“Baby,” he whispered, feeling close, seemingly all aroundme, “just hang tight.Don’t move.Help will be here soon.”
Help would be there soon.
I’d be in an ambulance.
Then I’d be in a hospital.
While there, I’d talk to the police.
Eventually, I’d go home and live in fear of what myboyfriend’s motorcycle club would do to me after I pressed charges against themfor beating the crap out of me.
What could be worse than this?
I didn’t know.
I didn’t want to find out.
But there was a good possibility I would.
I couldn’t think of that.
So instead I thought about the fact that I actually couldn’tgo home.I had to move out of the home I shared with Beck, but I could only dothat after I figured out where the hell I’d go.
It was too much.The pain.The humiliation.The nausea thatwas beginning to edge in.The thoughts crashing through my brain, fighting forsupremacy.The tear slid out of my eye, soaking into the lining of Snap’s cut.
The next slid over the bridge of my nose on the sametrajectory.
I felt something of him brush my shoulder.
His chest, I guessed, because then I felt his foreheadpressed lightly against the side of my head and I heard his lips at my ear,that deep voice of his low and solemn, promising, “Got you now, baby.I gotyou.Nothing will ever hurt you again.Nothing, Rosie.Won’t let it.Nothing,baby.Not a thing.”
Another tear slid over the bridge of my nose.
And I heard the sirens.
Snapper
“Stand down, brother,” Hop said at his ear.
Snapper had Speck up against the wall, their noses so close,the tips were brushing, Snap’s hand around his throat, squeezing…squeezing.He had three brothers working him, trying to pull him off, but he had hisweight aimed just right, straining against it, and he wasn’t budging.
Speck stared into his eyes, not moving.
“Snap, man, everybody gets you,” Rush said coaxingly.“Speckdefinitely gets you.Step off, man.”Pause then, a jerk of his arm aroundSnap’s chest, “Step off, brother.”
“You were on her,” Snapper clipped.
Speck just stared into his eyes, his face so red it wasturning blue.
“You were supposed to look out for her,” Snap carried on.
“He knows, Snap, look at him.Stepoff,” Jokerordered.
Snapper kept squeezing.
Speck kept letting him.
“Brother, he fell down.He knows it.We’ll deal with thatlater.We got two priorities here.Rosalie.And a reckoning for Bounty.”
