“Trixie saw you,” Rory informed him.
“When and where?” he asked, his gaze working between Brock and Rory.
Brock twisted his mouth. “You gonna play it this way?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I guess you didn’t tell Mitch what you’d seen when we first arrived here. Are you going to deny that one, too?”
“I saw you and Rory with Trixie the first day. Sure I did. You didn’t try to hide the fact that you were giving it to her in broad daylight. I sort of figure—”
“I don’t give a damn what you saw or want to believe you saw,” Brock interrupted him. “You watched private moments. If we had wanted an audience, we would’ve sold tickets.”
“If you didn’t want an audience, you should’ve taken your woman indoors.”
“Which brings us back to the fact at hand,” Rory said. “Trixie and I were in a private cabin. We weren’t bothering anyone. We weren’t on display. We were sharing an intimate moment between man and wife.”
Cash threw his head back and snorted. “Is that what you really believe, man? You believe she’s your wife?” He shook his head. “Fuck, man. You’re as bad as Colony. He believes she’ll take him back and welcome him into her bed and treat him the same as she treats Sheldon here, but the truth is, she only took Sheldon’s last name. What does that tell you?”
Fury resonated through Rory’s system. He stalked Cash. Before he realized it, he’d backed him in a corner. Jabbing his finger in his face, he said, “I’m her husband in every way that matters. So we have an unusual relationship. It suits us. We knew what we were getting into when we promised to love and protect her all the days of our lives and that is precisely why we’re here now.”
Brock laid his hand against Rory’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“I’m not done here,” Rory said, shrugging Brock away and letting his rage guide him. “I don’t know why you’re here. I don’t know if Mitch feels indebted to you or if you’re just here to bum around for a while. I have no idea but you’re undoubtedly welcome.”
“I am.” An evil smile resided in Cash’s expression. “And I’m not going anywhere until Colony asks me to leave.”
“And that’s just swell,” Rory said. “But let me make myself clear here. I don’t buy the fact that you happened upon an intimate occasion between myself, Trixie, and Brock. I damn sure don’t believe you had the same good fortune to witness good loving between a married couple twice.
“What I believe about you is not very attractive, Cash. I think you’re a pervert. You’re a lonely man who walked out of prison with no place to go. You came here searching for Mitch with some kind of twisted ideas that maybe Mitch’s woman might have room in her life for you, too.”
“That ain’t gonna happen,” Brock told him. “Under no uncertain terms will Trixie ever end up in your bed.”
“Hell, she’s not even attracted to him!” Rory barked over his shoulder. He jabbed his finger once more. “Don’t you ever, ever lurk in the shadows and spy on me and my wife again. Do you understand?”
Cash sneered. Rory backed away. Brock turned to leave the apartment.
They’d already entered the stairwell when Cash said, “You know, Rory, there’s a way to resolve all this animosity, a way to guarantee we never have another misunderstanding again.”
“And how’s that?” Rory asked, turning on him.
Brock waited at the bottom of the steps. “Let’s go, Rory.”
Perhaps Brock detected the forthcoming blow, the snide remark. Either way, he stood there with his gaze narrowed, his jaw and eyes set.
Cash sneered. “Here’s what I recommend, boys, and believe me, you ought to take my advice because I’m just one of many fellows on the outside looking in.
“If I were the two of you, I’d take a look around before I brought those tools out of the shed. I’d make sure no one was watching before that pretty little blue-eyed princess swallowed one of you while taking cock up the ass like she was born to be on her knees.” He flashed a mouthful of teeth. “You’ve heard the old saying of finders, keepers. Haven’t you? It’s kind of the same with memories, ya know?
“A fellow walks up on a couple romping, just a-fuckin’ like animals, and he thinks to himself, ‘Man, what I’d give to have a beautiful woman riding me like that. Those perky nipples and dark areolas mashed against my lips…that’s what I’d like.’