But she wasn’t completely stupid.
With every ounce of willpower she could summon, she pulled away from him. “No, Garek. I—”
“Hey, El,” a voice interrupted her. “You need some help getting rid of this jerk?”
As one, Garek and Ellie turned toward the bedroom.
Garek’s eyes narrowed when he saw the stranger standing in the doorway. Pierced and tattooed, the young man had the wiry build and mean eyes of a street kid, and he smelled of too much cologne. Who the hell was he and what was he doing in Ellie’s apartment?
Ellie didn’t appear too pleased at the stranger’s appearance either. “Robbie, I told you I can handle this myself.”
“Robbie?” Garek looked sharply at her. “Your cousin, I take it?”
She didn’t answer his question, all her attention focused on Robbie. “Please go back into M
artina’s room.”
“In a minute, prima.” The mean eyes met Garek’s. “First I want to find out what this perro’s intentions are.”
“And you wonder why I prefer to keep some distance between myself and family members?” Garek drawled.
Ellie didn’t look amused. “Garek, please be quiet—”
“Don’t worry, El, I’ll shut him up.” Robbie rushed at Garek.
Garek waited until the other man was almost on him, then quickly sidestepped.
Robbie went barreling past, crashing into the coffee table and shattering the lump of mud sculpture into a thousand pieces.
“Robbie! Garek! Stop this at once!”
Robbie didn’t appear to hear Ellie. A snarl on his face, he got up and hurtled back toward Garek. Garek met him with a punch to the gut, causing Robbie to double over. Garek grabbed him by the shoulders and followed with an uppercut to the jaw. Robbie collapsed to the floor.
With a shriek, Ellie rushed to her cousin’s side. “Robbie! Robbie! Are you all right?”
Wincing, Robbie sat up. “I think so,” he said thickly, rubbing his jaw. He glared at Garek. “Think you’re pretty tough, huh? This isn’t over. Not by a long shot. You’re not getting away with what you did to Ellie. You’re going to have to do right by her—”
“Caspar!” Ellie called out hastily, cutting her cousin off. “Come help me with Robbie!”
Garek, leaning against the door to catch his breath, watched as another man came out of Martina’s room and helped Ellie support Robbie into the bedroom. Pieces of the lump-of-mud sculpture made crunching noises as the trio stepped on them, pulverizing them into dust. “Don’t worry, man,” Garek heard Caspar mumble to Robbie. “We’ll figure something out—”
Ellie shut the door and came back into the living room.
“Charming cousin you have,” Garek said.
She glared at him. “Did you have to hit him?” she asked indignantly.
Garek folded his arms across his chest. “He at tacked me.”
“Well, you didn’t need to be so…so violent.”
Garek, recognizing a woman’s illogic when he saw it, forbore to respond. Instead, he asked, “What was he talking about? What have I done to you?”
Her gaze slid away and she hunched her shoulders irritably. “Nothing. Would you please leave now? I think you’ve caused enough trouble for one night.”
“I’m not leaving until we get this mess straightened out between us—”
The bedroom door flew open again.