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Owen stood there, looking at Eva, then me, and back again. Once he realized we were both okay, his face hardened, and his jaw tightened with fury. Eva lifted her chin and glared right back at him, which only made Owen's violet eyes blaze that much brighter. Then his gaze went to Kincaid, and he noticed how close the other man was standing to his sister.
"You!" Owen shouted, stabbing his finger at Kincaid. "Get away from her, you son of a bitch!"
Shocked, I watched as my l
over stalked over, drew back his fist, and punched Phillip Kincaid in the face.
"You bastard!" Owen snarled, punching Kincaid again. "I told you to stay away from Eva!"
Owen started to hit him a third time, but Kincaid blocked the blow.
"I've been paying for your blind stupidity for years now," Kincaid snarled. "And I'm sick of it!"
He snapped his elbow into Owen's face, and the fight was on.
The two men went at each other, no holds barred, punching and kicking for all they were worth. I was so surprised by Owen's violent reaction to Kincaid that it took me a few seconds to move to break up the fight.
"That's enough," I said, wading in between them. "That's enough!"
I pushed Owen away from Kincaid, while Sophia kept the casino boss from coming after my lover again. They'd only been fighting for a minute, but they'd made it count. One of Owen's eyes was already starting to blacken, while blood dripped from Kincaid's nose. Anger shimmered in their hot gazes as they glared at each other, and I had no doubt they'd happily pound on each other until they were both nothing but bloody smears on the deck.
"What the hell is going on between you two?" I asked Owen.
He shook his head. "Not here. I'll tell you about it later, when we're safe. All I care about right now is getting Eva away from him. Eva, come here, please. "
Eva gave Kincaid a guilty look, but she walked over to her brother's side. Owen put his arm around his sister and hugged her close for a moment.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She sighed. "I'm fine, Owen. Philly didn't hurt me. He would never hurt me. "
Owen's face tightened even more. "Don't you even say his name. Do you understand me?"
Eva opened her mouth, but the fury in his eyes made her bite her lip and keep quiet. Desperate, she looked at the casino boss for help.
Kincaid stepped forward. "Owen, I - "
Owen stabbed his finger at the other man again. "I don't want to hear one word from you. Not one fucking word. I didn't believe your excuses then, and I won't believe them now. Don't come near Eva, Gin, or me ever again - or I will kill you. Do you understand me, Phillip? This time, I will kill you. "
Chapter 10
Everyone on deck froze. All the giants, all crime scene techs, all my friends and family. Even I was a little stunned by the venom in Owen's voice. I'd never seen him so angry. Not to mention the fact that he'd just threatened to kill someone in front of a bunch of cops. Not exactly a smart thing to do, even if corruption ran rampant in the police department and most members of the po-po were more interested in where their next bribe was coming from rather than in actually stopping crime.
Bria stepped in front of Owen. "In case you didn't notice, I've got a dead body here. Right now, that trumps whatever history and vendetta you have against Kincaid. So you can either keep quiet, or I can have you escorted off the riverboat by force. Do you understand me?"
Owen glared at her, but after a moment he nodded. Satisfied, Bria turned back to Kincaid.
"Now, Mr. Kincaid," she said in a deceptively friendly tone, "why don't you tell me who tried to kill you?"
"Why would you think that anyone wants to kill me, Detective?" he answered.
She smiled at him, but there was a hard edge to her expression. "Oh, I don't know. The fact that your number-two man is lying ten feet away from us, literally a former husk of himself. Or maybe it's the fact that you would be dead right now if my sister hadn't used her Ice magic to freeze that water noose someone tied around your neck. "
Owen frowned. "Water noose?"
Kincaid looked at him. "Yeah, a water noose. Sound familiar?"
Owen didn't respond, but for the first time, I noticed something in his eyes besides rage - doubt. Just a tiny spark of it, so faint I wouldn't have even seen it if I hadn't been looking at him, but it was there.
