Tori stood stiffly, the remnants of tears streaking her face as she shouted at him. Could this bloody night get any worse?
Callum rolled off him, perched on his knees. “Tori, love, we need to talk. I don’t care what you did with him. It was his fault. He tricked you.”
“I didn’t trick her.” Rubbing at the ache in his jaw, he got to his feet and was stunned by the utterly delicious sight of Tori standing in her living room, holding an umbrella like a damn female warrior. Her eyes were lit with fire and her robe gaped open the slightest bit, exposing creamy skin. Despite everything, his dick flared to life again at the sight of her.
“Get out.” She stood her ground, her stare falling on each of them as if assessing her enemies.
“Tori, I agree my brothers need to leave, but you and I have to talk.” It was time to tone down the emotion and get reasonable. Oliver knew he’d been a bastard to her. No matter what she’d done, she deserved to have her first sexual experience be more memorable than a couple of thrusts, followed by her lover railing at her because she’d been a virgin. He’d made a hack of the whole thing. Once Callum and Rory were gone, he would talk to her, apologize, make it up to her.
“I meant you, too. Get out of my apartment.”
If he left her now, he doubted he would be allowed back in. “Don’t you think we should talk about this here, rather than at the office?”
“I quit. Get out. All of you.”
“Love, I don’t know what he did but I’ll fix it. I’ll make you happy,” Callum vowed.
“You can’t quit,” Rory said. “We’ve already talked about this.”
“Bill me, assholes. Now, out. All of you,” Tori insisted, her voice firm.
The situation was spinning out of control. If only his brothers hadn’t shown up, he might have been able to salvage it. “Both of you leave now.”
“All of you,” Tori snarled. “This is my last warning.”
Like soft little Tori was really going to hurt anyone. Oliver shook his head and stepped toward her. “I’m not leaving, darl—”
Before he could finish speaking, she whapped him with the umbrella. Suddenly, he was stumbling across her flat and trying to find his footing. The pain wasn’t bad, but Oliver found himself scrambling to get out of her way. He stumbled toward the door, and his brothers followed suit as Tori bore down on them, weapon in hand.
She swung a few times, her eyes wild, and backed them into the hallway before any of them thought to fight back against the petite brunette whom they each outweighed by four stones of muscle.
“Stay out. And don’t contact me again.” She slammed the door in their faces, and Oliver heard the distinct sound of the deadbolt sliding home.
He blinked, stunned that he was stuck in the hallway in the middle of the night without his shoes. He rather believed that if he knocked and asked for them, she might try to shove them up his arse. He was staring at the door when one of his brothers grabbed his arm and whirled him around.
“I’ll kill you for this.” Callum’s eyes had gone so cold.
Rory stepped between them. “That won’t fix the situation. You’re both idiots. I’m going down to Cal’s. He’s already moved in three doors down. I’m going to get into his Scotch and figure a way out of this mess. If you two kill each other, all the better for me. I’ll take the company and Tori for myself. I’m the only one of us who hasn’t fucked her over. You’re both pathetic. Talib was right. We don’t deserve her.”
He turned and walked away without looking back.
Oliver felt more vulnerable than ever. Even as he’d lain on the floor of Bezakistan’s royal palace after Yasmin had done her best to kill him, he hadn’t felt this wretched. Tonight, he’d ruined something good, something pure.
Callum jerked away, snarling in his face. “You hurt her.”
“I didn’t mean to.” He really hadn’t. He’d meant to…god, he didn’t even know what he’d meant to do at this point. “I didn’t like the fact that she seduced you while she has a fiancé.”
“You haven’t figured it out yet? She doesn’t have a bloody fiancé. She made it up to keep men like us away. She’s alone and you’ve made sure she’ll stay that way. And don’t you dare try to say that what you did to her tonight had anything to do with me. I hate you.”
Oliver watched his brother walk away, slamming the door behind him.
As he followed his brother down the hall, he kind of hated himself, too.
* * * *
Callum thought seriously about murdering his brother. He knew how he would do it. He would wrap his fingers around Oliver’s throat and squeeze until his head popped off. Then he would kick the thing around like a football.
As Rory loitered by the door, Callum shoved his key in the lock, bitterly aware of the fact that he was now three doors away from the woman of his dreams and she wouldn’t speak to him. He thought about closing the door and locking them all out, but Rory shoved his way in.