Page 85 of Avenging Azalea

“Thanks.” I wished I could ban her from the rest of my life that easily.

Chapter

Twenty-Six

TITUS

Fawn unlocked the back door of the clinic and held it open so I could carry my girl inside. Sheba could’ve walked, and was staring at me with confusion, but I needed to feel useful. Following Fawn, I realized that I’d never been here. For all the time she’d spent in this place, I hadn’t visited and felt guilty for not making the effort to see where she worked.

“This way. Dr. Taylor will be here any minute.”

“Did she have any other symptoms after you called me?”

Fawn shook her head.

“No. I told you that I’m probably overreacting,” Fawn said. Her worried gaze never left Sheba’s face as I gently placed her on the examination table.

The door opened, and I came face-to-face with a handsome man. I’d been expecting someone far older. He looked like he’d run here with his wind-swept hair and fashionable track pants. A vest showed off just how fit he was. If I had hackles, they were officially up.

“Fawn, I got here as fast as I could,” he said, casually touching her back, like that was completely normal for them.

“Did you run here?”

He smiled, and I wanted to punch him square in the center of his perfectly white teeth.

“Of course, but I sprinted just for you.”

Fawn blushed, and I cleared my throat.

Dr. Taylor finally acknowledged that I was in the room and turned to look at me. It was all I could do not to rip his hand off as he held it out.

“You must be Titus. I’m Dr. Taylor,” he said, accentuating the word doctor.

“You can call me Mr. Mikhailov.”

His lip twitched as we shook hands. We were adversaries in a blink. I didn’t need to have a heart-to-heart to know who and what he wanted, and he didn’t seem to give a fuck who I was.

“I took her temperature, and it’s a little high. I think it may be a viral infection,” Fawn said, breaking our glaring contest.

Dr. Taylor tugged his hand away and turned to face Fawn and Sheba. I’d been quietly dismissed and had never wanted to pull my gun and shoot someone so badly before. That was Nathaniel’s M.O., but I wasn’t sure how to control the raging tornado of emotions.

“Let me take a look,” he said, gripping Fawn’s hand. It was just a moment, but my nostrils flared.

Who the fuck was I to be jealous?

I’d felt this same rage with the jock, but this was far worse. The intensity with which I wanted to gut this man scared me. Fawn trusted him. Dr. Taylor was her mentor. Someone she looked up to and admired. He was a successful surgeon in her field of study. I’d been encouraging her to spend as much time as possible learning from him. He wasn’t mafia, or trapped by a wedding contract, and there was no fucking ring on his finger. That was all bad enough, but it was the way she looked at him that devastated me. Her eyes sparkled, and her smile was shy and flirty.

Fawn was mine, and this man had slipped seamlessly into the spot I could no longer fill. He was stealing her away from me, and she went along because that was exactly what she should do, and I hated it. I hated him because he was everything that I could never be.

I had no idea what they were saying, but Taylor laughed, and I understood the gleam in his eyes. He was head over heels for Fawn and was well on his way to winning her over. If I was in my right mind, I’d walk out the door, ignore what was going on, and be thankful that someone like Taylor wanted Fawn. But I wasn’t in my right mind. In fact, I was very much out of my mind. As he passed behind her along the narrow side of the room and their bodies brushed, I reached under my coat and grabbed the handle of my gun on instinct.

His death was imminent. The blood would run red as it left his body. His eyes would plead for mercy before he took his last breath.

I forced myself to look away as they spoke and listened to Sheba’s heart. Once they were done with her, I was going to need my fucking head examined. I’d almost fucked Vera on my desk to avoid a situation exactly like this. Now here I was contemplating making Dr. Taylor, and all his perfection, disappear.

When he chuckled and smiled at Fawn like he was imagining stripping her naked, I had to turn and stare at the wall to keep control. Nathaniel was a hot head, Ronan was a dick and did whatever he wanted, even Kaylani could have her moments, but not me. I’d always been cool and calm, and⁠—

“Titus, are you okay,” Fawn asked, touching my back.