her.

Quick, dirty, and exactly what I fucking needed to calm the jealousy that raged inside me.

“We need to get back out there,” Lila said as I regained my breath. I had her bent over, using a wall support as I fucked her.

My cock was spent, the agitation of Andrew’s presence lessened. Another minute, and I stood and pulled out. Some come dribbled down to the floor.

“Come on, Honeybear, we better get cleaned up real quick and get back out there before they send out a search party,” I said as I stuffed my dick back in my slacks.

She was smiling as she straightened back out. It took a few minutes, but once everything was back in place, we headed back to the private room.

“There she is,” Benjamin said with a smile. “And she found Nathan.”

We sat down, and I noticed Andrew was avoiding looking at Lila, which was odd.

“We sent Andrew out to find you two, but he came back empty-handed,” Benjamin said.

My jaw twitched as I glanced at Andrew. Fuck. That was the change in his demeanor. He heard.

“I caught her coming out of the ladies’ room and dragged her outside with me for a minute,” I said, coming up with the most plausible lie I could, but the cloud around Andrew didn’t change. “We had something we needed to discuss.”

As lunch wore on, my suspicion that Andrew overheard us became more concrete.

“You were a very bad boy today, Mr. Thorne. I don’t know if I should let you in tonight,” Lila teased that night when we were in the elevator of our building on the way home.

The corner of my lip pulled up. “Oh, really? And how are you going to manage that when I have a key?”

“Hmm, good point.” She tilted her head and tapped a finger against her lips. “I could deny you access.”

“Could you?” I asked in challenge. I knew for a fact she couldn’t, but I really wanted to see her try.

“I think I could,” she said, standing straighter.

Challenge accepted.

I leaned into her and pressed her into the elevator wall, one hand on her hip, the other cupping her face as I leaned in to whisper against her ear. “Could you?”

I ghosted my lips across her cheek before pressing them to hers. She relented and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in as close as possible. Her hands fisted my hair, pulling me back to look in her eyes.

“Could you?”

“Never,” I admitted. “I could never deny you.”

That was my issue from the beginning. From the moment I met her, I was fucked. It took little effort on her part.

Our want became a raging need, and by the time the elevator pinged for her floor, our clothes were a mess. We stumbled out into the hall, bumping into walls as hands grabbed.

I let out a groan as her tongue ran along my exposed collarbone, while I worked to pull her skirt up. We were frantic, unbalanced as I pulled her leg up to my hip, causing us to fall against the opposite wall.

It was exactly the leverage I needed. I got her other leg up, and she locked them around my waist, pulling my hips in, letting my cock press into her heat.

I rocked into her as I nipped along her jaw, completely overcome by the drive to be inside her.

“You aren’t going to walk straight when I’m done with you tonight.”

A moan slipped from her lips while I continued to trail my teeth down her neck. I was ready to fucking pin her to the wall with my cock when we were interrupted.

“What the fucking shit is going on?”

We stopped from shock and turned to find Andrew a few feet from her door.