AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Problem, babe?” he asked her, eyes on Adam.
After a long, wide-eyed beat, Adam tipped his head back and laughed loudly. A howling, evil kind of laugh.
“Babe?” Adam’s gaze met hers, but his eyes weren’t sparkling with amusement, instead they held the dark gleam of anger, resentment, and—worst of all—revenge. “That’s rich, babe,” he said with exaggerated drunken slowness.
He turned to look at Gabe, who’d come to full attention beside her. Braced and ready. But Adam only gave him an amiable once-over before his gaze shifted back to her, and the darkness returned to his eyes. “So you found someone to give a shit about you after all. Does he know the truth, Hope?” He popped thepin her name as he glared at her.
She knew exactly what Adam was asking.
But Gabe didn’t know.
She clenched her teeth hard, trying not to react, but it was unbearable being near Adam again. A headache pounded behind her eyes. Her nails continued to bite into her fisted hands. The sting centered her.
But the truth must have been in her eyes, and Adam could see it. Neither of the men flanking her knew Adam’s truth or the real truth. And no matter how badass—and capable of handling any truth—that they looked, she wasn’t going to tell them. Not ever. Not her. Just like she didn't tell anyone three years ago, and she knew that gave Adam all the power.
Adam knew this—must have seen this truth in her eyes or her stance—because a slow smile of victory spread across his face. “It’s been a long time.” His gaze slid down her body, and she fought the bile churning in her stomach. “You still look good as ever.”
Beside her, Gabe growled, low and threatening, his body straining like he wanted to pounce. She grabbed his hand, threading her fingers through his, gripping hard, holding him back.
Adam craned his neck to stare up at Gabe. He didn’t seem disturbed by the violence emanating from Gabe. With a disdainful expression, he scrutinized Gabe, taking in his day-old stubble, his too-long hair, and his tattoos.
“Not your usual type, is he, Hope?” Adam mused. “I remember you used to like them cleaner. You know, the white-collar types.” His gaze cut to her and slithered down her body again. “Like me.”
Gabe shot forward and seized Adam by the collar of his own crisp white shirt.
Adam jerked back, raising both hands in mock surrender. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there, Tarzan. I’m not the one you need to worry about.” He canted his head to indicate her.
When Gabe didn’t loosen his grip but instead tightened it, Adam gasped in disbelief and started talking faster than ever with spit shooting out of his mouth.
“Come on, Hope, are you really going to throw me under the bus again? Why don’t you tell lover boy here what you did to me and the others? How you cheated, then lied, and got us all kicked out of college. How daddy and your brother had to bail you out, while you watched from your high horse as the rest of us burned.”
Under Gabe’s fierce grip, Adam started sputtering and wheezing from lack of air. His eyes went dark, almost black, and his lips curled into a sneer. “I lost everything,” he gasped. “Because of you. You’re a liar. A cheating bitch. And you still fucking owe me.”
Fury rose in Hope, unlike any she had experienced in three years.
“You fucker,” Gabe growled. Then he yanked Adam into the crowd that had gathered to watch the spectacle.
Pushing through the throng, Hope followed close behind Gabe as he dragged Adam toward the front door of the bar. Sean opened the doors for Gabe as he dragged Adam through and onto the street.
Hope let her storm break once they were outside.
“You’re the liar, Adam,” she screamed, a burning rage flooding her body and face. “You know the truth. I never—”
“The truth?” Adam choked out, still under Gabe’s relentless grip. “Come on, Hope, tell him the truth. Tell him what really happened. I dare you. See if he believes you. If anyone believes you!”
Slamming Adam up against the brick wall on the side of the building and pinning him there, Gabe growled, “You stay the fuck away from her. You stay the fuck away from here. If you ever talk to her, or so much as look her way again, I will fuck you up. Understand?”
Adam had turned a little blue under Gabe’s hold on his collar. But Gabe’s eyes were nearly black with violent intensity. A tick jumped in his jaw. The muscles in his shoulders and biceps bunched as they strained.
She had never seen him so consumed with anger. A thinly checked violence vibrated off him. And as much as it pained her, she knew she had to intervene and end this, before Gabe did something he couldn’t take back.
“Gabe. Let him go,” she said quietly as she put her hand on his shoulder, the muscles hard as steel under her touch.
Adam choked out a noise of distress, his eyes bulging.
“Gabe. Please. He’s not worth it. Trust me.”
In the tense moment that followed, the only sounds around them were Adam’s gurgling gasps, and the whoosh of a passing car. She opened her mouth with another plea on her lips when Gabe finally reacted.
