Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise) (28 page)

“Hey, isn’t that the
asshole ex-fiancé?” Melody heard a very recognizable female voice ask from the
crowd.  Turning, she waved as she found Patience McKinnon’s familiar face. 
“Patience, you got to come?” she addressed the younger woman.

“Yep, and I brought
along the whole crew with me to support you.  So, if you need us to help you
kick a little asshole ass, just you holler, you hear?” she offered with a wink
at Melody as she gestured at her girl posse that consisted of sisters, Harmony,
Faith, and Honor, and their honorary sister, Maggie Winstead.  Also standing in
their little group was Melody’s nurse from the hospital, Millie.  Each woman
smiled supportively at her.

“Thanks,” Melody said
gratefully before turning back to face the current thorn in her side.  Offering
an obviously perturbed Cal and RJ sidelong looks, she took a half step forward
before Cal hauled her back against his chest.  “Brad, what are you doing here?”
Melody asked softly, well aware that a goodly portion of the town stood just
inside her store watching them.

“Well, now that the
ridiculous question of whether or not
I
was the party responsible for
trying to hurt you has been answered, I thought now would be the perfect
opportunity to discuss our future, darling,” Brad replied gently.

“Are you kidding me? 
Just because you didn’t try to kill her doesn’t mean that you didn’t hurt my
baby sister, you fuckin’ punk,” RJ growled angrily, his muscles flexing as he
balled his fists at his side. 

“I made a mistake!”
Brad yelled as Melody’s eyes narrowed on him.

“He made a mistake,”
Melody repeated in a voice that seethed with latent anger…anger that she
thought she’d buried deep.  “He made a motherfucking mistake,” she said again
as the anger began to grow into a kind of living, breathing rage.  “Is he
fucking insane?” she finally shrieked as she caught the nods of solidarity that
her friends were offering behind her from the corner of her eye.  Smacking
Cal’s hand until it loosened, she took a step toward the man that seemed
determined to screw up her day.  “You are, aren’t you, Brad?  You’re crazy.”

“Mellie, babykins…”
Brad murmured as he lifted a conciliatory hand but took a step back when he
caught the dangerous sheen gleaming brightly in her eyes.  “Sweetheart, I love
you.”

Looking over her
shoulder, Melody met Cal’s understanding blue eyes.

“Let him have it,
Princess,” Cal said quietly, his words for her ears only.  “Tell him what you
need to say so that you can put him and his bullshit behind you and know that
it’s you and me from here on out.”

Nodding, Melody mouthed
the words, “I love you.”

Cal simply offered her
an answering smile.

Turning back to the man
she’d once thought she’d spend her life loving, Melody shook her head in
disgust, disgust for Brad and for herself.  “You don’t love me, Brad.  You
couldn’t possibly.  In fact, I doubt you even know the definition of the word. 
See, love is selfless.  It’s loyal.  It’s all about dedication and devotion to
one
person
.  Somebody that loved me couldn’t have done the things you did. 
Things like screwing my friends…fucking the matron of honor I’d chosen for
our
wedding,” she reminded him, hearing gasps from their audience behind her. 
“Oh, yeah, ladies and gentlemen.  That’s what I was going to marry.  That’s
right, folks!  This man right here standing before you,” she announced,
pointing to Brad, “He has singlehandedly fornicated his way through the greater
Knoxville area… but it was just a
mistake
, right, Brad,” she sneered,
her irate eyes boring into Brad’s.  “Sorry, jerkface, but that’s not a
mistake.  You’re a hopeless hound dog and this is a way of life for you.  A
sick, unhealthy, emotionally bankrupt way of life that I want no part of
sharing with you!” she yelled.  “I want you gone, you Douche Canoe!  Out of my
store.  Out of my town.  Out of my freaking life!” she shrieked, shaking with
the force of her ire. 

“No, I won’t!  We’re
meant to be together.  If you could just look past my indiscretions and forgive
me, then we could start over.” Brad shouted back, shaking his head.  “Honey, we
can…”

“Okay, now I’ve had
it,” Cal thundered, his jaw clenching.  “Get the fuck out of here, Weller,
before I’m forced to remove you from the premises myself,” he threatened,
gripping the back of RJ’s shirt when the younger man spotted his sister’s angry
tears and would have charged Brad.  “Nobody, least of Melody, wants you here
today.  This is
her
moment to shine, you dick, and you’re ruining it for
her.  If you think I’ll allow some has-been boyfriend to take this day from her
and shit all over it, you’re fucking insane.”  Glancing over his shoulder at
where the McKinnon sisters and their friends stood in a wall of united support
behind them, he ordered, “Honor, call that Sheriff of yours and get him down
here.  Tell him that Melody’s brother and I are about to go eight kinds of
hillbilly crazy on this fucker’s ass.”

“Sorry, sugar, but
we’re gonna have to stop your sinfully sexy ass from doing that,” a sultry
voice drawled from the entryway to the store.  “And you’re gonna need to put
that down, too,” the woman said with a pointed look at where Honor McKinnon
stood, holding her cell phone aloft in her hand.

Whirling to face the
newest voice that she’d hoped to never hear again, Melody groaned aloud as she
realized her day was about to get a whole lot worse.

Because there, standing
just inside the double glass doors of her brand spankin’ new store were her two
former best friends, Lyndsey and Melissa.

And both of them held
guns in their hands.

“Well, fuck my life,”
she muttered with sagging shoulders as her eyes met those of the woman who
would have been her matron of honor.  “What the hell, Lyndsey?  You couldn’t be
happy with massacring my would-be wedding?  Now you want to gut my grand
opening, too?  What. The. Hell!”

~~~***~~~

Seeing the unbalanced
shine to the would-be captors’ eyes, Cal tried to unobtrusively draw Melody
behind him and out of the line of fire, but, as usual, his stubborn woman
remained planted at his side.  “Princess, I’m gonna need you not to provoke the
people with the guns,” Cal requested in a harsh whisper against her ear, keeping
his eyes trained on the women glaring at his Melody. 

“These hookers?  Fuck
them!  I’m done with tramps ruining my…mmmphhh!” Melody began to rage as Cal
clapped his hand over Melody’s moving mouth.  “She didn’t mean that, ladies”
Cal assured the fuming gun-toting duo calmly. 

“Lyndsey?  Missy!  What
the hell are you two doing?” Brad asked, unbuttoning his suit jacket and
propping his hands on his hips as he stared at Melody’s former friends and two
of the women he’d been screwing on the side.  “I told you both weeks ago after
Christmas at my parents’ house that we’re finished!  I want to be with Melody. 
I made an unfortunate mistake with both of you and…”

“So, we’re just going
to be classified as unfortunate mistakes, huh, Mr. High and Mighty?” Lyndsey
interrupted with a hiss as her eyes narrowed on Brad, her gun hand trembling
slightly as she swung the gun toward him.  “Do you hear that, Missy?  We’re
mistakes
in his book!”

“Yeah, mistakes he
enjoyed fucking two, sometimes three times a week for over a year before Little
Miss Perfect walked in on him nailing you,” Melissa spat, her eyes hateful as
they found Melody.  “Tell us, Brad… what the
fuck
was so special about
her that Lyndsey and I couldn’t do for you?  Melody has always walked around
with a stick up her ass.  Lyndsey and I gave you everything you asked for… and
you dump us to go
crawling
back to
her
?” she yelled, jabbing her
gun in Melody’s direction.

While Brad stupidly
scoffed at the two women, Cal tried to shield Melody with the bulk of his body. 
“Seriously?” Cal heard the nitwit spit back at the women holding the guns. 
“Look at you both,” Brad continued to remark haughtily.

Cal watched as both
Lyndsey and Melissa looked down at themselves, scanning their barely-there
clothes.  Both women were wearing short dresses that barely covered their
assets and high heels that would make any ho proud to claim them into their
club, but both could carry off the look well in a slutty kind of way.  Neither
held a torch to Melody, but both chicks had rockin’ bodies and pretty enough
faces.  Before Melody, Cal could dispassionately admit that he might have
fucked them if he’d met them in a bar or something.  The problem was that
neither woman possessed Melody’s innate class, her sweet charm or her kind
heart.  No, the only thing these tramps had going for them was their looks… and
those would fade in time.  They’d definitely fade a hell of a lot faster behind
bars.

And that is where
Callum couldn’t wait to send them for what they’d done to Melody.

Because if one thing
had become entirely clear, it was the fact that they had the women behind the
attempts on his woman’s life standing right in front of them.

And those two demented
divas were going to pay for almost taking her light from his life.

As soon as he found a
way out of this that didn’t get them all killed.

Slowly lifting her head
and narrowing her eyes at the man she’d been sleeping with on and off for
years
,
Lyndsey’s mouth got tight.  “Well, Bradley, it’s good to finally know what you
really
think of the women that have been taking care of those deep, dark needs of
yours.  You know, you’ve hurt my feelings.  I don’t think I’m interested in
hearing anything else from you.  Are you, Missy?” she asked without looking at
the other woman.

“Nope, I’d rather concentrate
on handling the real reason we came up here to the back of beyond,” Missy
retorted, jerking her silk scarf from around her neck as she marched toward
Brad.  Pressing the gun to the center of his forehead, she gestured to Melody’s
brother.  “Get over here and gag him,” she ordered RJ.  “And if you try
anything, Rhythm, I’ll put a bullet in you,” she warned sharply, tossing the
scrap of silk to the man as he approached.

“You know,” RJ
muttered, “I’m gonna cooperate for two reasons.  First, I don’t wanna listen to
this fucktard’s voice any longer.  And second, I don’t wanna survive the
Sandbox just to have some bitter assed Barbie doll with a bad attitude put a
hole in me.”

Cal couldn’t help
smiling in spite of the dire situation.  That was just like RJ.  Put the man
under pressure and he became a fuckin’ standup comedian.  Besides, now RJ was
in a position where he could read the cues that Cal sent him when they had an
opportunity to overpower the psychotic slut sisters.

“Does anybody else find
it ironic that two whores have us all held hostage?” Cal heard the woman he
knew was called Maggie Winstead ask.  “Seriously, Patience, if I get blood
stains on my Manolo Blanicks, these Botox infused bimbos are gonna be real
sorry.”

“Dear God, that woman
is certifiable,” Cal groaned softly, shaking his head as he gave thanks that
the mouthy redhead was somebody else’s problem by the frustrated look of the
tall man standing beside her.  He knew it was the Sheriff’s brother, and he
vaguely remembered Harmony calling him Ice.  By the way he held himself, he
instinctively knew that the other guy was a military man, too.  He’d bet the
guy was Special Forces.  Maybe a Ranger.  Even now, the man had his body angled
to protect Maggie and Honor.  And either the guy was copping a feel of Maggie’s
ass or he was reaching into her purse for something.

Cal hoped like hell it
was for what he hoped it was.

“Woman,” he heard the
man say with a lethal quietness, “If you draw those two crazies’ attention over
here, I will personally feed every last one of those fancy shoes you love so
much to my Rottweiler.”

Jerking his hand from
her mouth, Melody turned her head to look at Cal.  “Maggie loves her shoes.  He
must mean business.”

“Shhhh,” Cal hushed her
as Melody caught the attention of the two crazed cunts holding them all
prisoner.

“Ohhhh, isn’t that
sweet, Missy.  Looks like our perfect little Miss Melody has captured the heart
of yet another man.  Too bad she won’t be keeping it for long,” Lyndsey
simpered, jutting out her lower lip in feigned sympathy.

“Why do you suddenly
hate me so much, Lyndsey Beth?” Cal heard Melody bark before he could do
anything to stop her, her little body standing stiffly against his as she
fumed.  “Seriously,” he listened to Melody continue, “I didn’t sleep with your
man on top of
your
antique mahogany table!  I didn’t screw your fiancé
in a position that defied comprehension on the eve of your wedding!”

“Ewww, who
does
that?”
Harmony McKinnon Stone huffed, pulling a revolted face before her husband, Jake,
pulled her behind him.

“Babe, maybe you
should…”

“Maybe you should just
hush, Big Sexy,” Lyndsey advised, looking Callum over as she swung the gun
toward him.  “Cute as you are, I doubt you’d still be as handsome if you were
filled with bullet holes.”

“Don’t you
dare
threaten
him, Lyndsey,” Melody ordered furiously as she tried frantically to step around
Cal and face her tormenter.