THE NORD BROTHERS

CHAPTER 11

"What are you doing here?" Caleb's cheerful tone had turned frigid and cold. 

"I was just hanging out with some friends. Figured I should step by and say hi." The uninvited woman shrugged innocently, her smile unwavering. "You must be the rogue." Her attention drifted to Mariana, the twitch of her perfectly shaped lips giving away hints of scowl. "When I got the text, I thought it was a prank." 

"I think you should return to your friends." Caleb wasn't asking, his voice rung with command, which the gorgeous snake refused to acknowledge. 

Vivian was a pretty girl with a snotty attitude, her French manicured nails drumming casually on the surface of their table. "Just a week ago it was me sitting in her place, I think I deserve an apology date. If there's someone that should move elsewhere, it's her." She sneered. 

Keep it up, doll, and I will make you kiss the table with your nose. Mariana had to literally bite her tongue not to say that out loud. If there was something she didn't want to partake in, it was ironing out drama in middle of a restaurant. 

"Vivian," Caleb's cutting gaze could slice straight through steel, "She's your future Luna, disrespect her again, and we will have a serious problem." 

"Caleb, you know I didn't mean to be rude," Her tone did a full circle turn, her lips forming into a pout. 

And passengers on Titanic just got a 'little' bit damp. 

"Did our time together really didn't mean anything to you? Was I just a casual fling?" Her shrill voice was drawing attention of the entire restaurant. "Is that rogue really better than me? Darling, that's absurd." 

This date was about to go down in history. Caleb looked like he was ready to snap, his knuckles turning white and thick vein popping on his neck. He was loosing it, the sounds from his chest turning more animal-like by second. The usually cool-as-a-cucumber man was turning into a pissed off Alpha male with his authority in question. 

Mariana leaned forwards in her seat, her delicate fingers subtly tipping over a full wine glass. Banshee shriek of horror nearly had a poor waiter toppling over. Vivian's nostrils flared as she looked down at her newly drenched cocktail dress. 

"Wha-How dare you-" 

With practiced control, Mariana gave her a smug look. "Oops. My bad. I'm such a klutz sometimes." 

Caleb gazed at her as if she was the eighth wander of the world, his hand rising to hide a massive smile on his lips. Quite useless. His shoulders were already vibrating with laughter. The anger had dissipated completely. Apparently all it took was to dump wine on someone's clothing. 

Mix of gasps and chuckles resonated around them. Someone closer to their table even begun to clap, only to stop when his wife shot him a look. Yup, she would definitely star in about twenty retellings of 'That restaurant incident'. 

Vivian had turned fifty shades of tomato red, terror etched onto her face. "Do you know how much this dress costs?" She babbled, trembling with anger. 

"I will send you a check." Caleb chimed, standing up from their table. "Shall we?" He didn't really wait for an answer, grasping Mariana's hand, he particularly dragged her out from the fancy establishment. 

They had nearly made it to the car when he whipped around and pulled her into a tight embrace. "You're something else, you know that?" He whispered into her hair. "I'm sorry that happened, I didn't know she would show up." His grip around her waist tightened. "I have never fucked up so badly with a lady. Fuck that, worse, with my mate." 

They fit together perfectly - her in his arms with face buried in his white dress shirt. Scent of lime tickled her senses, and pleasurable shivers crept down her spine.