"I know, so it's not like we'll be disturbed," he said, stepping closer. "So was that good for you?"
"If you're talking about the grotesque thing with the kiss that you did, then no," she said, swallowing the bile stinging her throat. His eyes narrowed.
"Grotesque, was it? Does Devereux do it better then?" He stepped closer and Victoria braced herself for attack, not taking her eyes off him. "Shall we have a demonstration and compare?" Gabriel suggested with a hideous grin, stepping forward at the same time and grabbing her upper arms with brute force before she could move away.
"I wouldn't get any closer if I were you," said a silky voice at the door. Both Victoria and Gabriel automatically turned in the direction of the menacing voice.
"And what are you going to do about it, Devereux?" Gabriel said. Victoria's eyes were wide as she silently pleaded with Christian to not lose control.
Please Christian, not here. He's not worth it. Please ...
Every inch of his frame was tense with barely restrained fury. She knew he could kill Gabriel without even breaking a sweat. Salvation came from an unexpected source as Tony's rounded bulk filled the doorway, shouldering past Christian and wielding a baseball bat nonchalantly.
"He's not going to do anything, but I am," he said coolly, tapping the bat in his left hand. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Gabriel's eyes narrowed and a muscle clenched in his jaw. Tony noticed and smiled. "You can make my day, kid. The cops are on their way. Your call."
Gabriel raised his hands in the air and grinned, the smile nowhere near his eyes.
"Sorry, it's just a little misunderstanding. I'll leave," he said.
Tony didn't look convinced but Victoria nodded to him to let Gabriel leave without a scene and Tony allowed Gabriel to walk by.
As Gabriel walked past Christian, Gabriel glared at him from head to toe. The threat in his body language was unmistakable. What Christian had on Gabriel in height, Gabriel made up for in sheer bulk, and the mutual dislike that flared between them was intense. Christian didn't bat an eyelash and Victoria remained frozen until Gabriel sauntered out into the bar. By the time they came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, Gabriel and his entourage had already left.
"What made you come?" she asked Christian.
"Just a feeling that you needed me," he said, and then silently, did something happen last night?
Gabriel saw us ... kissing. Her gaze fluttered from his lips to the floor. He was ... angry.
I sensed something after I left but I thought it was because of me. When I felt it again just before, I knew that something wasn't right. So I came to find you.
"Tori, you okay?" Tony asked, interrupting their silent exchange. She nodded, managing a weak smile. She closed her eyes as a wave of dizziness overcame her and she sagged against Christian.
Tony met Christian's eyes above her head.
"Can you take her home?" he asked.
"No problem," Christian said.
Christian pulled up to her apartment, and neither of them made any move to get out, sitting silently in the car. She leaned toward him, her heart in her eyes.
"Thank you, Christian. I'm glad you came and ... I'm glad you're here now," she said softly. "I need to tell you something."
He turned to face her, his voice quiet but compassionate.
"Victoria, this doesn't change anything. What you did was the right thing. We can't be together. We shouldn't. That kiss was—"
"Don't even say it," she said. "Don't you understand now? I don't want anyone else! I've been lying to myself all along. Christian, how could I be with anyone else other than you?"
"You should be with someone like you, young—"
"Someone like Gabriel? We both saw where that got me."
"Victoria, this cannot be good for you no matter what you think you know. I am still a danger to you in every possible way. I can't be with you, and you shouldn't be with me. We are from different worlds, and what we were doing was not only reckless, it was wrong." His voice was dead, and if Victoria hadn't seen the agony in his eyes, she would have believed every hateful word that had left his lips. But she knew what he was doing—he was pushing her away.
"I already fear for my life just because of who I am, you think adding a little inconsequential vampire to the equation will change any of that?" She paused and her eyes went strangely blank as if something had occurred to her. "Or is it that you just don't want me?" she asked in a strangled voice.
"How could you possibly think that?" he said. "It's not you ..." He reached for her hands, and she pulled back, her face cold but her eyes bright with suppressed tears.