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"Point taken. Get that one." He replied just as the chime over the door rang.

I smiled and patted his chest before I noticed he'd gone still. There was a scowl on his face that was eerily reminiscent of his more feral side. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what could cause him to suddenly look fit to kill, but I turned my head to follow his gaze.

"Fucking Benson," I muttered, unsure why Joey was glaring daggers at him. It wasn't like they'd met before. Az was the only one who'd had a run-in with my ex.

"Craig did a decent job describing him," Joey said as if he'd read my mind.

Benson's eyes scanned over the shop, landing on me before I could ask Joey what it was precisely that Craig had told him. My ex made a beeline toward us, a scowl to rival Joey's spreading across his face.

"I thought you'd learned your lesson about running with thugs, Tory." Benson hissed as he came to a stop in front of us.

"What I do and who I run with aren't your business, Benson," I replied curtly.

Benson grabbed my arm, causing Joey to stiffen beside me. "You know it is, Victoria. How much you sully yourself running around with petty criminals doesn't matter. You know you're going to end up with me. You were always mine, and you'll always be mine. Even if I am running out of patience waiting for you to get this rebelliousness out of your system."

Joey shifted to intervene, and I gave him a look to let him know I had the situation handled. "Whatever crazy ideas you have in your head just because our parents expected us to grow up and get married, don't mean I'm yours, Benson." I spat.

Benson squeezed my arm tighter, leaning forward so our noses nearly touched. "I mean it, Victoria. I won't wait much longer for you to come to your senses. I expect you to be ready to announce our engagement this fall before I have no patience left."

"And that's enough of that." Joey snarled, pushing Benson's hand off me and stepping between us. "Doesn't look like Victoria wants your hands on her, so I suggest you back off."

Benson ran his hands down the front of his shirt, smoothing it out as he looked at Joey with his lip curled in disgust. "I expectthe help to better know their place. I thought you lot would have learned your lesson when I found your friend taking advantage of myfiancein the back room of that shady nightclub Temptat!on."

Joey smirked cruelly and let out a short laugh in Benson's face. "We're not in the business of taking advice seriously from the unremarkable."

The response only caused the pair to fall into an argument filled with heated whispers. Every time I tried to intervene, Benson would throw another nasty comment my way, causing Joey to lay into him. After several minutes, I'd reached my limit of their macho bullshit. Angrily re-racking the dress, I backtracked down the aisle so that I could head to the exit without either of them following after me.

I'd no more than stepped two paces away from the door and taken a deep breath of the fresh air when arms circled around my waist.

"Weaselly fuck said you'd be an easy grab. Looks like it didn't take much to get you away from your bodyguard." A gruff male voice crooned into my ear as he muscled me toward the alley on the side of the shop.

Fear skittered through me, but I refused to let it rule me. "Fuck you," I hissed, elbowing the man as hard as possible.

He loosened his grip on me just enough to turn me so I could face him. "You stupid bitch." He snarled as his palm collided with my face, hard enough to rock my head back.

Stars exploded in my vision for a few seconds, but as I felt him grip me and attempt to move toward the alley again, the adrenaline took over. I tried to pull away, wiggling in his grasp and digging my heels into the sidewalk.

"Get away from me!" I screamed, which caused a few people on the sidewalk to slow their pace. None of them stopped, which caused my fear and anger to ramp up even higher. We only madeit a few feet down the alley by the shop when the man released my arms and began to retreat.

I sank to the ground and watched him run as trembling overtook my limbs first. I needed to get back into the store. I couldn't just sit here. But I couldn't make myself move.

"Victoria!" I heard Joey's shout around the corner.

"Joey!" I choked out, trying not to cry.

He skidded to a stop before me and reached down to pull me to my feet. His eyes roved wildly over my face, taking in my bloodied lip.

"Who did this to you?" He growled, gripping me tightly by the shoulders.

I turned to look behind me, catching sight of the man still running down the alley. "Him."

I didn't even know Joey was carrying a gun until my ears were ringing from the shot. The man who had tried to take me took two slow, stuttering steps before collapsing face down on the pavement. My head jerked back toward Joey, and I found him looking me over with concern.

"You're okay," He murmured, pulling me against his chest as he tucked his gun back in the holster at his back. "I've got you. He can't hurt you now, I took care of it."

"You… Did you kill him?" I asked, burying my face in his shirt.

"Yes." Joey replied as he gently rubbed my back. "Let's get you back to the manor. I need to send someone to clean this up."