“That’s not what it looked like to me. It looked like you were hitting on what’s mine.”
“I was just talking to her. Nothing happened.”
I was off my barstool now. “Tam, leave it. He’s right, nothing happened.” I wanted to put my hand on his shoulder and pull him away, but from the way his muscles were wound so tight, I was frightened of his reaction.
Jodie had gone to Leo, and he stood with his arm around her, appearing mildly amused. Their cousin was nowhere to be seen; he must have already gone up to his room. I wanted Leo to step in, but he’d probably seen Tam in more fights than I could count and thought Tam could do what he liked.
Antero slid away and scrambled to his feet. The bar had been fairly quiet, but those who were nearby had now made themselves scarce. One of Antero’s friends stepped forward, putting out a hand to guide Antero from the bar.
Antero spoke to his friend. “Maybe if he’d treated her right, she wouldn’t have wanted to spread her legs for me.”
He’d muttered it, but Tam had clearly heard. His jaw tightened, nostrils flaring, and he turned back slowly.
“Tam, please, leave it,” I begged.
“You can shut the fuck up.” Even as he spoke, he stalked back over to Antero, caught him by the shoulder, and whirled him back around. Then he drew back his fist and punched Antero straight in the face.
Antero’s head rocked back, and blood burst from his nose. Someone in the bar screamed, and the barman yelled something I didn’t understand. Tam hadn’t finished. He hit Antero again, and this time, Antero buckled, folding at the knees. Tam lifted his foot and kicked him, catching him in the jaw and sending him flying backwards.
“Tam, stop!” I screamed.
“You don’t fuck with what’s mine,” he snarled, before giving him another kick in the gut, so he curled up.
Then he turned to me and caught me by the wrist. “We’re going back to our room since you can’t be trusted.”
I was in shock. This violence had come out of nowhere. Had it been my fault? Had I led Antero on? Tam and I were technically engaged, but it wasn’t as though Tam had ever once given me the impression he was happy about it in any way. He should have wanted me to meet someone else so I broke off the engagement. The violence wasn’t my fault. Tam didn’t have to do that.
Tam dragged me from the bar. I managed to glance over my shoulder and caught Jodie’s eye. She gave me an awkward smile and a shrug that told me she was sorry, but she wasn’t getting involved.
Our room was a couple of floors up, so Tam threw me into the lift and punched the button. We were now in an enclosed space, and Tam’s presence filled it. I forced myself to be brave. I was Hallie Wynter, not some random stranger he’d picked up. I didn’t have to allow myself to be treated in such a way.
“I want to go back to the bar,” I said, trying to lean around him to prevent the doors from closing.
But Tam put his body in the way, stopping me from leaving.
“You’ve got no fucking chance. I brought you here. You’re with me. You don’t get to fuck around with strangers.”
The lift doors slid shut, blocking my exit. “I wasn’t doing anything. He came over and offered to buy me a drink. I said no. What more do you expect me to do?”
Tam glowered. “Not talk to him in the first place.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake. Like you wouldn’t talk to a pretty woman who paid you some attention.”
“I haven’t been near another woman since you moved in.”
“Oh, a whole thirty-six hours.” Sarcasm laced my tone. “Big whoop-ti-do.”
He caught me by the chin and yanked my face closer to his. Blood was smeared across his knuckles.
He spoke in a growl. “Seems that was more than you could manage.”
For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me, but then the lift doors pinged open and we were off again, Tam’s fingers encircling my wrist, my feet barely touching the hotel corridor carpet as I was dragged towards our room. He used the keycard to unlock it and threw me inside.
My heels caught in the thick shag of the carpet. I stumbled but managed to keep to my feet. Tears I didn’t want him to see stung my eyes.
“I seriously don’t see what the big deal is. Can’t we just let this go?”
He scoffed. “Just let it go? You think it’s okay to flirt with other men at a bar when I’m not around, and I’m supposed to ignore that? You’re going to be my wife.”