How dare she? How dare she? Kelsey thought, lunging at the woman who was touching her man.

She hadn’t even realized how strong her feelings were for Adrien until she’d walked in and saw him standing there, trying to peel the gross woman off him without hurting her.

Hers. He was hers. And it wasn’t about being a bouncer; she was just pissed that this other woman who had already caused trouble dared to come back here after promising she wouldn’t.

Her lust for Adrien was almost inhuman. But then again, Kelsey knew how sexy Adrien was. Perhaps some people, especially entitled rich chicks, couldn’t resist and thought they could get away with anything.

Well, if so, they were wrong.

She reached the woman and grabbed her by the shoulders, yanking her back. The woman, who was wearing heels, lost her balance and stumbled back, turning to face Kelsey with a truly insane glare.

“Get out of here! This isn’t your business!” she shrieked.

“Kelsey, I can handle it,” Adrien said, sounding slightly worried. “I don’t think this woman is in her right mind.”

“No,” Kelsey said. “I saw how you were handling it. I don’t like it at all.”

“I can’t hit a female,” Adrien said in frustration.

“I know,” Kelsey said. “That’s my point. I can, if she touches what’s mine.”

Adrien’s face paled slightly. Then he grinned. “Really? You feel that way?”

“Apparently,” Kelsey muttered, facing off with the woman who was straightening her suit.

The woman looked back at Adrien. “I see. So you only worry about her, never me.”

“Of course not, you crazy hag,” Adrien shot back at her. “I only care what happens to Kelsey. And my friends.”

The woman narrowed her eyes. “Fine. I’ll hurt her, then, show you what happens when you reject me.”

The woman shot toward Kelsey, oddly fast, and caught her by the hair. Kelsey threw out a fist, hitting the woman hard in the stomach with an uppercut, but she barely flinched.

Instead, she kept her hands in Kelsey’s hair and threw her to the ground, making her grunt as she landed.

Adrien shot forward, but Kelsey put up a hand. “No. I’ve got this. I promise.”

“I don’t want to see you hurt,” he said, his voice hard and intense. “I won’t stand by and watch it.”

Kelsey got to her feet just as the woman reached her, and she shot forward with a fist, but the woman caught it in her oddly strong, bony hand. She held it, beginning to squeeze as Kelsey let out a groan, trying to pull back.

The woman released her, tossing Kelsey back, and she stumbled from the force and landed on her backside with an, “Oof,” her hand aching.

What was up with this woman? Was she on drugs or something?

The woman came forward, practically snarling, and she saw Adrien start toward them.

“I don’t care what happens to me over this,” Adrien said. “I can’t let this happen.”

The next second, Robbie was there, as fast as if she’d teleported, standing between Kelsey and Adrien. “Back off, bitch,” Robbie said, rolling up the sleeves of her sharp dress shirt. She was wearing a pencil skirt and heels but stood tall and confident as she stared down her opponent.

“No, Robbie. Be careful,” Kelsey said.

From what Kelsey knew, Robbie had always had a cushy office job. How would she know how to fight someone like this, someone who was basically insane?

The woman ran at Robbie, and quick as lightning, Robbie stuck out a foot.

The woman tripped and went sprawling, and Robbie was there in an instant, picking her up by the back of her jacket.

She held the woman up in front of her, glaring at her in disgust. “You said you weren’t coming back again. I’m gonna make sure you never do.” She grabbed the woman’s lapels with both hands as she struggled and then stepped forward and threw the woman forward as hard as she could.

The hag went flying into the door, crashing through them, sending both off their hinges, broken.

The woman stood, gave Robbie a crazy-eyed look, then got up and started running.

“Should we chase her?” Kelsey asked, aghast, as Robbie walked over to her and held out a hand to help her up.

Adrien, who had been standing there with his mouth agape, walked up behind her, and Kelsey took one of each of their hands to stand.

She brushed off her suit as she tried to comprehend what had happened.

Adrien folded his arms as he stared at Robbie. “What the hell was that?”

Robbie frowned, pressing her lips together. “I’m just… pretty strong, I guess.”

“And you couldn’t ever intervene for me before?” he asked, putting his hands up.

“Hey, the women weren’t ever that crazy. And you were such a brat it was fun to watch you get angry, as long as they weren’t actually pulling anything.”

Adrien let out a snort. “Nice. Very kind of you.”

“I know,” Robbie said sarcastically. “But I do feel protective of Kelsey.” Her expression softened as her gaze met Adrien’s. “And I wouldn’t really leave you in a situation where you had to choose between your girl getting hurt and hitting a woman.”

“What are you?” Adrien asked, narrowing his eyes. “I mean, I’m grateful for what just happened, but you clearly have something to tell us.”

“I know,” Robbie said. “I know it’s weird, and you won’t see me the same. The truth is—”

The doors made cracking noises as Citrine and Sever walked in, stepping through them.

Citrine’s gold eyes were wide and flashing. “What just happened in here? Who did this?”

“I’m sorry,” Robbie said, reaching out and squeezing Kelsey’s hand. “I need to go now.”

She walked past Citrine quickly and out into the hall before Kelsey could stop her. Kelsey made a step to follow her, but Adrien caught her hand.

“Maybe best to let her go,” he whispered in her ear. “Right now, it’s her decision.”

“What just happened?” Citrine asked. “Someone explain this right now! And why did Robbie go running out of here?”

Adrien shrugged. “I mean, it’s your fault for not locking the doors downstairs. That crazy lady from the other day came back.”

“No,” Citrine said, shaking his head. “I’m positive I locked the door.” He rubbed his neck and looked from the door to Adrien. “You’re sure she came in here?”

“Robbie throwing her into the doors was what broke them,” Adrien said.

“Why did Robbie throw her into a door?” Sever asked, looking as confused as the others.

“She attacked Adrien,” Kelsey said. “She was truly crazy. I tried to fight her off, but she was too strong for me. Like she was on something. Adrien was going to interfere, but Robbie stepped in instead to keep him from getting in trouble.”

“I don’t care if it’s a woman,” Adrien said. “No one is allowed to hurt my mate.” His arm curled around Kelsey’s waist, holding her close.

“I see,” Citrine said. “So where is Robbie now?”

“Damned if I know,” Adrien said. “She went running out. I think she was embarrassed.”

“Damn,” Citrine said. He looked at Kelsey. “Sorry for my language.”

She shrugged with a smile. “It’s fine. Don’t be too hard on Robbie, though. I’m not sure why she’s so strong, but she seemed embarrassed about it. You know, it’s not like women get rewarded for being strong or big. My guess is she doesn’t want people to look at her weird about it.”

Citrine’s eyes narrowed as he thought to himself about something. “You say she threw a human into that door?”

“A woman, yes,” Kelsey said. “But you know people can do crazy things due to adrenaline.” She looked at Adrien. “I mean, this guy beat up like three guys with no problem the other day.”

Citrine raised an eyebrow. “You did? Why didn’t I hear about that?”

Whoops. Kelsey probably shouldn’t have mentioned it.

“Anyway,” Adrien said. “We can talk about that later. Right now, I’m going to take Kelsey back to her place, make sure she is fine. She kind of got tossed around.”

Citrine’s expression softened in concern. “I’m sorry that happened,” he said. “I really thought she wouldn’t be back. And I have no idea how she got in. Clearly, we’ll have to work on our door security.”

Adrien nodded. “You two may want to call someone to make sure our locks are secure, and get the doors fixed. I’m taking my mate home.”

Home. That sounded amazing.

“Fine,” Citrine said. “But I’m going to call Robbie. She needs to explain this, right now. She isn’t in trouble, but she can’t just go running off…”

Kelsey gave Sever a sympathetic look as they passed him, and the giant man gave her an answering nod.

Adrien was going home with her. She had an apartment. She had a man who only wanted her, and the two of them could be alone.

Somehow that was the most desirable thought of all.