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I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees only to watch the wanker stick his finger in her drink and swirl it around.
Motherfucker. He’d put something in her drink. Casually, he stepped back, took his drink, and sipped it as he hovered around the girls.
I was up and out of my seat in seconds. Rook and Saint were so busy with their women in their laps that they barely noticed me.
I was down the stairs in seconds, taking them two at a time. When I reached the dance floor, the crowd was thick, and I scanned the moving bodies for Tabatha. When I found her again, she wasn't with Saffron and Lachlan, who were busy grinding on the dance floor. She was with loverboy, and they were heading toward the edge of the dance floor like they intended to leave. Had she ingested the drink?
Fuck.
I moved so fast that the crowd parted for me, and I reached them right before he moved her completely off the dance floor. The crush of people here was densely packed, but at least it gave me cover.
Tabatha held her glass in her hand, and just as she brought it to her lips I deliberately bumped her from behind, causing her to spill it on the girl in front of her. I wedged one foot between lover boy’s feet, turning it ever so slightly and causing him to trip. Then I lowered my center of gravity and brought the side of my foot down on his knee. He howled, but the sound couldn't be heard over the music. The girl in front of Tabatha was screaming as Tabs held a hand up, apologizing. That gave me some room and time to deal with the fucktwat on the ground.
I grabbed the back of his skull, brought his face to my knee easily, and kept moving forward. As he went down, his grip on Tabatha’s wrist loosened and I replaced it with mine. Once we reached the edge of the dance floor, I scooped her up, easily tossing her over my back.
From the ground, her dance partner's expression turned furious, and I smirked at him. “Stay down.”
"Gabe!" Tabatha screamed, pounding her fists against my back. "Put me down!"
“Over my dead body. Like it or not, you’re leaving. It’ll be easier if you don’t fight me.”
Tabatha
I woke to a mouthful of sandpaper and an alarm blaring. I slapped it with enthusiasm, but nothing happened. Hell, I’d missed the alarm entirely. My aim was so off it forced me to peel open my eyelids to try and suss out where I'd put my stupid alarm clock.
Except what greeted me was not the photo I kept next to my bed of me and my siblings, Kira and Riley, but a stark white lamp, Scandinavian in design. Also on the nightstand was a full glass of water and something in a brown bottle labeled drink me first. And oh, a bottle of paracetamol.
I tried to lift my head, but the rampaging elephants inside it warned against that action. What the hell had happened last night? I squeezed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose as I tried to remember. I hadn't had that much to drink. I never did. I was a master at making two drinks look like four or five. You just sip all night, tell people you're headed to the bar, ask for a top up of soda water, and you can look like you're partying all night while completely keeping your wits about you.
So why did I feel like dirt? I racked my brain, but all I could recall was Gabe’s angry look as he watched me from the balcony, his moss-green eyes piercing me with disapproval and annoyance.
The alarm went off again, and I reached in the general direction of the sound. When I came in contact with my phone, I groaned and picked it up.
“Hello,” I mumbled.
“You mangy bitch! How dare you cancel my credit card?”
The screaming sent a piercing pain through my left eyeball, and I lowered the volume.
“Good morning to you too, Kira.” I rolled over and winced at the rare English sunlight streaming through the windows.
Fuck me. This wasn't my bed. This bed was enormous. A king? California king? I hadn't gone home with anyone, had I? I tried to sit up again and my head spun. I wasn't at home at my flat in Mayfair. I wasn't in Saff and Lachlan's guest room. I wasn't even in my bungalow on the Rogues campus.
My heart started to race, and panic threatened to flood my body. But I immediately dragged in a breath and tried to calm my mind. With a quick glance down at my clothes, I could see I was in a T-shirt and very baggy gray sweatpants, so at least I was clothed. But this was not what I had worn last night, so what the fuck happened to my clothing?
As my brain tried to parse out the end events of Saff’s hen do, my sister continued on her tirade. “Why would you cancel my bloody card? I needed to book my flights to Ibiza today.”
Okay, one problem at a time. I needed to get Kira off the phone so she would stop screaming and aggravating my headache. Then I could figure out where the fuck I was.
I sighed and pushed up out of bed. “I didn't cancel your card.”
“That's bullshit. It was declined just now when I tried to book my flights.”
I sighed. I had a feeling I knew what the problem was. Unfortunately for me, it meant more yelling. “Kira, if you're trying to use the joint account for your tickets, there isn't any money in there. I just paid for Riley’s classes for next semester.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? Why does Riley always get everything? All I wanted to do was go on holiday with my friends.”
Dear God, Buddha, any one up there that might be listening, I'm begging you for strength. “Kira, the arrangement is that I help you pay rent, and I pay for Riley’s school. If you had chosen to go to school, I would foot that bill in full. But any trips and extras, you need to work for. With a job, you know?”
