AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"What the hell do you think you’re doing here?" He demanded as he stormed towards us.
A few people glanced around to see what all the fuss was about. He didn’t seem to notice or care. I rose to my feet and turned to meet him before he reached the table. I could already see the anger blazing in his eyes.
"I was stopping by to check on how the casino’s doing," I replied.
I exchanged a glance with Thea. We hadn’t actually done anything, had we? Nothing at all. The two of us had just been sitting next to one another. No way he could go crazy at us for that, could he?
"Yeah, bullshit," Mark snapped. More people were turning to see what the commotion was. This was supposed to be a relaxing, fun evening at the casino for them, not a chance to witness a damn soap opera.
"I told you to stay away from her," he reminded me, stabbing his finger toward his sister.
"Mark, please, this is really—" she began, but her friend cut in before she could finish what she was saying.
"Wait, you know this guy?"
"Shelby, can we talk about this later?" Thea replied, her voice taut with stress. "This is...this is nothing to do with you. I’m sorry."
"Yeah, and it’s about to be nothing to do with you, either, Scott," Mark said, jerking his head towards the door. "Go on. Out of here."
"That doesn’t even make sense," I chuckled, which seemed to incense Mark even more.
"You don’t give a fuck, do you?" He demanded. "You don’t give a fuck what I want. You’re so used to taking everything you think you deserve. You haven’t even considered the possibility of not being in the right."
He got even closer to me, jamming his face close to mine. This didn’t look good—he was meant to be my partner, the two of us were meant to work together, and if people saw us battling it out like this in public, they would doubt whether we had what it took to run this place.
"Out, now, and don’t let me see you anywhere near my sister again," Mark ordered.
I crossed my arms over my chest.
"You wouldn’t even have this place if it wasn’t for me," I reminded him. "And you want to tell me I can’t even be in here? I’m making sure you’re not driving this place into the ground, that’s all. Surprised you have an issue with me helping."
"You’re not fucking helping," Mark spat. Had he been drinking? He seemed furious. Thea stepped between us, lifting her hands.
"Please, guys, just stop fighting," she begged. She was peering around, all too aware of how many people were watching us now and how bad this looked for the casino in general.
"Thea, don’t worry, I can handle this," I told her gently.
I didn’t want her to think I was just going to let her brother order me around. Yeah, we might have been working together, but honestly, he knew I was the one calling the shots. Not many people would have been bold enough to stand up to me, but he seemed to have it in his head that he could handle me. Oh, yeah? Well, he didn’t know who he was dealing with.
"Yeah, you can deal with it by getting the fuck out of here," Mark snapped, and he pointed to the door. "I’m not going to tell you again. Don’t make me have to get security."
"The security I paid for?" I asked him, incredulous. "That’s the security you’re going to send after me, Mark?”
"Get the fuck out of here," he snarled, pushing his face up close to mine. I could see the fury in his bloodshot eyes. It was written all over his face. I didn’t want to have to deal with this, not when I had just come to pick up some cash. I glanced over at Thea, who looked like she was going to puke right there on the ground. Couldn’t say I blamed her; this was chaos, in the worst way possible, and we seemed to have attracted the attention of everyone around us. There were eyes on us, stares, and I was sure a lot of them were ready to spread the gossip of this confrontation like wildfire the first chance they got.
Yeah, well, I wasn’t going to let it get any further out of control. Even if I was sure Mark was acting ridiculous, there would be no talking him out of this. He had already made up his mind, had already seen me talking to his sister, and decided I needed to get out of here. Fine. I would put space between us if that was what he needed, even if it pissed me the hell off to be told what to do by someone who basically worked for me.
"Fine," I muttered, and I adjusted my jacket before I headed to the door.
He would cool off soon enough, and we could have an actual conversation about this like adults, but right now, it was clear he had made up his mind. Once he had chilled out, we could actually discuss this properly, and I wouldn’t have to worry about him making even more of a scene than he already had.
I didn’t bother to stop and talk to Thea. I was sure he would fucking flip on me if I tried, and I had already drawn enough attention for one day. No, I was well and truly done, and I wanted nothing more than to get out of here and pretend this whole mess hadn’t even happened.
I stormed out of the casino, eyes fixed ahead of me, jaw clenched tight. All that tension between Thea and I, and we hadn’t been able to do a damn thing about it—and now, her brother was pissed at me too. I would get him to chill out eventually, but would Thea see me the same way if she knew I came with this level of drama? I had no idea.
Stepping out into the blistering evening once more, I closed my eyes and rubbed a hand over my face. Shit. That didn’t exactly go to plan.
Even if the plan I’d had wouldn’t have led anywhere good, either.
