Page 66 of The Boss

Collin walks into the doorway gingerly and everyone cheers loud enough to shake the extremely old walls around us. Anyone who was asleep is probably up now. I sneak a glance at the staircase.

“She’s not up there,” my aunt says knowingly from behind me. She sets more spoons and bowls down with a sigh, “Still out walking, crazy lass. Every day she gets a little farther out and a little slower coming in.”

What the fuck?

Mac studies my reaction to this. I just sigh outwardly. Inside, I rage.

She’s still out in the dark? Alone? I explicitly told her not to stay out in the pitch black so of course, she does just that. Someone has eyes on her at all times, but she doesn’t know that. She really can fall and hurt herself, even if one of my men would be there in a second to help, the damage would be done.

It’s cold too, what’s she trying to do, get sick?

Not to mention, if Tink gets tired and forgets her orders to herd Luna in circles to the east trails, I could very well be fucked.

I start to ask one of the many questions barreling through me but the vixen herself appears in the doorway. She slowly reachesto grab a bowl and spoon from the stack. Her nose is pink from the cold and…wait.

She has a scratch on her head. Did she fall?

I stand up to cross the room for a closer look. She could’ve walked into a bramble, we do have some thorn bushes. Or she—

No.

It’s none of that shit.

She has a telling bruise to match the scratch, across her face, and a bandage wrapped on her wrist. The same bandage I’ve had a million times. That my men have had.

“Who did this?” I ask. My voice is like thunder caught in my throat.

She tries to pull down her sleeve to cover the fucking wrapped wrist, as if I didn’t already see it.

“You said to go to the gym so—”

“Who. The Fuck. Did this?” I demand, louder.

“Please, he just—”

“WHO?” I yell.

“I don’t know!” She yells back. “I didn’t get his name.”

I growl. I actually growl like some kind of beast, “You didn’t get his nameon purpose.”

I look to the room, “Who?”

“No!” Luna abandons her bowl on the table and grabs me, her tiny hands trying to grip my biceps. “Please, I begged him to fight me and lied and said you commanded that they had to fight with me if I asked.”

“I will find out who it was and—”

“And you’ll do nothing to him. Absolutely nothing!” She drops her hands and slams them on her hips. “You know I can’t learn from a punching bag. I want to learn to fight like a Quinn. Let me.”

She stands there, unbelievably brave, stubborn. Stupid. I’m not level-headed right now. Yet here she is, shoulders back, head high, eyes holding my own.

“No one is to spar with my wife but me,” I call out to the room while still looking at her. “Understood?” Everyone immediately saysYes, Boss,in unison. At that, something flashes across Luna’s face. She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms in annoyance.

But she winces.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” I ask her. She doesn’t respond. “Fuck my life,” I mutter before picking her up.

“What…what are you doing?”