The thought passes in no time. I’ll be damned if I let anyone touch her but me. That’s what wins out in the end. The thought of her being harmed by either one of the smirking men waiting for her. The one with mutton-chop sideburns and a trucker capjerks his chin and says something as she moves closer. I cross the road and pull into the lot. She stumbles back a step or two, and of course, whatever she says is lost on me.
They elbow each other before the skinny one makes the mistake of reaching for what doesn’t belong to him.
The screech of my tires cuts through everything, and the two of them jump back in surprise when I pull in next to them. I barely come to a stop before I swing the door open and dash out of the car. “I don’t think so.”
If she wasn’t scared before, she sure as hell is now, dropping her bag as she continues to back toward the office at the end of the row of rooms. Here’s the fear I wanted to see, the fear I craved as I sat and watched and waited. These assholes, on the other hand, don’t know who the fuck they’re dealing with.
“Excuse me?” Trucker hat scoffs with a disbelieving laugh. “Who do you think you are?”
“Pretend you never saw her.” Somehow, I’m able to smile and even sound chipper. It’s probably because I’m imagining the pleasure of caving their fucking faces in. “Do yourself a favor and move along.”
That’s when they make the unforgivable mistake of laughing. “Oh, really?” the skinny one asks. “Just like that? What, she belong to you or something?”
They have no fucking idea. “Something like that.”
The two of them exchange a look that tells me playtime is over. Good. I’m out of patience, anyway.
Aurora squeals when Trucker Hat lunges for me. He’s slow, out of shape, telegraphing every move before he makes it. I take him by the back of his neck and pull down while bringing my knee up. The sound of his nose cracking brings back too many memories and floods my system with primal satisfaction. I’ve missed this.
He howls as he drops to the ground, where I kick him in the ribs until he curls into a ball to protect himself. “Please!” he manages to beg while blood pours from his nose.
His buddy is smart enough to look panicked, backing away with his hands raised. Too late. I grab him by the collar and smash his face into the truck’s hood. Deep crimson coats his nose and mouth when I pull him back—he gasps, gurgling on blood, and doubles over with a pitiful groan when I drive my fist into his stomach.
When he goes down, I go with him, yanking him up by the collar of his cheap windbreaker. “Have you changed your mind about her?” My fist connects with his face once, twice, and the feeling is good; it awakens parts of me I’ve tried and failed to put aside. There’s nothing in this world like the pure, uncut rush of rearranging an asshole’s face.
This is even sweeter because this is for her, because she is watching me while I remind her what I’m capable of. What I’m willing to do for her. He’s barely conscious by the time I let his head drop. “Get the fuck out of here,” I warn as I get to my feet and stand over the evidence of my victory. “Both of you.”
She hasn’t moved. Too shocked or too afraid, I don’t know which. Maybe she knows it wouldn’t get her anywhere. If I can find her, if I can beat two men twice her size until they beg me to stop, what would running do? I’m breathing heavily as I jerk my chin at her. “Aren’t you going to invite me into your room?”
“I… I can explain…”
“Did I ask for an explanation?” Ignoring the groaning, whimpering men at my feet, I go to her and pick up the bag she dropped. She flinches when I hold it out. “Take it.” She stares in fear at the blood-stained plastic before snatching it away.
“I would like to wash my hands. I know you’re in room five. Let’s go in and have a little talk.”
“Liam…” she whimpers.
“I’m not going to ask again.” Something in my tone or my expression, or both, makes her take the key from her sweatshirt pocket and unlock the door, which I lock behind me once we’re inside. It’s exactly what I imagined. Dingy, outdated, miles beneath anything she would be used to. “You cost me two valuable employees.” I don’t look her way as I speak, crossing the small room in a few strides, stepping into a tiny bathroom tiled in pink so bright it almost hurts my eyes.
When a drawer squeaks open out there, I call out, “And if you think you can pull a gun on me and get away with it, you haven’t been paying attention, Aurora.” The drawer slowly slides shut while I continue washing the blood from my hands. Too predictable. It’s almost disappointing.
“I just wanted to get away. That’s all. I didn’t know what you were going to do with me, or if Selina was getting in your head.”
Drying my hands, I step back into the room. She stands with her arms crossed defensively and has the nerve to glare. “And look where that got you.” I muse, glancing around. “You know what would have happened if I wasn’t here when you met those two, right? Or do you think they wanted to be friends?”
“I could’ve handled it.” When I scoff, her eyes go so narrow it almost makes me laugh. “I handled your two men, didn’t I? And they weren’t amateurs, like those two were.”
Listen to this. She is Donovan’s daughter through and through. Tossing the towel aside, I cross my arms the way she has. “Have you forgotten the stakes? Your sister? Because I haven’t forgotten her. You realize you put her life at risk, not just your own?”
She looks at the floor, but not before I see realization wash over her features. She forgot, didn’t she? The reason she went along with me in the first place.
“If you were going to hurt her, you would’ve done it by now,” she decides, lifting her gaze again. “I couldn’t hang aroundanymore and wait for you to decide on a whim what to do with me. I had to be free.”
“Congratulations. Freedom smells like cheap air freshener and hopelessness.” Wrinkling my nose, I look around the room again. “How much longer did you think this was going to last? You had to know the clock was ticking.”
“I would have figured something out.” I don’t know which of us she’s trying to convince as she tosses her hair and shrugs a shoulder. “I figured it out so far.”
“I’m sure there are plenty of girls staying right here in this little motel who could’ve given you a few tips,” I point out. It’s gratifying, the way she flinches. She knows what I mean. I’ve seen those girls, seen the men walking in and out of their rooms. “Quite a lot of business gets transacted within these walls,” I add with a grin. “I bet one of them could’ve taken you under her wing, shown you the ropes. Then you could’ve gone into business for yourself.”
