There are a few people around, but they are in their own world, leaving Kade and me to drink and flirt, to forget about life and responsibilities for a few precious hours.
Staying true to form, Kade ordered way too many plates for us to share. I love how indecisive he is, but I’m also well aware it’s his way of making sure I’m eating properly. Of course, we ate our way through them and shared a bottle of wine. Then we started working our way through the cocktail menu.
Kade’s hooded eyes are proof of how lethal fruity cocktails are.
I take another step away, and he takes one closer. Then he pulls out the big guns in his attempt to scramble my brain and stop me from paying. “Come here, my beautiful little whore.”
His ploy of deliberately throwing me off my game works. Until I remember what I was doing, or probably more accurate is why I was going to pay. Kade has a shitty job at a small accounting firm, with an even shittier paycheck. Unlike me, who negotiated like a demon, and as a result has more of Victor’s money than I know what to do with.
I give him a grin of victory, making the final dash to the waitress. I hand over my card quickly before leaning against the side of the greeting station and savoring my win by staring at Kade, using my eyes to let him know he’s a winner too.
The front door opens behind me, letting in a gust of wintery weather. Twisting around to let the new person walk past, a glint of something flashes in my periphery before the cold of it presses against my cheek, stopping me dead in my tracks.
“All I want is money.”
A man speaks, his voice pitching all over the place. He’s so unbelievably close, all I can smell is rotten eggs. My anxiety climbs; meth users can be more irrational than Alphas in a rut.
I shrink down submissively and become as small as I can. Which is harder than it sounds, because a part of me wants to lecture him on the danger of drugs. Thankfully, my survivalist side mutes that voice.
The robber keeps his weapon pressed to my skin, and I keep my gaze on the ground. Everyone is deathly silent.
“You, go get everyone’s wallet.”
He’s talking to the waitress, and she starts hyperventilating. From the corner of my eye, I watch as she walks backward at a snail’s pace. Her hands are up in surrender as she makes her way to where the others are all standing.
“No one act the fucking hero. You don’t need to be doing nothing but getting your wallets out.”
She gets to the first group and they pass their wallets, but she drops half of them because she’s literally shaking like a leaf. You can feel everyone encouraging her to keep going, but you can also sense their fear.
Kade clears his throat, drawing the focus to him. Like everyone else who’s standing, he’s made sure his posture is unthreatening. He points to an ice bucket on the edge of the bar. “Could I carry this bucket for her? She’s scared.”
Kade’s eyes are locked on the man next to me as he waits for an answer.
The man next to me chuckles before he presses the weapon a little harder into my cheek. “If you screw around, it’s not you that’s going to suffer. You get that, right?”
“Yes. No hero shit, just get everyone’s wallets so you can get out of here,” Kade parrots, not moving until he gets permission.
“Hurry up, then, Romeo, ’cause your girlfriend is already bleeding.”
Kade goes to the girl. I can hear him talking quietly to her, trying to comfort her, but the words he says are lost over the adrenaline coursing through my system. I keep my eyes glued on him, borrowing his calmness. He’s that person; always going out of his way to make sure everyone around him is okay and at ease. When we first got together, it irked me how he’d stop and chatwith people, but not now. It’s just another of his qualities I find endearing.
The man next to me is starting to get impatient, scoffing and shuffling on his feet. “Let’s go. I ain’t got all fucking night.”
Kade leaves the girl in the middle of the restaurant to finish doing the rounds. He hands the full bucket to the girl, talking quietly again to her. She’s shutting down more and more with each quiet word Kade says.
He puts an arm around her, facing her away from the robber. “Can I bring it over? She can’t.”
“Slide that shit over here, then. Make it count, though; I’d hate to slip and mess this pretty face up.”
Kade remains passive despite the threat, his movement steady, but he rises to the situation too. There’s no hesitation when he walks to where the path between us is the straightest and the clearest. He leans down and slides the bucket over.
Time stretches, making it feel like it takes forever for the bucket to slide to a stop, right at my feet. The moment it’s close enough, I get shoved as the man makes a grab for the bucket.
I trip over my own feet and hit the floor as the door slams shut.
“Call 911,” Kade yells as he leaps over the distance. The instant he’s in front of me, his voice is as tentative as his touch. “Quinny.”
I bury my face against his chest. His arms hold me tight, and he starts calling out instructions to the others. I twist and see the poor girl has gone into shock and is collapsed in a heap on the floor.
