Page 196 of Shattered Silence Duet

“I just need to settle the bill, Love,” I tell her, placing her on one of the bar stools as I flag the bartender down.

“Mina, I want to ask you something, but I don’t want you to agree just to make me happy, there is absolutely no pressure.”

“Okaaaaaay…” she says, her smile slipping a little.

“Would you like to spend the night with me—” Her shoulders immediately drop in relief.

“Oh! Of course I will.”

“There’s more,” I hedge. “I was going to say, would you like to spend the night with me here? In this hotel?”

Her eyebrows slightly furrow before a huge smile takes over her face. “I’d love that.”

I give her a firm but heated kiss before pulling back to smile at her, turning to finish paying my tab.

“Hey! I know you! You’re that bitch that got my son killed!”

The second the man starts speaking, I place myself between him and Mina. He tries to get around me and I have to physically push him backwards. “Hey, back off!” I tell him sternly.

“That little psycho lied about my son touching her, then she got him killed for her lies!” His voice gets louder and louder causing people to start staring.

I’ve never seen this man before, but he looks incredibly drunk, stumbling all over the place. He probably has her mixed up with someone else.

“Are you Brad’s dad?” Mina asks softly from over my shoulder.My eyes shoot back to the man in question, and I see the resemblance.

“Don’t you dare say his name you little bitch!” he yells as he tries to move around me to lunge for her. I manage to hold him back, but Mina still lets out a squeal of fear as she jumps off the stool to try to move further away from him.

“You need to leave, sir. If you try to touch her one more—” before I can finish my sentence, he throws his entire body in Mina’s direction, making her scream.

That’s the moment I lose control.Nobody touches my girl.

Chapter 47

Mina

One second Brad’s dad is lunging for me, the next he lays unconscious on his back with Gideon breathing heavily over him. Before I can say a word, he swiftly turns to face me, his hands skimming my arms as he looks me over.

“Did he touch you?” he asks in a tone I’ve never heard from him before.

I shake my head as my wide eyes bounce between his. “You punched him.”

He nods his head. “I lost control of my temper. That seems to happen a lot around you, I don’t think I’ve ever punched someone before.”

“Really? Cause you’re really good at it.”

His hard eyes turn soft and he offers me a small smile. “I’d do anything to keep you safe, you know that, right?”

“I’m starting to see that, yeah.”

A couple of staff members come over to find out what happened and talk to us. Gideon keeps his arm around me the whole time as I lean against his shoulder.

It only takes about five minutes before we’re allowed to leave. “Do you want to go home? I’m sure you’re tired afterall of that and want to see everyone?” he asks me when we reach the hotel lobby.

“I always love to see the guys, but I’d still like to go upstairs… If you do?” I ask nervously.

“Seeing me punch him didn’t put you off at all? You’re not scared of me now?” he asks, seeming genuinely worried.

“Gideon, I could never be scared of you. Besides… I’m not sure what it says about me, but seeing you protect me like that… It was really… hot,” I whisper, stepping closer to him.