“Yo, Katie!”
Meg cringed at Sonny’s voice calling out to her. Beside him was the other Surf bouncer, Gunther. What did they want? Hadn’t she put in her time tonight?
She paused staying where she was. “What?” she asked softly. Maybe they only wanted to say good-bye. Right, and Mr. Moreno was planning on joining the priesthood next week.
“Mr. Moreno wishes to see you,” Gunther announced like it was an engraved invitation.
Speak of the devil, yeah, an invitation to hell. What could he possibly want? It couldn’t be anything good.
She glanced over her shoulder where Chris waited across the street for her. She’d told him she was a big girl and could walk by herself but he never listened. Tonight that was a good thing. She flashed what she hoped was a desperate look then faced the two muscle heads again.
“What does he want? It’s late. I can talk to him tomorrow.”
“He wantsyou, sweet cheeks. And I ain’t telling Mr. Moreno you refused to come,” Sonny growled. “He’d cut my balls off. I kind of like them, thank you very much. You’re coming with us.”
Sonny took the few steps to reach her. Meg tried to back up but Gunther sidestepped blocking her way. She pulled away from them struggling as they each grabbed an arm and hustled her along. A few steps later Chris’s voice made her heart sing with relief.
“Where’re you going, sweetie? Thought you got off work already.”
“Well, she’s going back in,” Sonny snarled moving again. “Mr. Moreno wants to see her.”
Chris maneuvered between them and the club. “Why don’t you tell Mr. Moreno that Katie has clocked out for the night? She’d be happy to come in a few minutes early tomorrow if it’s that important.”
Chris appeared calm but danger radiated off him. Sonny and Gunther weren’t even a little bit scared. Sonny looked like he was itching for a fight. Typical. He released her arm getting right in Chris’s face.
“Who the hell are you? And why should I listen to anything you have to say?”
“I’m the guy who’s been paying her room and board for the past week,” Chris informed Sonny, his smile forced. “And I honestly don’t give a shit if you listen to me or not, but Moreno had Katie long enough today. Now she’s mine.”
Sonny wouldn’t care. Reasoning wasn’t his strong suit. He loved using his overdeveloped muscles to blow off steam and push people around. She’d seen him take care of many rowdy guests. Now he was about to take care of Chris.
Sonny shifted and she yelled, “No!” Her heart stopped as Sonny’s fist whizzed through the air. Chris ducked quickly his own fist darting out, impacting the side of Sonny’s head.
Sonny staggered back, his eyes wide and angry. Gunther joined the fray but Chris swung in his direction delivering another blow. Lucky shot maybe? Or did they train FBI agents to take on two fully grown gorillas without sweating?
Her heart pounded as she scanned the area for something to use to even up the odds. Her bag wouldn’t do much good. It didn’t have more than her sweater and a tabloid magazine in it. Would she even need to help? Chris was holding his own. Wasn’t he?
A blow landed on his face. Maybe not. Gunther kicked out at Chris while he was occupied exchanging punches with Sonny. Oh, God. These guys outweighed Chris by fifty pounds each. Sweat trickled down her back. She needed to help. Gunther’s attack brought Chris to his knees and Sonny hammered a fist into his beautiful face. Damn him.
She threw herself on Gunther’s back, her arms around his thick neck. It didn’t help though. He tossed her off as if she weighed nothing. Determined, she pushed forward only to collide with Gunther’s beefy arm swinging back to club Chris. It caught her in the nose and she stumbled. Clutching her face, her butt met the sidewalk.
God, that hurt.
At her cry, Chris turned toward her, his eyes showing concern. “Are you…?”
He didn’t finish his sentence as Gunther and Sonny doubled up again. She couldn’t sit here letting them pummel Chris into the ground. He was her ticket out of this mess.
Pulling her hand away from her aching nose, blood dripped between her fingers.Great. That’ll get me some good tips. Chris looked her way as Sonny swung again and his jaw clenched as he spotted the blood. He ducked the blow and renewed energy exuded from him as both fists flew. A few kicks mid center and Gunther landed on the ground; the last one to his head knocking him out cold.
Meg sighed but Sonny was still seething. Chris didn’t appear any calmer. His eyes were focused intensely and his lean muscles tightened further as he battled this last obstacle. With a few more swift blows, Sonny landed beside Gunther.
She pulled herself to standing and moved toward Chris, who was bent over, his hands on his knees, breathing hard.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He only nodded. So maybe he did sweat when fighting gorillas. She tenderly touched his bruised and bleeding face. He straightened up, his crooked smile assuring her he wasn’t too badly damaged.
“Bastards,” Chris growled, his fingers wiping the blood that had dripped under her nose.
