A Little Something Extra

“Is everything okay, Mr. Shepherd?” he asked the asshole trying to buy Matt’s wife.

“It will be,” Shepherd said, his eyes still on Matt.

“What the hell?” Matt said as the hold tightened on his left arm. “Everything isn’t okay. This guy is trying to buy my wife from me like we’re in some crap Hollywood movie.” He glared at Shepherd. “Let me tell you, you’re no Redford.”

The staff member paled, obviously unsure of what to do next.

Matt relieved him of his indecision. “Call the cops,” he ordered. “Get them here fast. Because things are about to get out of control.” With that, he pulled back his arm and punched Shepherd in the face.

He was right. Pandemonium ensued. The bodyguard grabbed him from behind. The club staffer ran for the bar. Women screamed. Shepherd aimed a punch at Matt, but he ducked, and it hit the bodyguard. An alarm sounded. People ran for the exits. Matt ignored it all as he broke the bodyguard’s hold, turned, and kicked the asshole in the balls. When he doubled over, Matt snatched the gun from his shoulder holster and aimed it at Shepherd, who stopped dead in his tracks and raised his hands.

“I think we’ll wait for the cops,” Matt said as Jena screeched his name.

“I don’t understand how you police this city,” Matt told the cop taking his statement. “I’ve been here less than forty-eight hours and have seen more laws broken in that time than I did in two years policing Glasgow.”

“It helps when the tourists don’t pull guns on the local mob.” The cop grinned at him.

“To be fair”—Matt reached for one of the donuts in the box on the detective’s desk—“it wasn’t my gun.”

“Don’t touch the donuts,” Jena ordered from beside him. “I bought them for the police officers.”

“I am a police officer,” Matt pointed out.

“Not in this country.” Jena frowned at him. “I can’t believe you started a fight in the nightclub. And aimed a gun at someone. This is our honeymoon.”

“Princess, he was trying to buy you.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Like I would have gone with him even if you did sell me.”

“What are you talking about? Do you honestly think I’d try to sell you?”

“Of course not. I was just pointing out that it wouldn’t be a legal sale if I didn’t agree to it. Which means I wouldn’t have gone with him.”

Matt shook his head to clear it. “Princess, it wouldn’t have been a legal sale whether you’d gone along with it or not. And I seriously hope you wouldn’t even consider being sold. You wouldn’t, right?” He paused, waiting for her reaction.

She just rolled her eyes at him, like he was asking something stupid. Yet again, things had been lost in translation with his wife.

Matt carried on talking, hoping to make his point clear. “I took his bodyguard’s gun to stop him using it against us. His boss wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was worried they’d take you at gunpoint.”

She put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be silly; you wouldn’t have let them do that.”

“Exactly. That’s what I was doing. Stopping them from taking you.”

“Oh,” Jena said.

Matt pinched the bridge of his nose while the detective grinned at them.

“Do you see what I’m dealing with here?” Matt asked.

“What?” Jena demanded.

“Okay,” the detective said. “I think we’ve got everything we need. You two can go back to your hotel.” She gave them a rueful smile. “You might want to avoid the clubs for the rest of your stay.”

“Three more days,” Matt said as he looked at his wife. “I’m thinking hotel room and room service for the duration.”

She leaned into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. “That sounds perfect. Although, maybe we could take a gondola trip around the shops, seeing as we’re staying in the Venetian.”

Matt stroked her back while he looked at the detective. “What are the chances of someone trying to buy her in the Venetian shopping mall?”