I didn’t have time to contemplate it for long. Gemma tucked herself inside like I asked and the guy Brett was wiggling to break free as he yelled at her to get her ass back and talk to him.
Pulling the guy closer, I got nose-to-nose with him. “You’re going to shut your fucking mouth now. I am going to say this once and one time only. You so much as blink in her direction again and I will sweep the floor with your sorry ass.”
I pivoted with him and slammed him up against the building, knocking the breath from his lungs. Now he was getting my drift. His eyes got wider as he tried grabbing my wrist to pull it from his shirt. The guy talked big but he was nothing but a pussy who thought he could hurt and rule women.
Well, he isn’t going to touch mine.
Shoving my fist harder into his chest where I still had a grip on his shirt, I slammed my other hand against the building next to his head. “You are one lucky bastard that she didn’t go to the police yet. But trust me, you come near her again and she won’t need to because, not only will they not be able to find your body, but I have a line of guys willing to help me bury you.”
Brett’s eyes were bulging out of his head and he was trembling so bad I thought he might piss his pants.
“You fucking got me?”
He shook his head and I released him. Without another word, the guy scurried off like a scared rat.
I tried relaxing my jaw that I had clenched so tight and let the fury drain from my body. I didn’t want to go inside so angry and scare Gemma.
Once I got myself under control a couple of things flashed in my mind like a beacon not able to be ignored.I called her love, I thought again. That may have scared her more than my anger ever could. I’d also thought of her as mine during all that and she wasn’t. But last, it was something she may not like at all when I told her.
I moved toward her door and knocked, calling out to let her know it was me. “Gemma, sweetheart, open up, it’s Bodie.”
When she opened the door, an uncertain look etched across her pretty face. I couldn’t help but drag her into my embrace.
“Are you okay?” I asked, my chin resting on her head and her face smashed against my chest.
I felt her nod her head against me as her arms came up and wrapped around my sides. I stiffened at her touch. It had been a long damn time since a woman held me close. This was my fault, I’d grabbed her. But then, my body relaxed as the feel of her sank in and every nerve inside me sighed in contentment.
“I can’t believe he was just waiting for me out there,” she mumbled.
That statement threw cold water over the moment we were having and I pulled back from her knowing what needed to happen. And when I spoke, the tiny woman turned into a sassy giant right before my eyes.
“Grab your things, you’re moving now.”
She narrowed her eyes at me and seemed to grow ten inches. Then she poked me in the chest. “Don’t you order me around.”
I had trouble speaking for a second because her attitude and spunk were two of the sexiest fucking things I’d ever seen.
Working to hold back the smile she brought forth, I gave her a salute as she’d done to Braxton earlier. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“And don’t mock me,” she snapped. Then she turned around and walked further into her apartment, leaving me standing there by the door.
I hoped she was going to get her things, otherwise, we were bound to have our first argument.
A groan pulled from the depths of my belly as I, once again, watched her backside and that sassy, sexy sway of her hips as she took off down the hallway.
“Are you going to shut the door or what?” she yelled from what I assumed was her bedroom.
I shut the door and looked around. Then rubbed my palms down my face. Just being in her personal space for a short time sent a jolt through my body.
Living right down the hall was going to be torture.
ChapterSeven
GEMMA
I should have sleptlike a baby—safe and sound—but that didn’t happen.
In the silent condo, I lay in bed, my mind spinning at high-speed like a hamster on a wheel that would never reach its destination. All I could think about was the way Bodie took charge at my apartment, protected me, and had gone all alpha on Brett’s worthless ass. Then there was the hug which baffled me but also felt phenomenal. On top of all that was how damn bossy he was.
