sides. “So you get what you want and I get fucked.”
“You did that to yourself,” Tate snapped. “She never did anything to you.”
“She was mine first!” Clint looked over his shoulder at Tate. “She was in my bed before yours. I know every inch of her,” he taunted, making her stomach pitch.
Her skin crawled just thinking about him putting his hands on her. She hated that she’d ever slept with a monster like him. Liz regretted every second she’d spent with Clint, never more so than right now. “That’s enough.”
Throwing sleeping with her in Tate’s face was lower than low. She would hate it if someone Tate once dated threw it in her face. Decent people didn’t do stuff like that. Their pasts didn’t matter. Only what they shared now.
She glanced at Tate. His lips pressed tight with anger that matched the fury in his eyes. He shook his head like nothing Clint said would get to him. She hoped not, but it made her worry and even angrier. And she focused that anger on Clint.
“I haven’t gotten near enough of you.” The lascivious look Clint gave her made her skin crawl. The thought of him ever touching her again disgusted her.
“Touch her and you’re dead.” The venomous tone conveyed how much Tate meant every word.
Clint used his liquor-fueled courage to take a step toward her. “I will make you pay for Aubrey, talking to that reporter, those women turning on me. Everything.” Clint lunged for her, his hand brushing her face, a nail scratching her cheek as Tate grabbed a hatchet from the work bench next to her and clubbed him with the wood handle. Clint fell to his knees, then landed in a heap on his side. Blood poured out of a cut on his temple where a goose egg lump rose.
Tate caught her before her knees buckled and wrapped her in his arms, her head pressed to his chest.
She put her hand over her stinging cheek and stared at Clint’s limp body.
Drake came up beside her. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks for coming to the rescue.”
Adria appeared at Drake’s arm and put her hand on his shoulder. “I saw someone sneaking into the stables, sent Drake, and called Tate.”
Tate brushed his hand over Liz’s hair. “I grabbed Declan and hauled ass down here.”
Declan didn’t even have his boots on. “I called the cops.” Declan notched his chin toward Drake. “Better put that away before the cops get here.”
Drake handed the rifle to Adria and pushed Clint over onto his stomach with his booted foot, none too gently. He grabbed a rope off the wall and tied Clint’s hands behind his back.
Tate walked her away from Clint. He pulled a paper towel from the holder on the wall above the sink across from them, wet it, and pressed it to the cut on her face.
She hissed in pain. For such a tiny thing, it stung like hell.
“It’s not bad. Probably heal in a day or so.”
She leaned into Tate’s hand. “Why the hell would he come here? He had to know it would only get him in more trouble.”
Tate pulled her into his chest and held her tight. “Christ, Liz, I thought he might hurt you before I got here.”
She pushed out of his arms letting her adrenaline-fueled anger reign. “I should be able to walk around my home without worrying about being jumped by a drunk ex, for God’s sake.”
Tate gave her a silly and completely out of place grin.
“What?”
“Your home?”
“I live here. With you. So why the hell does he think anything he does will change the past or the future. I’m here. I don’t want to even see him let alone be with him again, so what the fuck!”
“He’s a serious threat.” Drake stated the obvious, and the impact of it hit hard. “He’s bold enough to come here knowing you’ve got the three of us to protect you. Even if he didn’t count on me and Declan, he knew Tate hasn’t left you alone outside of work where you’re surrounded by people since Aubrey’s death.”
Liz waved her hand out toward Clint. “He’s drunk. He wasn’t thinking.”
“This time. Next time . . .” Tate left the rest unsaid, because there was no telling what Clint might do.
Declan waved the sheriff’s deputy inside and met him halfway, explaining what happened with an angry, disgusted look on his face and a pointed finger at Clint lying on the floor.