Carrera's Bride. Diana Palmer

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      “You son of a…!” the drunken man shouted, scrambling to his feet. “I’ll kill you!”

      “Go for it,” a deep, darkly amused voice invited.

      Delia moved forward before her rescuer could, and swung her purse at Fred, landing a solid blow on his jaw.

      “Ouch!” Fred groaned in protest, grabbing his cheek.

      “I wish it was a baseball bat, you second cousin to a skunk!” Delia spat, red-faced and furious.

      “I’ll loan you one,” Marcus promised, admiring her ferocity.

      Fred gaped at the man and his eyes flashed. “Who the hell do you think you are…!” Fred demanded drunkenly, moving forward.

      Marcus planted a huge fist in his gut and sent him groaning to his knees.

      “What a kind thing to do,” Delia exclaimed in her broad Texas accent. She smiled at the stranger. “Thanks!”

      Marcus was noticing her torn dress. His face hardened. “What are you doing here with this bargain basement Casanova?” he asked.

      “My brother-in-law offered him to me as a companion,” she said disgustedly. “When I tell Barb what he tried to do to me, she’ll knock her husband out a window for suggesting this date!”

      “Barb?”

      “My big sister, Barbara Cortero. She’s married to Barney Cortero. He owns hotels,” she confided.

      Marcus’s eyebrows lifted suddenly, and he smiled. His luck had just changed.

      She looked up at the big man with fascination. “I really appreciate what you did. I know a little self-defense, but I couldn’t stop him. I bit a hole in his lip, but it didn’t slow him down, it just made him mad, and he hit me.” She rubbed her cheek and winced.

      “He hit you?” Marcus asked angrily. “I didn’t see that!”

      “He’s a real charmer,” she muttered, glancing down at the drunk, who was still holding his stomach and groaning.

      Marcus pulled out his cell phone and pressed in a single number. “Smith?” he said. “Come down here and take this guy back to his hotel. In one piece,” he added. “We don’t need any more trouble.”

      There was a reply. Marcus chuckled and flipped the phone shut. He looked at Delia curiously. “You’re going to need to stitch that dress up,” he remarked. He slid out of his dinner jacket and slid it over her shoulders. It was warm from the heat of his big body and it smelled of expensive cologne and cigar smoke.

      She looked up at him with utter fascination. He was a handsome man, even with those two jagged white scars on his cheek, cutting through his olive complexion like roadmaps. He had big, deep-set brown eyes under thick eyebrows. He was built like a wrestler and he looked dangerous. Very dangerous.

      “Stitches,” she murmured, spellbound.

      He was watching her, too, with amused curiosity. She was small, but she had the heart of a lioness. He was impressed.

      The elevator opened and Smith walked out of it, powerful muscles rippling under his dark suit as he approached the small group.

      “Where shall I deliver him?” he asked in his gravelly voice.

      Marcus looked at Delia and lifted an eyebrow.

      “We’re all staying at the Colonial Bay hotel in Nassau,” she stammered.

      He nodded toward Smith, who put out one huge hand and brought Fred abruptly to his feet.

      “Let go of me or I’ll sue!” Fred threatened.

      “Attempted sexual assault is a felony,” Marcus said coldly.

      “You can’t prove that!” Fred replied haughtily.

      “I’ve got cameras everywhere. You’re on tape. The whole thing,” Marcus added.

      Fred blinked. He scowled and peered at the older man. Through the fog of alcohol, recognition stiffened his face. “Carrera!” he choked.

      Marcus smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. “So you remember me. Imagine that. Small world, isn’t it?”

      Fred swallowed hard. “Yeah. Small.” He straightened. “I actually came here to talk to you,” he began, swaying unsteadily.

      “Yeah? Well, come back when you’re sober,” Marcus said firmly, giving the man a look that he hoped Fred would manage to understand.

      Fred seemed to sober up at once. “Uh, yeah, sure. I’ll do that. Listen, this thing with the girl, it’s all a…a misunderstanding,” he added quickly. “I had a little too much to drink. And she just kept asking for it…”

      “You liar!” she exclaimed.

      “We’ve got tape,” Marcus said again.

      Fred gave up. He gave Marcus an uneasy look. “Don’t hold this against me, okay? I mean, we’re like family, right?”

      Marcus had to bite his tongue to keep from spilling everything. “One more stunt like this, and you’ll need a family—for the wake. Got me?”

      Fred lost a shade of color. “Yeah. Sure. Right.” He pulled away from Smith and tried to sober up. “I was just having a little fun. I was drunk or I’d never have touched her! Sorry. I’m really sorry!”

      “Get him out of here,” Marcus told Smith, and he turned away while the drunken man was still trying to proffer apologies and excuses. He gave Fred a long look.

      “I’ll…call you,” Fred choked.

      Marcus nodded without Delia seeing him.

      He took Delia by the arm. “Come on, we’ll get a needle and thread and fix your dress. You can’t go home looking like that.”

      She was still trying to figure out what was going on. Fred seemed to know this man, even to be afraid of him. And strange messages were passing between them without words. Who was this big, dark man?

      “I don’t know you,” she said hesitantly.

      He lifted an eyebrow. “Repairs first, introductions later. You’re perfectly safe.”

      “That’s what my sister said I’d be with Fred,” she pointed out, tugging his jacket closer. “Safe.”

      “Yeah, but I don’t need to attack women in dark alleys,” he stated. “It’s sort of the other way around.”

      He was smiling. She liked his smile. She shrugged and her perfect lips tugged up. “Okay.” She managed a smile of her own. “Thanks.”

      “Oh, I was just there to back you up,” he said lazily, letting her go into the elevator in front of him. “You’d have done okay if you’d had a shotgun.”

      “I’m СКАЧАТЬ