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“No more stalling, precious. Tell us now. Who the fuck hit you?”
Liam growled with fury. “Take your hand off her now, Hammer, and step the fuck back. Raine, present now!”
She felt them both watch as she slid to the floor between them.
“Holy shit,” Hammer hissed.
Liam ignored him and gently lifted her chin. “No more of your stalling. Out with it! Who. Hit. You?”
Raine sighed. She was damned if she gave up Marlie’s name and damned if she didn’t. Why the hell hadn’t she headed straight to the kitchen instead of her room? Oh, she’d wanted to check her face and see if she needed makeup to conceal the fucking handprint, that’s why.
“All right. I tried to save you this ugly shi—um, stuff.” She shook her head. “Some things are just better buried, but whatever. It was Marlie. She followed me to the alley after I dumped the trash and wanted to tell me she was pissed about...” She stumbled. The truth served no purpose but to either annoy or embarrass everyone. “Her broken fingernail, her ugly plastic boobs, her period. I don’t know. Whatever Marlie gets mad at. I told her to go fuc—” She looked over at Liam, who had a brow raised at her. “Perform an anatomically impossible act on herself, then I left. End of story.”
He scowled at Hammer. “You need to keep your bitch on a leash.”
A snarl tore from Hammer’s lips. “She’s not mine to put on a leash, asshole.”
“More yours than mine. I was never stupid enough to stick my dick in her.”
“Probably because she didn’t want yours,” Hammer sneered.
Liam rolled his eyes and turned back to Raine. “Broke a fingernail, ugly plastic boobs, or her period, is it? So who are you protecting with that lie? Can’t be me, as I know fuck all about her, but if her Dom of the moment doesn’t deal with her, I will. You, however, are my problem, and you promised me the truth. How quickly you forget. You won’t like the consequences of compounding it further. So let’s try again. Why did she hit you?”
She resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest. God, all this ugly shit was going to come out, and they’d asked for it. Men just never listened... “Fine. I was protecting myself. I didn’t want either of you to think that I got into some jealous tangle with the bitc...woman. She followed me out, slapped me without a word, then blamed me for making you useless, whatever that means.” She glared at Hammer. “I didn’t ask questions, since it’s none of my business. And no matter how badly I wanted to, I didn’t hit her back. She called me white trash and said you should have left me by the dumpster. So I called her a plastic whore and came inside, then I ran into you. That’s it.”
“I’ll take care of this.” Hammer’s gaze softened as he looked down at Raine. “You didn’t have to risk punishment to protect her, precious. She doesn’t mean shit to me. Please, next time, just tell the truth.”
He turned away, but stopped and glanced over his shoulder at Liam. “Should I demand to be present when you punish her, old friend? Maybe I can save her from you and offer her a collar, too.”
With a scoff, he brushed past Liam, bumping his shoulder, then left.
Searching for the platinum blonde bitch, Hammer raced up the stairs and found her pouting at the bar, nursing a drink. Striding to Marlie, he grabbed her by the arm and plucked her from the barstool in an unyielding grip. She yelped in surprise, then flashed him a smile with her collagen-puffed lips, exposing her capped white teeth.
“Time to talk, Marlie,” he barked in her ear. “You’ve stepped over the line, and I won’t tolerate your behavior anymore!”
She bristled, her eyes growing wide with feigned confusion. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re hurting me!”
He shot her a quelling glare and lifted her from the floor, then dragged her toward the stairs. “I’ll explain in my office.”
The shrieking shrew kicked and screamed. “She hit me first!”
“I thought you didn’t know what I was talking about,” Hammer drawled. “Show me.”
“I-it was over my clothes. I dodged out of the way. It’s not my fault if she’s slower.”
As they passed the dungeon, Liam stood in the hall, cradling Raine’s cheek in his palm. It soured something in Hammer’s gut, but at least the other man was taking care of her.
Hammer could feel hatred pouring off Marlie when she clapped her eyes on Liam’s tender touch.
“Do you have something to say to Raine?” Hammer prodded.
Marlie glared at the pair. “I already said it and I meant every word.”
Liam bent to Raine, kissing her cheek. “Why don’t you go to our room, lass? I’ll be along directly, after I’ve said my piece.”
