I glower at him, but Seb has already turned back to Elsa, "What say we head out to the car and wait for these guys to join us?"
Elsa pops her head around him, "I assume this is Axel?"
"Oh, shoot, I forgot you guys haven't yet met." I glance between them, "Axel this is my friend and colleague Elsa. Elsa this is Axel the man—"
"Who you are going to marry, I know," she thrusts out her arm, "pleased to meet you."
Axel reaches out to take her hand but Seb steps between them, "That's enough."
Her gaze widens, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back off, asshole. I was merely being civil,"
"You can say hello without touching him," Seb replies in a tight voice.
"I was only going to shake his hand, jerkaloupe."
Seb's forehead creases, "Is that an insult?"
"What do you think, you big oaf?"
"I think it's time to leave and give these two a few minutes alone."
She scowls at him, and he stares back with a placid expression on his face.
Finally, she blows out a breath, "Is that okay with you, Theresa? I can stay if you want."
Axel’s muscles bunch. I sense the anger vibrating off of him, and for some reason, I want to calm him down.
"It’s fine," I murmur. "I’ll be fine."
"You sure?" She peers at me closely, "I can stay; honestly."
"No," I shake my head. "Really, I’ve got this."
She stares at me a second longer, then nods. "We’ll be out in the car."
"We’ll just be a few minutes," I reassure her. She brushes past Seb, whose features darken. He stomps off after her.
"What’s gotten into him?" Axel stares at his retreating back.
"Who knows?" I turn to face him, "Now, do you want to tell me why you came here?"
"I don’t know," he crowds me so my hip hits the bar, "I think the time for talking is over. In fact, I am positive I don’t want to talk about anything right now."
"You don’t?"
"I thought it was time to give you an idea of the kind of man you are marrying."
"Oh, I know the kind of man I am marrying," I tip up my chin. "A lying, conniving, double-crosser who won’t hesitate to betray his own brothers."
His face darkens, "Take that back."
"No."
"I am warning you, Theresa, if you don’t apologize for that, I am going to have to punish you."
A thrill runs down my back. Shit, why is it that the thought of unleashing the beast inside him turns me on so? Why is it that the thought of him losing his control and jumping on me and having his way with me has my insides turn to jelly? My toes curl. I raise my hand to push back a strand of hair from my face and my fingers tremble. "I’m only saying what we both know is true. Besides, you don’t scare me."
"So you keep saying." He bares his teeth. "Last chance, Sunshine."