That was a little too close to the truth, so he did what he could. He growled at Micah.
“Hey, I’m just observing what’s going on here. You’re in love with the woman, and you’re screwing it up. I understand you have a job, but you need to make sure you don’t lose her.”
Panic clutched at his throat. He wasn’t in love with her. He couldn’t be. She was…not right for him. He wasn’t ready to settle down. And she had a life back in DC. Not that he couldn’t transfer there to be near her.
Fuck.
“Bullshit.”
“So you don’t mind that St John is down there making the moves on her?” Micah asked, nodding his head toward the monitors.
Rome whipped his head around and another growl rumbled in his chest. “Bastard.”
He didn’t say anything else. He just stomped out of the room, down the stairs, his sights set on St John and Maria. She laughed at something the Aussie jackass said and St John took it as an invitation and moved closer. Fury churned in his gut as he ignored people left and right, striding through the club. Maria was still laughing when she caught sight of him. Her eyes widened, alarm easy to see. St John apparently realized she was looking behind him, and he turned around. The smile he gave Rome made him want to punch the bastard.
“It’s time to go, Maria.”
From her frown he could tell that she wasn’t happy with his behavior.
“I thought we’d stay a little longer. Eli was telling me about his ranch on the Big Island. Have you ever been?”
“No.”
“I—”
“Now.”
Her face flushed red. “Rome.” The admonition in her voice made him even madder. She was embarrassed? How did she think he felt watching another man paw all over her?
“Hey, Carino, you might want to take it easy.” St John rose and faced him. The look on his face told Rome he was ready to fight if needed.
“This isn’t your business.”
“It is if the lady doesn’t want to go home with you.”
Maria popped up out of her seat then. “I do want to go, as long as Rome quits being an ass.”
The warning got a grunt from him. He was going to discuss her behavior when they got out of there.
She turned to St John. “I’ll get back with you on the tour, Eli. Thanks for the info.”
“Anytime, Maria.”
He kissed her hand and another growl vibrated in Rome’s chest. No one else heard, but he knew Maria had. She gave him a nasty look and well, hell, he gave her one right back. He was sick and tired of this shit, and he wanted out of there.
He placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her through the club. When they got outside, Maria stopped.
“What the hell was that about?”
Several people glanced in their direction as they walked down the sidewalk.
“Not here.”
She looked around, turned on her heels, and strode back to his car. The problem was that with her anger, her hips swayed even more. He followed after her, but he couldn’t take his gaze from her ass. She reached his car and turned to face him. When she saw where his attention was, she rolled her eyes. He opened her door, and she slipped in. He walked around the hood of the car, trying to calm himself. He had gotten his temper under control. But then she’d had to speak.
“Get one thing straight, we will have this out, at my place,” she said.
He wanted to shout at her, but he looked over at the entrance of the club and saw St John standing there. Shit.
“Fine. We will have it out.”
With that, he turned on the car, put it in gear and punched the gas. They were definitely going to have this out.
· · · · ·
Maria’s temper was frayed by the time they arrived at Rome’s house. He could have gone to her rental, but of course, he had wanted to be on his turf. The second he put the car in park, she practically jumped out of it and slammed the door shut behind her.
Rome gave her a dirty look. Oh, now he wanted to pay attention to her. He had no right to be mad. She said nothing, silently fuming until they got inside. As she had become accustomed to, she took off her shoes as they entered. Then, without looking behind her, she marched down the hallway to the kitchen. It was the furthest room from the bedroom. It was too depressing to be there. In the last forty-eight hours, he hadn’t touched her in private. In public, oh, he was all over that, she thought with a sneer. But in private, he acted like she was a leper.
“I will not allow you to behave the way you did tonight.”
His eyebrows rose. “I don’t think I need your permission. That’s not how this goes.”
Frustration pushed a growl out of her before she could contain it. “How what goes? The investigation? Both of us know that I’m playing nice with you, but if I wanted to, I could make sure that I had final say on everything.”