“Emanuel, stop! Please.” I get free of whoever is holding me and run to Emanuel, pulling him by the arm. Eventually, I get his attention just before he lands another blow to Matthew’s ribcage.
“Please, he’s not worth it,” I plead.
The far off look in his eyes tells me he’s not truly comprehending my words. When he takes another angry glare over my shoulder, I begin pulling him back toward Charlie’s.Thankfully, he doesn’t resist too much. At least three of his squad members have put themselves in between his body and Matthew’s.
“Angela, can we have some ice?” I question my stunned friend who is still behind the bar.
“The fuck are you getting him ice for?”
I blink. “It’s for you, moron!” I tell Emanuel. “Sit your butt on that stool and don’t move!” I glare at him so he knows I’m not kidding around. When he sits, I move around the bar and grab one of the clean towels the bartenders use to wipe down the tables.
Angela hands me a cup of ice.
I pour the ice into the towel and ball it up, taking it over to Emanuel.
“Give me your hand.”
Reluctantly, he holds out his hand and I slap the ice pack on top to prevent the inevitable swelling of his knuckles.
“I can’t believe you did that.” I shake my head.
“I can’t believe you actually thought I’d stand there and let that motherfucker speak to you like that.”
I didn’t say anything. I’d gotten so used to the way my ex used to speak to me, I didn’t even think twice of it. Hell, it was similar to how my own mother talked to me as a child and as an adult.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I say, staring into Emanuel’s eyes.
“Why the hell not?”
Sighing, I glance out the window, seeing a few of Emanuel’s squad members getting a dazed and confused Matthew into a taxi.
“He can be cruel when he wants to be. He has a vindictive streak.” I remember many conversations Matthew and I had when he would discuss a business deal or someone he thought had crossed him and the ways in which he talked about getting revenge. I know of more than one person whose reputations he completely destroyed because he believed they betrayed or disrespected him. His family had the means and power to ruin people. I did not want to see that happen to Emanuel.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I am worried,” I protest. “Because—”
“That was funny as hell to watch!”
I roll my eyes heavenward at the sound of my mother’s voice. I forgot she was still here.
“Your hand hurt already, Emanuel? I would think so with—”
“He’s fine.” I glare at my mother. “We’re leaving,” I tell Emanuel.
He shrugs. “Fine with me.” Standing, he wraps his arm around my shoulders possessively as we stride toward the door.
“Hey, don’t kill anyone on your way out, all right?” Don chuckles as he passes us. Sean chuckles, too, shaking his head and patting Emanuel on the back as we walk by.
“You pissed at me?” he questions, grasping my chin as we wait for the Uber we ordered.
“Yes.” I swat his hand away.
“Good.” He lowers his face to the crook of my neck, burying it there. “You can show me how pissed you are once I get you behind closed doors.”
I shiver from the feel of his warm breath as it moves over my sensitized skin.
I have to say, I was never a woman to go after the bad boy types. I always wanted the clean cut, stick to the rules guys. I’m pretty sure it was a side-effect of the way I grew up. But as Emanuel wraps his arms around me and begins whispering in my ear all of the things he plans on doing to my body, once we get home, coupled with the memory of him beating the hell out of Matthew … Let’s just say I might be a convert.
