Keeping Faith (Book 3 in the Red Valley Series)

Chapter 26

As calmly as she could, Faith walked over to where Cade sat, standing slightly behind him. Careful to keep her face devoid of any emotion, there was nothing she could do to disguise the daggers shooting from her eyes. She stood there for a moment listening to the bitch giggle as she continued to rub her plump, overly perfumed body on as much of him as she could.

He leaned closer to the tart and whispered something in her ear. The other men must have known who she was because they instantly sobered as they stared at her, wide eyed. Bile rose in her throat at the thought of Cade being intimate with this woman the way he had been with her. Unable to tolerate the display any further, Faith swallowed hard and leaned forward whispering his name in his ear.

Cade swallowed hard to keep the liquor he'd been drinking down. The last thing he wanted at the moment was to have this woman with her cloying perfume all over him. And that made him furious! He should be hard enough to drive nails, yet he felt absolutely nothing. All he could think about was his wife. Disgusted with himself, he was about to remove the woman from his lap when she whispered in his ear. Oh my God, it even sounded just like Faith! He was losing his mind over the woman!

He realized that the woman in his lap could not have whispered his name because she was on the opposite side. A feeling of dread began seeping through his body. Slowly, he turned his head to see his wife standing there furiously shooting glorious daggers with her beautiful eyes.

"Hello there darlnin'." He slurred ever so slightly.

The whore in his lap was having none of it. She jumped out of Cade's lap and scrambled around him placing herself between the two of them. "Oh no honey, this one is mine! I've had my eye on him since he came to town."

"If I were you, I would just go on about my business. You won't be having him tonight or any night." Faith's tone was low but there was no mistaking the threat. By this time the entire saloon was quiet and all eyes were trained on the two women.

"You heard me! He's mine!" The whore said in a much louder voice as she leaned toward Faith.

Faith's nostrils flared with fury but she simply shrugged her shoulders, balled her fist up, drew back, and let it fly. In the blink of an eye, the whore was on her backside. It took a second or two for her to realize what had happened and then she tried to scramble to her feet. Faith drew her pistol, pointed it at the other woman then pulled the hammer back.

"If you get up, I'll shoot you." The woman instantly stopped and looked at Faith.

"Fine honey, you can have him. No man is worth getting shot over."

Faith looked around the room. "This is my husband and that means he's off limits to every single one of you! Do I make myself clear?" Several wide eyed women bobbed their heads.

An older man with shoulder length stringy hair and a scruffy beard sitting at the back wall laughed. "Oooh weee, if I had me a hell cat like that, she wouldn't ever leave the bed. That's a fine piece you got there Jacobs, but you need to control her, show her whose boss." The man cackled as he brought his beer mug to his lips for a drink.

Without thinking Faith turned towards the man and raised her pistol then pulled the trigger. A deafening boom split the sir as well as a few feminine screams and male swearing. Instantly the mug the older man had been holding shattered, sending shards of glass and beer into his lap. The man looked at her dumbfounded while Cade looked at her with raised brows.

"I am a lady sir! You would do well to remember that in the future, if and when you speak to me." She holstered her gun and looked at Cade, who was now standing beside her. "I've been practicing." She stood there for a moment then drew back and punched him with the full force of her anger. Immense satisfaction filled her when he stumbled back a step. It was only because he'd had way too much to drink, but that was okay. Cade rubbed his jaw then moved toward Faith causing her to back up one step for each step he took forward. She'd gone too far, she shouldn't have hit him. She had never been a violent person, until now.