The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [95]
"She has good taste," Drake snapped, just seconds before he whirled and kicked the knife out of Horton's hand.
Tori blinked. In a series of lightning-quick moves Horton soon discovered he was no match for Drake, but he seemed determined to come back for more. Horton staggered back and Drake backed away, quickly glanced over to Tori and smiled.
"You want to finish him off?"
She smiled back, surprised but appreciative that he had" offered. "My pleasure," she said, striding forward.
Horton recovered with a cocky grin when he saw her. "Oh, you made it easy for me, Warren. And you may as well know that I have two other men and they know what to do if something happens to me."
"Shut up, Horton," Tori said, then released a side kick to his throat. He fell to the ground but was back up quickly, with the knife in his hand again.
He sprung forward but she ducked aside. It was time to end this. "You wanted me, Horton, well now I'm going to give you something to remember me by."
She knocked the knife from his hand once again. Faster than the speed of lightning, she made a series of karate kicks, then let loose one hell of a roundhouse kick to his groin. Ignoring his howl of pain, she gave him another kick to the groin, hoping she had pretty much damaged him for life.
And like the typical man, with his precious jewels damaged, he went down.
Drake walked over to her and placed an arm around her. "You okay?"
She breathed in deeply as she tried to smile. "Yeah, he's a good hunter but he can't fight worth a damn."
Drake chuckled.
She shook her head, remembering what Horton had said. "He killed Tom Crowley."
Drake sighed deeply. "Yeah, I heard him bragging and I hope he ends up rotting in jail."
Tori nodded. She hoped so, too. She then met Drake's gaze. "Why?"
He lifted a brow. "Why what?"
"Why did you let me finish him off?"
Drake held her gaze for the longest time before saying, "After what he intended to do to you, you deserved to be the °ne to kick his ass… or in this case knock his balls out of toe socket."
A slow smile touched Tori's lips. "I'm glad you thought that way." She then glanced around. "Do you think there're other men around here like he claimed?"
"Probably. But I have a feeling Alex has taken care of them. Come on, let's check to make sure."
Alex had taken care of them.
Tori couldn't help but admire his handiwork as she gazed at the four unconscious bodies spread out on the ground. She jerked her head around when she heard the sound of vehicles approaching. In the first truck she recognized Jake, Ashton, and Trevor. She didn't recognize the four very handsome men who got out of the second truck.
Introductions were quickly made. Three men from the second truck were introduced as Jake's nephews, the Madaris brothers-Justin, Dex, and Clayton. The fourth man was introduced as Trask Maxwell, Alex's brother. She blinked, remembering Trask as a former professional football player, one who was still considered the greatest running back in the NFL history.
"Justin's a doctor," Jake was saying. "He lives near Dallas, but is in town visiting the family, and agreed to take a look at Drake to make sure he's doing okay after that injection."
Tori nodded, appreciating Jake's thoughtfulness. She soon discovered that Clayton Madaris was an attorney and from what she could see, he was a very smooth and efficient one. Dex Madaris was in the oil business, but according to Trevor he had come along because he enjoyed kicking butt every once in a while.
"Why the hell didn't you call us, Alex?" Ashton asked, angrily, as he and Trevor approached the younger man. "You said that you would let me, Trevor, and Jake know if anything went down."
Alex grinned. "I changed my mind. I decided all of you had families to take care of and this was no place for you. I figured I could help out if Tori and Drake needed it, but I think they did just fine on their own."
He drought of the damage