Storm Warning - By Kadi Dillon Page 0,6

said to Tory and reached for her.

“You’re not touching her,” Adam informed him even as she cringed back. He pulled her behind him. She bumped into the man again and jerked back. Adam must know him, she thought dizzily. He reached out and steadied her, but didn’t let her go.

“You’re not telling me what I can do to her,” he bit out. “Tory, now.”

“Go to hell,” Adam suggested. “Gabe, get her outside.”

“Gabe,” Tory said dully and grabbed a hold of the bar for balance.

“The only place that little whore is going is with me,” Vance said about two seconds before Adam’s fist connected with his face.

Mortified, Tory squealed as Vance staggered backwards. He hit the edge of a tall chair and tripped. Adam stalked toward him with his fist bunched at his sides.

“Adam, don’t!” Tory rushed over to her brother and tried to push him toward the exit. “Adam, please stop. Please! Let’s just leave.”

Vance picked himself up off the floor slowly.

“Adam, come on,” Gabe said from behind them. “This isn’t the place.”

“Take it outside,” the bartender called.

“He isn’t worth it,” Tory said, clinging to her brother. She felt as though she was holding on to a brick wall. “Please. I want to go back to the hotel.”

“I’m sure you do. Hope you paid good money for this whore,” Vance aimed a sneer at Gabe. “She’s a freak in the sheets.”

Tory’s mouth dropped open, but before she could say another word, Adam jumped on Vance, knocking him to the ground again. A table broke, the sound of the glasses smashing echoed in the room that had gone silent.

“Adam!” Tory jumped in as well and tried to tear her brother away. People were cheering, the bartender was yelling. It was complete chaos.

“Get out of here, Tory!” Adam ordered between grunts and curses.

“Adam, stop! You’re going to kill him!”

Gabe locked his arms around Adam and yanked him off of Vance with an ease that had Tory blinking. The bartender pulled a bruised and bloody Vance to his feet. “Get the hell out of here before I call the police!”

“Let’s go.” Gabe shoved a still raging Adam out the door.

Outside, the blessed quietness both soothed and confused her. Her head spun sickly, but she resisted the urge to wretch in the bushes. Adam took three livid steps away from her, then stopped. Gabe was looking at her through narrowed eyes. She folded her arms and waited for the inevitable. It was her fault, after all.

“Could you be anymore stupid?” Adam whirled on her like she knew he would. His temper was every bit as hard as hers, despite the fact that neither one of them knew the other existed until eight years ago.

Tory lifted her chin. She was desperately afraid she would cry in a minute. “Can’t we talk about this later?”

“No, first off you know what an asshole he is,” he fumed. “He’s been cheating on you for the three years that you’ve known him and you still follow him around like a lost fucking puppy! Even him hitting you didn’t wake you up. Well? Don’t you have anything to say? Are you going to see him again?”

She could only shake her head.

“Answer me!”

“No!”

“Good,” he said quietly. “Because if I see him again, I’ll kill him.” He fished a set of keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Gabe. “Take her back, will you? I’ll drive the other truck.”

With that he walked away.

Tory stared after him for a moment. Gabe didn’t say a word. He could see the control she was trying to hold on to so desperately struggling to slip.

She wrapped her arms around herself and turned a fiery glower to Gabe. Without a word or sound, she marched to the truck.

Gabe let out the breath he had caught when her blazing brown eyes warned him and followed her to the SUV. He climbed in and started the engine.

She sat in the front passenger seat, staring out the window, looking small and vulnerable. Gabe fought the urge to reach out to her. He knew she wouldn’t welcome any comfort from him at the moment.

“You knew who I was, didn’t you?” she asked him in a weak voice. He knew that if he could see her face, there would be tears there. Otherwise, she would have been looking right at him with those fierce, beautiful brown eyes.

He considered lying, but almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he squashed it. She would know sooner or later. “Yes.”

She made