Saint let out a little squeak, and her eyes veered to me.
The dick may have just assaulted her, but I kinda got how she didn’t want to see my boys convey to him why that was a bad idea. She’d been through enough.
“Take that shit outside,” I told them, tipping my chin toward her. “And keep it on the down-low.”
Diablo jerked a nod before hauling the dude to his feet. He gestured to Mac and Pyro to follow him as he pulled the fucker toward the nearest back exit so they could finish the job.
I gave them chin lifts, raising a hand to swipe my hair back as I watched them go.
“Hey,” Saint exclaimed softly, grabbing my hand to examine it. “Your knuckles are all busted. We’ve established that I’m okay, but are you?”
Her question stopped me in my tracks. Nobody ever asked me if I was okay. Honestly, I was used to it; my knuckles were usually busted, especially after fight night.
I wiggled my fingers to test that they weren’t broken and shrugged. “Not unusual. They’re usually fucked up in my line of work.”
“We need to get them seen to,” she told me in a no-nonsense voice.
I laughed. “I’m not going to hospital. Jesus, baby. I’m fuckin’ badass.”
She rolled her eyes. “Who said anything about the hospital?” Grabbing my shirt, she pulled me down the corridor, then turned toward the dressing rooms, announcing, “Just gotta get my bag,” before ducking inside a door.
I took the opportunity to pull out my cell and shoot off a message to our SDSS chat, relaying I was gonna see the chick safely home. After getting a flurry of eggplant, winky face, and thumbs-up emojis back, I tucked my cell away, looking up just as the door opened, and Saint emerged with a big canvas bag slung over one shoulder.
“Ready?” she asked.
I looked down at the ripped jeans, tiny titty top, and Chucks she’d changed into and grinned. “As I’ll ever be.”
My security job was about to get very fucking interesting. I hadn’t felt this kind of pull toward a girl since Allie. The promise of her and everything she could be to me sank deep into my core, leaving me warm. And I knew in my heart she’d be someone special.
“You like Chinese food?” she inquired as we made our way through the hustle and bustle of backstage toward the staff exit.
“Fuckin’ love it.” I glanced down into clear azure blue eyes, and my heart swelled inside my chest. “Lead the way, blondie.”
CHAPTER ONE
ICEMAN
Two Years Later
It wasn’ta day for riding.
New Orleans was usually hot and humid, but often, on blistering summer days like today, the heavens wept, but then, they had good reason.
I always found it crazy how I could sweat through one-half of my clothes while, at the same time, a tropical storm soaked the other half. NOLA’s climate was a bitch, and I didn’t miss it one fucking bit. But there was one thing I did miss, which was why I was here, paying my annual visit.
My wife.
Over my years serving in the United States Air Force, I missed a lot of Allie’s birthdays. Once, I made God a promise that I’d never miss one again if he gave her back to me. Even though he didn’t keep his end of the bargain, I always kept mine, even in death, maybe because of the guilt I’d buried somewhere deep for not being around for so many when she was alive.
Allie loved birthdays, Christmas, Easter, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Superbowl Sunday. Those days were all about family and being together, and even though we weren’t blessed with kids, we had close bonds with our families.
I used to tease her relentlessly, telling her that no beautiful twenty-something woman liked to hang with her (and my) mom all weekend instead of going out and partying in the city with our friends. But she’d just smile sweetly and tell me how spending time with family was a blessing we should never take for granted.
And it turned out she was right.
But then, my Allie was always the smart one.
And gorgeous.
