“Tonight,” he answered. “I’ll come by tonight.”
My heart pounded against my chest. “Okay.”
He released his hold on me and said, “I’ll walk you out.”
We left the back room then, heading out to the front where my car was ready and waiting. Alec and Kane walked into the shop at that exact moment, and I looked up at the ceiling, silently asking God why he hated me so much to put me in this situation.
“Your car is good to go, good lookin’,” Dante said from my right, gaining my attention.
He walked over to me, staring at me like I was the only person in the room, and before I knew it, I was staring at a person’s back instead of Dante’s face.
“That’s far enough, asshole.”
I closed my eyes the second Damien spoke, and in my heart, I knew what was about to happen.
“I’m gonna give you two seconds to step aside so I can talk to me girl real quick.”
Oh, God.
“Your girl?” Damien snapped, stepping forward, getting in Dante’s face. “She’s not fucking yours, you piece of shit.”
Aideen’s brothers were the only men I knew to all be as tall as the Slater brothers. Even as tall as Dante was though, Damien had two or three inches on him. I rushed over to Alec and Kane, who were just watching the lads like they were having a casual conversation.
“Do somethin’!” I demanded. “Right now!”
Kane glanced at me, then up to the lads again, dismissing me without a word.
I turned to Alec. “Please!”
“Not yet,” he answered without looking at me.
“I hate to break it to you, mate,” Dante quipped from behind me. “But she sure as hell isn’t yours!”
I sucked in a strangled breath as a dark cloud of what I knew was fury fell over Damien.
“Please,” I begged, rushing forward and squeezing between them. “Can we all just stop and breathe for a minute? This doesn’t need to end in violence.”
“No violence?” Alec repeated. “That doesn’t seem right.”
Kane snorted but kept his eyes trained on his future brother-in-law.
“Kane, do you think this is goin’ to sit well with Aideen?” I asked, hoping he would see reason. “Do you think she is goin’ to be understandin’ of you fightin’ ’er brother? Because you know you’re gonna fight ’im if he hits Damien.”
“I’m not going to fight,” he said with confidence. “I’ll just break it up if it pops off.”
“Mr Collins!” I hollered desperately for the only man who I knew would end this madness. “Mr Collins, sir!”
“He’s gone to lunch, good lookin’.”
“JJ!” I shouted, ignoring Dante. “Harley!”
“We’re ’ere, Alannah,” JJ answered from across the room. “But you need to move aside so they can sort out their differences, darlin’.”
“Fuck you, JJ!” I snapped. “And you, Harley. Neither of you speak to me again.”
“What about Gav?” Harley huffed. “He’s ’ere, and he’s not plannin’ on stoppin’ them either.”
“Fuck ’im, too!”
“Thanks a lot, dickhead,” Gavin grumbled to his brother. “Now she’s gonna ignore me when she sees me next. She’s not like Bronagh; she’s doesn’t hit me when I piss ’er off, she ignores me. Silence hurts way worse.”
I ignored them all and focused on the Collins brother who was causing me so much trouble. I shoved Dante’s chest with both of my hands, though the action didn’t make him stumble back like I’d hoped it would.
“Stop this, you’re eggin’ ’im on for no reason.”
“I have me reasons,” Dante replied to me but kept his eyes over my head as he stared Damien down. “Plenty of ’em.”
He was a lost cause, so I turned and looked up at Damien.
“Please,” I begged. “Don’t fight, Damien.”
“He called you his when you’re not.”
“Well.” Dante chuckled. “She sure as hell isn’t yours, bud, or she wouldn’t have had been on my cock otherwise.”
Damien attempted to swing at Dante, but because I was directly in the middle of the pair, he stopped before I could get hurt. His eyes though … I had never seen anger like it dwell in them before.
“Just stop!” I screamed as I pushed Damien back by his chest. “Look at me!”
He did; his eyes dropped to mine, and they softened almost instantly.
“Please,” I begged him. “Don’t do this. I hate fightin’.”
The tension in his face slowly began to fade away.
“You better listen to ’er, Slater,” Dante sneered. “Otherwise, I’ll have to fuck up that pretty face of yours some more then talk to me girl.”
Dante had the audacity to slap my behind for no other reason than to start a fight by claiming I was his. Damien’s eyes hardened once more, and he moved around me so fast I barely had time to register it. I screamed as Damien and Dante collided, but thankfully, it only lasted maybe thirty or so seconds before all the lads pulled them apart. I hadn’t realised I was crying until the shouting stopped, and my cries could be heard.