Free Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise) by Sarah O'Rourke Page B

leave one hell of a bruise on her fair skin.  “Ow!  That hurts, Brad! 
Let me go!” she yelled, automatically lifting the hand holding the gun toward
him as Cal bellowed like an enraged bull.  She gasped as she suddenly found
herself airborne, falling headfirst against the Sheriff’s solid chest as Cal
lunged for Brad, taking him to the ground.
    Zeke gripped Melody by
the shoulders as he looked down at her, the sickening sound of fists connecting
solidly with flesh echoing.  “You okay?” he asked as he took the gun out of her
hand and looked quickly toward the two men wrestling on the ground. 
    Nodding wordlessly, she
saw his slight nod before he turned to try and separate Cal from Brad.  Wincing
as she watched Cal’s formidable fist connect with Bradley’s jaw with a bone
jarring crack, she shuddered as she watched blood erupt from her former fiancé’s
nose.  Releasing the breath she was holding, Melody felt Patience and Maggie
move back to stand on either side of her as Zeke hauled a barely winded, but
exceedingly pissed off Cal off of Brad.
    Planting one hand in
Cal’s chest, Zeke stared the other man in the eye.  “I get where you’re at
right now, man, but it’s time to stand down.  I don’t want to have to arrest
you, Mr. Valentine, so please, get a leash on your temper.”
    Melody felt compelled
to protect Cal.  After all, he’d attacked her ex on her behalf.  “If anybody
goes to jail here, it should be Bradley,” she pointed out, glaring down at the
prone man on the ground.
    “Mellie, he attacked
me,” Bradley retorted, pressing two fingers to the bridge of his bleeding nose
and squeezing.  “I could have him charged with assault!”
    “You won’t,” Melody
returned through gritted teeth.  “Because if you do, I’ll have you arrested for
trespassing.”  Taking a deep breath, Melody felt the warm heat of Cal’s body
hit her back, strengthening her resolve.  “Brad, there’s no reason this has to
get any more unpleasant than it already has.  We can be civilized about this,”
Melody tried to reason as she watched her ex-fiancé slowly stagger back to his
feet and eye Cal balefully. 
    “I don’t think your
savage there knows the meaning of the word ‘civilized’,” Brad bit out hatefully
as he narrowed his eyes at a grinning Cal.
    “And you don’t seem to
know the meaning of the word ‘leave’,” Callum volleyed with a kind of flawless
agility that Melody admired, propping his hands on his hips as his eyes
narrowed on Brad.  “Guess that makes us even, doesn’t it?”
    “Melody is going to be
my wife.  I’ve got every right to be here,” Brad spat venomously.  “You’re
nothing but a way to get even with me for the mistakes I’ve made.”
    “Well, I guess you
should know that she gets even with you at least twice a night since I came
into her life, asshole,” Callum informed the other man with a mocking smile.
    Melody’s jaw dropped at
Callum’s bald-faced lie and she felt her skin grow hot as Patience and Maggie
made appreciative sounds of approval beside her. 
    “Cal, that’s enough,”
Melody declared with a quelling look in his direction.  “There’s no need to rub
Bradley’s nose in things.”
    “He put his hands on
you, woman.  He’s lucky he won’t be taking his meal out of a straw tonight,”
Cal returned on a low growl.
    Rolling her eyes at his
theatrics, she turned back to her former fiancé.  “Brad,” she said softly,
calling his attention back to her. “We are never going to be an ‘us’ again. 
You need to leave before you either end this day in the back of an ambulance or
a jail cell.  My advice is for you to go back to Knoxville and get on with your
life.”
    Wiping at the stream of
blood trickling from his nose, Brad’s heated gaze moved to Melody.  “You’re
making the biggest mistake of your life.  Right here, in this moment, you have
a chance to change things.  Make the right decision,” he informed her