“I don’t think so, asshole,” the guy sneered. He was either brave or immensely stupid.
Karson sighed like he was dealing with an annoying fly. “Don’t say you weren’t warned.”
The small guy clenched his fists and took up a boxer’s stance. The question was answered. He was stupid. The man hopped forward and swung his right fist with impressive speed. Karson blocked it with his left hand, and at the same time, karate chopped him to the throat with his right. The guy’s eyes shot out like party poppers. He fell to his knees, hand clutched to his neck, gasping for air. Karson lifted his foot and, with hardly any force at all, knocked him sideways. He curled uplike a threatened hedgehog, heaving for breath, making whiny, gulping sounds.
“This time stay down,” Karson said.
He did.
“Bar’s closed!” Shelley yelled out.
The room erupted into a chorus of groans. I looked around. There was blood, a lot of it, and the place was trashed.
Rude champagne girl had a look of horror on her blood splattered face.
My eyes caught Dahlia’s. She nodded at me in some strange recognition, gulped the rest of her drink down, and followed the crowd outside.
Matt filed in with a young cop, barely older than a fetus. Matt frowned as he scanned the carnage and pulled his walkie-talkie off his belt.
“Ambulance to The Hollow, one.”
The young cop slapped handcuffs on two of the men, including the little guy, and hauled them to their feet.
“Everyone else alright?” Matt asked, his eyes landing on BJ and I.
My arm felt numb and heavy, and my ribs were sore. We both nodded.
Matt and his deputy grabbed one man each and hauled them outside.
Karson removed the others, lifting them by the backs of their shirts and throwing their blood-stained, groggy bodies out the door.
Grace gave me a thumbs-up. It seemed completely inappropriate given the circumstances. But Grace had a relaxed attitude to life and not much seemed to faze her.
“What the bloody hell were you thinking?” Karson snarled, his accent came out stronger and I swear I heard a hint of British. “You could have gotten yourself killed!” He loomed overme, and his eyes scorched me like holy water thrown over the skin of the devil.
The hairs rose on my arms, but my temper flared, and I tilted my chin up. “You didn’t hear what he called BJ.”
“It doesn’t matter what he called him.” He raised his voice. “You put yourself in unacceptable danger!”
“It matters to me,” I snapped.
“You hardly even know him.”
“I know enough to know he’s kind and decent.” I threw out a hand, suddenly aware we’d caught the attention of everyone in the room. “And I won’t stand by and let some ignorant, ill-raisedpricktreat him badly.”
“Are you insane? You could have been seriously hurt. If his fist had connected with your face or head, Amelia, do you know the damage he could have done to you?”
I did.A lot. But I wasn’t going to retreat. “The behavior you ignore is the one you encourage.” I thought perhaps the line of wisdom would calm him. I was wrong.
He shouted, “Do you really think getting involved was going to somehow make that man see reason?Youcannot change the minds of those devoid of emotional intelligence.”
I held my ground, even as my legs wanted to take a step back. “Take yourself for a walk, Karson, you need to calm down,” I grated out.
My mother would say that to me when I’d come home from school furious, after getting into a fight. We’d walk or jog, and sometimes we’d go to the boxing club. She knew I needed the distraction. I needed to pound my anger against the boxing bag or the pavement. Places I could just be, where I didn’t need to think about how I never fitted in. How different I felt to all the other kids. How trapped . . .
He blinked. There was a long pause. When he spoke, he didn’t shout, but it would be an exaggeration to say he was calm.He gritted teeth. “Do not tell me to calm down. I am your boss, and if you want to keep working here, you will not engage in physical force with anyone for any reason. Do I make myself clear?”
I didn’t want to lose this job. Work was the only time aside from when I ran where my mind was kept busy enough that I could forget about the ache in my heart. The hole Tom dug.
