Page 139 of Dirty Rock

“And let me guess. You can’t believe how much hotter she looks in person, right? As if the pictures you’ve already seen weren’t enough.”

“Rhett,” Julia warned behind me, but that was a voice I wanted to push away right now. This young gun had a face that was begging to be dented, and I had the means and bad attitude that day to deliver what he deserved. I’d gone from spending twenty-six years not wanting to fight anyone to now wanting to fight the fucking world to protect her.

I took a step closer to him. “This is a recording studio, you prick.” I hissed. “You’re meant to be a professional. I’m going to ask you one more time to give me… your fucking phone… before I take it from you.”

The guy’s eyes searched mine wildly. “I said I’m sorry, but you’re not having my phone,” the kid said quietly.

“I’m not?” I whispered, leaning in and raising a brow. The dude’s lips parted, and he held his breath. “Fine.” With a sigh, I began to turn away. I took one step in the opposite direction before I spun around, grabbed him by his T-shirt, and I slammed him up against the nearest wall. His phone dropped to the floor with a clatter.

“Hey, fuck, let go!” he cried. “You crazy bastard.”

My whole body felt crazy fucking wired as I held the guy up, my fist trembling inside the twisted material of his shirt. “You’re pushing your luck here, brother,” I growled. I’d become feral, the need to see what picture he’d taken of my Jules tearing me apart. “You have no business doing that shit in here.”

“It’s just a picture.”

“Yeah. Just a picture.” I pulled him forward only to slam him back against the wall. “That’s what they all say. It’s just a picture. Just a rumour. Just a story. Just, just, fucking just.”

A smooth hand slid over my arm. “Rhett, stop this.”

I blinked through my anger, slowly turning to look at Julia.

Her eyes were focused solely on me. “This isn’t about him, and you know it. Let him go.”

“He needs teaching a lesson.”

“I’ll take care of the picture.” Without looking away from me, she bent down to pick up the phone before she stood taller again and waved it in my face.

The guy in my grip wiggled against the wall, and it took me a few seconds before I growled and dropped him, watching his body sag before he corrected himself and dusted his T-shirt down.

“You owe her an apology.” I pointed right in his face.

“He can apologise by showing me his pictures, and we’ll get it deleted right here, right now,” Julia said.

The two of them worked the phone while I watched over the process. The dude kept glancing at me from under the heaviness of his brows, and if Jules wasn’t here, there’d have been a ruck between the two of us. I wished there had. This weird, negative energy was flowing through me, and I needed to get rid of it by taking it out on someone else.

Once Julia was satisfied that he’d deleted what he needed to, she told him to get out of here, and he did, but not without a parting look of newfound hatred my way.

“Prick!” I called after him.

“I haven’t seen Rhett react like that since the lead singer of Silent Soul told him he sucked,” Coops said quietly.

“Dude, don’t bring that shit up again,” Big D grumbled.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I need a drink.” Hawk laughed.

“And a cigarette,” Big D suggested.

Jules stepped up in front of me, and I turned us away from the guys, so my back was to them.

“If you keep behaving like this, I’m never going to be able to leave you, you know.” She pressed her hands to my chest. I was Rhett gone wild, willing to put everyone and anyone in their place if they so much as looked at Jules the wrong way.

“Why the fuck would you be intending on leaving me?”

“Well, since you’re already angry. Now might be a good time for us to talk about—” She didn’t get chance to finish that sentence.

Her phone rang, the tone unfamiliar to the usual default alert she’d always had on there. This time a song rang out, the tune of UB40’sKingston Townfilling the air.

Jules moved with urgency. Her face fell and paled as she brought the phone up to her ear.

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