“Or what?” The guy seems to start to realize what he might be up against, but he’s not backing down. Maybe he has a death wish.
Beast, who was so polite and concerned last night, is the first to step forward, but Zero and Piston are right behind him. “Or we’ll fucking make you.”
"You pussies wouldn’t d?—"
That's about as far as he gets before Zero’s arm goes around my waist, pulling me backwards as Beast grabs the front of the guy’s shirt in both fists and slings him into the wall.
5
SANDRA
Beast just threwthat man like a rag doll. I gasp as the guy’s head smacks the front of the building and he slides down like in a cartoon. To the jerk’s credit, he doesn’t crumple up and cry, which seems like the most sensible reaction. He shakes it off, staggering to his feet and grasping the back of his head, glancing down at a streak of blood on his palm before getting into a wobbly fighting stance.
"Buddy." Piston rolls his eyes. "You don't want to play this game."
Maybe, maybe not, but he’s not backing down. “Fucking Eagles. You don’t own this town,” he spits out with a roar, crouching and charging.
I honestly don't think Beast expected the guy to keep going with the way he's outnumbered and probably outgunned. He manages to ram his shoulder into Beast’s chest, but that’s as far as he gets. Beast rocks back a little, but captures his arm just below his shoulder and uses it for leverage to throw him again.
This time he doesn’t catch himself and ends up skidding across the broken asphalt. It takes him a moment to gather himself and get up to one knee, with a hand on the ground for support. "Motherfuck?—"
"I'd think real hard about what you're gonna do next." Piston’s voice is ice cold and hard as steel. His hands on his belt pushes his cut open, revealing the pistol grip at his waist.
Zero steps around, putting me at his back. "How about you get your ass in your car and drive while we’re feeling generous. Easy choice, but if we ever, and I mean fucking ever, hear about you coming back here and giving our girl trouble, it’ll be the last fucking thing you do. Or we could finish it now. So what's it gonna be?"
Our girl?
Pretty sure I'm not their anything, unless there was a memo I didn't get, but this isn’t the time to point that out. I stay quiet, not wanting to make anything worse than it already is.
And as much as I hate to admit it, this is the sort of thing that Carl and mostnormalpeople worry about when they think about the Screaming Eagles. Getting involved with them does mean trouble. My sister has a beautiful life with men who not only would, but have killed to make sure she can live it. Happiness has a cost sometimes.
“I’ll be back, bitch,” the rude man spits at me as he limps to his car before driving away.
The front door opens and Carl pokes his head out. “Is—is everything o—okay?” he stammers. He’s a nice guy, but he’s never going to be the kind of guy who would throw someone intoa wall for me, and honestly I suppose that’s a strange standard to set for people.
I nod. “It’s fine, thanks.”
Having done his brave deed of the day, Carl vanishes.
"Are you alright?" Piston approaches. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
I remember I'm still hiding behind Zero and step out of his shadow. "No. He was mostly just rude. You guys got here before anything really happened.”
"He put his fucking hands on you," Piston growls. "He’s lucky he’s still walking."
"What did he want?" Zero’s sharp eyes rake down my body.
I’m all too aware of how I look, rumpled clothes, smudged makeup and crazy hair. "I think he was looking for Junkyard."
“You think? Didn’t he know his own dog?” Piston asks.
“Not really. He could describe her, but couldn’t show me a picture or give me a name. I had a bad feeling about him right from the start so I kinda told him I didn’t know anything about her,” I admit sheepishly.
“Good. You want us to stick around?” Beast asks. “We came by to see how things were going. Piston said you had a late night.”
The way he says it makes it sound like more than Chinese food and sports TV happened. The memory of tasting water on Piston’s lips flashes through my brain, but I quickly box it up and shove it deep into a mental closet. I glance over and catch Piston’s eye. He doesn’t say anything, but I bet he’s thinking the same. His smile is downright sinful.
Zero raises an eyebrow at my loaded silence.
