Page 106 of Tate
“I’m sorry, but unless you’re flashing a badge, Glo is free to do what she wants.” He clamped his hand on Sloan’s shoulder.
Sloan gave him a push as he opened the door.
Glo was already on her way out. “What’s going on?”
Sloan turned to her. “I told you this guy was trouble, Gloria. Do you have any idea who he used to work for?”
She frowned at Sloan, then Tate.
Tate’s mouth opened, belly punched. “What are you talking about?”
But Sloan wasn’t looking at him. “The Bratva. The Russian mafia. And you know what he did?—?”
“Shut up,” Tate said quietly. “Just—shut up.”
“He was an enforcer.”
Tate turned to Glo. “I worked security.”
“He broke knees for a living.”
Tate turned back to Sloan. “You don’t know anything.”
“I knoweverything, tough guy. I know about Slava and Yuri Malovich, and I know about the girl. What was her name? Oh,Raquel.”
Tate’s mouth tightened, but the name hit him like a center punch. “Don’t.”
“He murdered a woman. The woman he was living with?—”
“No, I didn’t—” But no, he couldn’t have this fight here, on the sidewalk. He turned to Glo. “Glo, I would never?—”
She was nodding, so much trust in her eyes. “I know—I?—”
And he couldn’t take it one more second. Couldn’t take Sloan’s hands on her, his breath in her ear, the idea that he’d put his mouth on hers.
“I love you, Glo.” And that’s when the screaming started in the back of his head. The wordsNoandStopandThis is a bad idea.
But he ignored them all, pressed on by the memory of Sloan kissing her as she stood to receive her award.
He curled his hand around her neck and kissed her. Something primal and possessive and no, it wasn’t at all the right thing to do, but she was his, and, and?—
Helovedher. That thought took root and spread through him. She made him feel like he wasn’t impulsive and dangerous, and he wasn’t letting her go home with Slick, no matter what it cost him.
She’d frozen, and that was his first clue that maybe?—
Aw…
Because this wasn’t about Glo, but the fact that…that she belonged to him.
Your mother doesn’t own you, Glo.His own words stung him just about the time Sloan grabbed him by his collar and yanked him back.
“Have you lost your mind?”
Maybe.I’m so afraid of making a mistake, too…doing something stupid.
Sloan’s fist slammed into his face.
The pain exploded into his skull, and he stepped back, drew a breath, shaking off the gray that splotched his vision.
