Page 126 of In Love and Revenge

‘We need to leave,’ I shout over the noise of the crowd.

A huge hulk of a man looks at the two of us like a shark that has caught the scent of blood.

‘What’s the rush, darlin’?’ he says, reaching out and pulling me to him with a bruising grip on my hip.

The move makes Dove’s hand slip from mine, and I whip my head around in time to see the space between us fill with thick bodies.

‘Dove?’ I shout, wriggling in the man’s grasp.

His grip tightens on my hip, and he pulls me against him. ‘Feisty, huh? Save the fight for later. It’ll make it more fun.’ His other hand drops to the hem of my dress and ice-cold fear slithers up my spine. I can’t fight him off. He’s twice my size.

He slides his hand up the inside of my thigh and I push at it hopelessly, digging my nails into his flesh with no effect. His thumb grazes the edge of my underwear, and I look into his dilated pupils.

He gives me a leery smile.

‘Get your hands off her!’

My throat seizes.I know that voice.

The guy’s head snaps to the side in a blur of flesh and crunching bone. The tight grip he had on me disintegrates.

‘Rafael?’ I scream. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

He towers over the guy, who’s bending, wiping at his bloody mouth. ‘You shouldn’t be here,’ he says to me, his attention fixed on the guy who’s now glowering at him and cracking his knuckles.

‘Neither should you!’

He’s dressed all in black. Black joggers, and a black t-shirt straining over his broad chest and hugging his thick biceps. But the guy who just tried to feel me up is wider than him and looks like he could get hit by a 747 and not feel a thing.

The crowd gathers around us like they’re getting a free show.

‘That your girl?’ The guy sniggers, his hungry eyes flicking to me. ‘Pretty sure I got the scent of her snatch on my fingers when I touched her just now.’ He lifts his hand to his nose and makes a show of inhaling. ‘Mm. Smells like she likes me.’

Rafael grabs the guy’s hand so fast he doesn’t have time to react. A sickening snap rings out as he forces his fingers back towards his forearm.

‘That’s for putting your disgusting fingers on her. I should rip them off and choke you with them!’

He grabs my hand and pulls me through the crowd.

‘Wait! What about Dove?’ I cry.

‘Angelo’s got her,’ he snaps, punching open the door that leads to the stairs and outside.

I stumble along beside him, trying to keep up. Despite the way his chest’s heaving, and his muscles are literally vibrating with adrenaline right now, he has an eerie control about him.

I gulp in the cool night air as we rush up the alleyway. There’s no sign of the bouncer any more.

‘What the hell were you doing there?’ Rafael spits, leading me down the street and around a dark corner. The lights on his car flash and he opens the door, slamming it behind me after I scrabble into the seat.

‘What was I doing there? What were you doing there?’ I gasp as I struggle to get my hands to stop shaking for long enough to fasten my seatbelt.

Rafael leans across me and clicks it into place roughly, then starts the engine and screeches out into the road.

‘Do you fight there?’ I ask.

His face is a mask of cold, ruthless composure as we speed through the streets.

‘Are you going to answer me?’