Page 116 of Against The Tide

“Listen!” Carl snaps, grabbing my arm hard enough that a whimper escapes me as he hauls me to his side.

He’s drunk, and the stale smell of cognac clings to his every breath as he inhales at my hair. No matter how hard I try to free myself, his grasp tightens to the point that it feels as though he might snap my bone. And panic begins to set in hard enough that before he can hurt me anymore, I scratch at his face, catching his eye before he blinks it shut. I’m not even sorry as he stumbles back cursing and yelling.

“No!” I bark at him, shoving him farther away from me with both my hands.

People stop to stare. That’s all they do—watch on as he comes at me again. Except this time one of the staff from behind the desk jumps between us.

For once, I’m not the one cowering away. I don’t care who hears all the poison he’s spewing at me.

“Get the fuck off me!” he spits at the guy holding him at bay as he rams him against the desk, but before he can get to me, Rhett is pulling me behind him, and as much as I would love to let him beat the shit out of Carl again…it’s not worth the implications it would have on him. Or us.

“Let’s go.” I thread my fingers through his and tug him in the direction of the exit. The onlookers are beginning to feel like a crowd.

“I warned you last time…” Rhett grits out, taking a step closer as Rowan stands in his way.

“Get the fuck out of my way,” he states so calm and so low that it’s cold and menacing.

Right now, I see the reckless hothead he’s told me about. All the stories about acting first and thinking later that he’s shared with me and that Rowan has joked about don’t seem so out of character when he’s like this. Yet, I still feel safest beside him as I tug and tug at his hand. It’s a pointless task. Rhett doesn’t budge while he stands waiting for Rowan to do as he asked.

This is bad. This is worse than that first time Carl showed up the ranch.

Grasping his bicep, I tell him, “Let’s go, Doc. Please, honey, let’s get out of here.”

“Listen to her,” Rowan says, calmly taking a step forward and turning him toward the exit. “Think of the bigger picture. It’s not just you or her…think of Iris.”

Relief floods through me as he manages to get Rhett to move, the standoff coming to an abrupt end as the security that the front desk called for finally arrives and tries to herd Carl away.

“This isn’t over!” he spits as we walk past him, and if it wasn’t for Rowan, he would’ve been flat out on his back from the look on Rhett’s face. “You can’t take what’s mine, farmhand.”

“Shut up, Carl.” I spin so fast that I almost stumble. “And stay the hell away from me and my daughter, or so help me God…”

“Or what?”

“You come near us one more time and you won’t ever see the light of day again.”

“Are you going to send your farm boy for me, Avery? Is that why you’re fucking him?”

“I’ll kill you myself!” All the anger and frustration that keeps coming and going and beating at the dam I’ve built inside me bursts through in one yell that reverberates around us.

Tears cloud my vision as it continues echoing inside me. My own shrill voice ricochets in my eardrums and around my chest. The words keep swelling in my throat as I stand paralyzed by my fury. “I wish you were dead and buried in the dirt. It’s not me that’s the waste, it’s you. It’s always been you.”

“Careful…”

“Or what? Are you going to beat me again?” I ask, barely above a whisper.

“You’re not worth it anymore.” A manic laugh pushes past his lips, and before I can say anything else, Mike ushers me toward the exit. “He’s got what’s coming to him, doll. That son of a bitch has run out of lives.”

“That bastard will get you too! You’ll see!” Carl continues shouting behind us. “You’ll regret this!”

I have no idea what he’s talking about as we make it outside, but when I look back, people are starting to walk away. The ones in their tuxedos and cocktail dresses head back toward the party, and the others go about their evenings.

“What a cocksucker.” Callie blows out a breath beside me, Rhett’s and my coats thrown over one of her forearms as she links her other arm with mine.

It’s so strange the way it all happened so quickly and out of nowhere, and just as fast, it escalated and is done. Over.

“How did he get in? I took him off the membership yesterday. Why was he here?”

“I don’t know, but he’s clearly not fucking missing,” Callie grits out as the cars we came in pull up and the valet opens the doors for us.