“Who the fuck are you, and what do you want?” Izzy snaps at the man, taking a step closer in his direction, obviously having no sense of self-preservation. I shoot her a warning glare that screams, “chill out,” but she doesn’t look up at me to catch it.
The man lets out a low, dark chuckle, sending an eerie shiver down my spine.
Something isn’t right. I can feel it.
Not backing down, her hands flying a mile a minute as she speaks, Izzy takes another step closer toward the man. “How the fuck do you know my name?” She’s full-blown shouting at this point. I can tell there’s fear in her body language, fear that she’s fighting to not let control her.
That’s something I’ve always loved about her. She may be a lot, and make foolish decisions like now, but the woman is a spitfire who refuses to let anyone intimidate her.
I grab her hand again in an attempt to pull her back to me and reel her in, but there’s no point. She swats me away as she enters a stare-down with the strange man standing before us.
“Look, dude–” I begin to say, but I’m cut off by the short, feisty blonde who thinks she’s invincible.
“Are you just going to stand there and stare at me like a fucking creep, or will you tell me what the fuck you want?”
The man lets out another dark chuckle, his smile growing. “Oh, I wasn’t warned that you’d be so much fun.” His deep, gravelly voice reeks of malice and bad intentions, and nausea twists my gut. Izzy’s body stiffens at his words, and I can tell she’s beginning to panic.
I’ve got to get us out of this.
“What?” she asks on what sounds like an inhale, her voice low, showing the fear and confusion I’m sure is taking over.
“Oh, yeah, Honey. We’ve been watching you.” The man takes another step closer as two other men appear behind us.
Fuck. This is bad.
Izzy takes a step back, finally stepping into my grasp, and I pull her to my side protectively.
“You see, your man was given options. The option to comply and save your life, or the option to. Fuck. Around. And. Find. Out.” Izzy’s eyes dart to mine, hurt, fear, and sadness etched into her every feature.
I shake my head, but before I can speak, one of the men from behind us steps closer and speaks up, “Not that man, the other one. It’s a shame that he chose the way he did, really, because we could have had so much fun with you if the boss hadn’t made the call. You know, since you like to get around and all.” All three men laugh manically, causing both Izzy and me to stiffen as we cling to each other.
The man in front of us pulls out a gun, pointing it directly at Izzy, and she gasps, her hands flying to cover her mouth as the fear and severity of our current reality sink in.
Not knowing what to do or how to fix this, I begin to ramble, “Look, I don’t know what the fuck Jett has done, and I don’t care, but she–”
“Shut the fuck up!” the man with the gun shouts.
This cannot be happening.
Fucking Jett.
What the fuck did he get into? How could he willingly put her in danger? I don’t know the guy well, butfuck himfor this. And to think,she chose him.
The next few moments drag on as if in slow motion. As badly as I want to take control of the situation, I feel helpless. I’ve never experienced such a fear. I want to protect her. Fuck that, I need to protect her. I’m able to talk myself out of almost every situation, yet there’s no talking my way out of this one, and that kills me.
Izzy’s body trembles against mine, and I squeeze her tighter, trying everything I can to bring her comfort.
“Don’t worry, you two. This will be quick,” the gunman says, sadistic humor oozing in his tone as he takes one more step closer.
This is it.
It’s not my life that flashes before my eyes. It’shers.
It can’t end like this.Her life willnotend like this.
Just as I see his index finger twitch on the trigger, I see nothing but red. All of their shouts fade to nothing, and the only thing I can hear is the adrenaline that’s ringing like a siren in my ears.
I push Izzy down to the ground and take off, barreling toward him.
