Enamored (The Accidental Billionaires 3)

I was too busy trying to get my eyesight back to normal.

“Get the fuck off her,” Skye screamed as she yanked Nolan back. “Aiden! Please come help us!”

When my vision was semiclear, my rage that he’d had the gall to so much as touch me flooded my being.

I was out of control, but I didn’t give a damn.

My hand flew hard, and I heard the satisfying crack of my palm slapping against his face. While Nolan was momentarily stunned, I lifted my knee and slammed him in the balls with enough force to lodge them in his throat. And then I did it again. And again. Until he fell to the cement with a pathetic howl of pain.

“Get up, you bastard,” I demanded, even though I felt myself swaying.

I wasn’t done causing him enough pain that he’d never get within a hundred miles of Penny ever again.

“Riley, don’t,” I heard Aiden rasp into my ear as he pulled me back by my shoulders.

“She’s hurt, Aiden,” Skye said, sounding a bit frantic. “He slammed her head against the brick wall. She needs medical attention.”

“I’m fine,” I muttered. “I need to take Penny home.”

I turned around to go sit by Penny. “Are you okay?”

She took my hand in hers. “It wasn’t me who just got smashed against a wall. Riley, you have to get to the hospital.”

“I’m fine,” I reassured her, even though my vision was still a little blurred.

My adrenaline continued to course through my body, and I was trembling with some residual unspent rage.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down as Noah and Aiden came to haul away Nolan.

His wailing was still bouncing off the patio walls, and it was grinding on me, so I was grateful that they were taking him away.

“He came from some kind of event here on the beach,” I told the brothers shakily, loud enough to carry over Nolan’s groans.

“I know where it is,” Aiden informed Noah. “We were invited, but they aren’t the kind of folks we have much in common with. We refused it.”

“I say we take him back there personally, and let his host deal with him,” Noah said.

“Whoever is having the party told him where you lived,” I said to Aiden. “He wasn’t initially here for Penny and me. He wanted to get to know you and your family. I guess we were just a bonus.”

“Bonus, my ass,” Aiden rasped. “I’ll let his host know if this piece of shit even puts a toe on the sand again, he’ll be the next one screaming.”

“Where’s Seth?” I asked shakily.

“Gone,” Aiden said shortly. “He said he had to go since he wasn’t going to compete with your ex. He said you were kissing him. I think he knew it was Easton. God knows that this idiot isn’t shy around a camera.”

Nolan was a media whore, so I was certain that Seth did know what he looked like.

“She wasn’t kissing him,” Skye said in my defense. “She was half-unconscious. The only reason her hands were on his shoulders was to try to steady herself after Nolan crashed her head against the wall. God, Aiden. I could hear her skull hit the damn wall. Did Seth really think she’d kiss anybody else?”

“I wouldn’t,” I said tearfully, my mind still not completely functioning.

“No way she would,” Penny commented. “He’s a complete prick.”

“You certainly knew how to kick the crap out of him,” Noah mentioned with appreciation in his tone.

“I was . . . angry,” I tried to explain.

“With good reason,” Aiden grunted as he and Noah hauled Nolan to his feet. “Just remind me never to piss you off.” He turned his head and shot me a mischievous wink.

“Call an ambulance for Riley, please,” Noah said to Skye. “We’ll take out the trash.” He nodded toward a still-screaming Nolan.

“I don’t need an ambulance,” I argued.

“I’ll drive her,” Skye said firmly. “It’s only a few minutes to the hospital from here.”

“I’m going, too,” Penny insisted. “And we aren’t taking no for an answer, Riley. I’ll be fine. I’ll be with you. I’m not afraid of him anymore. I was just . . . shocked. But I am worried about you. Please get checked out. For me. I can’t go back to San Diego until I know that you’re okay.”

My greatest fear was that Nolan would find a way to get to Penny. Considering his condition right now, my thoughts were probably irrational, but he obviously knew where I lived.

I was grateful when Nolan’s screaming stopped as Noah and Aiden dragged him into the house to get to the garage.

“Can you walk?” Skye asked as she put her hand underneath my upper arm.

“I’m sure I can,” I said in a much calmer voice.

Now that Nolan was gone, I felt like I could do almost anything.

Penny got up, let go of my hand, and spotted me from the other side.

“I should have helped you,” she said morosely. “I just . . . froze, Riley.”

“There wasn’t enough time for anybody to help, hon,” Skye crooned. “It happened too fast. Don’t think about that now. It’s not important. Let’s just get Riley to the hospital.”

The two females were so upset that I wasn’t going to argue anymore.

Penny would be with me, so Nolan wasn’t going to approach her. More than likely, he’d never come near either one of us again.

There was a certain satisfaction in that theory.

I walked slowly into the house, one woman clutching each of my arms.

I stopped when we got to the garage door. “What about Seth? Did he really think that I’d actually kiss Nolan? It hurts that he even considered that possibility.”

Skye nudged me forward, and she didn’t answer until we were all settled into the car. “I honestly don’t imagine he was thinking at all. But that’s not to say I condone his ridiculous behavior.”

She opened the garage door before she continued, “When you blanked out, from his angle, it probably did look like you were kissing him. You couldn’t fight right away, and you put your hands on Nolan’s shoulders.”

“He couldn’t have stopped to find out?” I questioned unhappily.

“He should have,” Skye murmured. “You need to talk to him about making a snap judgment. Aiden and I went down that road once, and it only causes unnecessary heartache.”

“I’m not sure I even want to talk to him again. I thought he trusted me.”

Even though I’d been slow to give Seth my trust, I thought we’d gone beyond not having faith in each other.

“Men are stupid when they’re jealous. Sometimes they turn into green-eyed monsters in seconds. I guess women can do that, too.”

Green-eyed monster?

Hadn’t I morphed into one of those over the female clothing I’d found at Seth’s place?

In my case, I hadn’t walked away.

Seth had.

I could have very easily left his house without making a cup of tea or hanging around to see if there was some kind of explanation.

He could have given me the same courtesy.

“The thing is, Seth was jealous because he doesn’t see you two as friends anymore, Riley,” Skye pointed out as she maneuvered her way toward the hospital.