She screams loudly, bends down, and sinks her teeth into the forearm of the man holding her.
He swears and punches her in the head, sending her flying. Both Lex and I fire at the same time. We shoot way more bullets than we need to, filling his body with holes for daring to touch Vani and hurt her.
The barman jerks and jolts, dancing like a grotesque, stringless puppet, before falling to the floor with a muffled thud.
I move.
Running to Vani, I slide and slip across the bloodied floor, then drop to my knees beside her. She’s pale but awake. I cradle her head in my arms, kneeling beside her, not caring that my knees are soaked in a mixture of blood, beer, and wine and whatever else has been sloshed all over the floor in the fight.
Lex appears by my side. “Vani, can you speak?”
“Of course I can speak.” She sounds pained but lucid. “My head is splitting, but I’m okay. Go and help your brother.”
Lex purses his lips, nods once, and turns to run to help Saint.
Are you sure you’re okay? I ask, mouthing the words clearly.
She reaches up and touches my cheek. “Yes, Zane. I’m okay.”
She tries to cover herself, but the tattered dress won’t do it. I take my shirt off and gently pull it over her head.
You did good,I mouth, proud as fuck. I have no idea what she did to the fucker who was trying to hurt her, but it obviously involved a lot of his blood.
I lean her gently against the wall and stand to scan the room. The captain is still making an awful gurgling sound, but it’s fading, and his skin is a sickly shade of pale.
One waiter is on the floor, not moving, and the other is still fighting Saint. Lex rushes to his brother, grabbing a steak knife as he passes the table.
He yells and stabs the waiter trying to strangle Saint right in the side of the head, near his ear. Blood, and something else, oozes out around the knife.
The man makes the oddest sound, a low, drawn-out moaning whimper before collapsing to the side, his grip going slack.
Saint crawls away from him, swearing and coughing in a mix of French and English.
Fuck me. That was insane. What the hell happened? I can’t get my head around it all.
“They were after you two.” Vani’s voice is weak. “The one in the b-b-bathroom, he-he said that you were collateral in a war and so was I.”
Is he dead? I ask.
She purses her lips together tight and tears flow down her cheeks. Oh, fuck, no.
“Did he rape you?” Saint demands as he walks over to us, finally standing and breathing normally.
“No, Saint. Don’t worry. I’m still only yours,” she says, angry and tearful.
“Fuck, no, cherie, I didn’t mean it that way. I was only worried about your trauma, I swear.” Saint falls to his knees beside her and lifts her hand in his. “You are everything to me, Vani. I didn’t mean it that way.”
She considers him, and I see when her eyes soften, and she forgives him, the way she always does. The way we all do.
A loud, bellowed roar comes from the hallway, distracting me from the drama, and a sight even more shocking than Vani appears in the double-doored entrance.
A giant of a man stumbles into the room, bleeding profusely from his mangled, massive cock, which is… Oh, God. Jesus fuck. It’s half hanging off and covered in bite marks.
It takes a second to put together what happened.
Calmly, I grab the gun and aim. I shoot him twice, a double tap, one in the chest and one in the head. He goes down with athunk.
Vani covers her face and lets out a sob. “Thank you,” she cries.
