Maddox was there in three seconds.
Drake pointed at the monitor. “Go get her.Now,” he barked. “Bring her to me and make damn sure the man accosting her is thrown out, taught a lesson and never allowed back intoanyof my establishments.”
Maddox’s eyes reflected shock, and Drake knew why. No one but his most trusted men were ever allowed in Drake’s private quarters. And certainly no women had ever been here. But it was a testament to Maddox’s training and loyalty. He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t ask questions. He merely nodded and was gone in a flash. On the monitor, Drake saw Drew hold up, a pissed-off look on his face, his brow creased in annoyance. Maddox must have radioed him and told him that the man was his.
All his employees wore earpieces so that he or his men could communicate with them at all times.
Drew looked like he was about to disobey his directive from Maddox and lay out the guy anyway when Maddox appeared on the scene. Drake wouldn’t chastise or discipline his employee as he would normally if a direct order was disobeyed. He well understood Drew’s rage and why he couldn’t stand for the woman to remain in that asshole’s grasp another second.
Drake watched, his eyes glittering with satisfaction as Maddox pulled the guy up off the floor by his collar—after landing three lightning-fast punches that left the guy senseless—and tossed him toward a pissed-off Zander, another of Drake’s men who’d instantly appeared at Maddox’s command. Zander hauled him toward the door, the back door, where Silas and Jax would be waiting. They would all givethe little asshole a dose of his own medicine by overcompensating the odds to teach the little bastard a lesson. A little three-on-one was exactly what a man deserved for abusing a defenseless woman, even though even one of Drake’s men could have done more than a sufficient job against the fucking pussy.
•••
Evangeline sucked in her breath in fear—and pain—as Eddie got into her face, his expression murderous. His grip on her arm was crushing, and he’d flung off his girl du jour, which freed his other hand.
Her glance skittered to that hand, which was now balled into a fist, and he lifted it. Oh my God! He was going to hit her and there was nothing she could do about it. She tried to lift her knee and ram it into his balls, but her damn dress was so tight she couldn’t raise her leg more than a few inches.
She began struggling wildly, her eyes darting around the room, pleading for someone—anyone—to intervene. Were they all just going to stand by while he assaulted her in public?
She managed to get one hand into his face, raking his cheek with her nails, a pitiful defense when she was so much smaller and wasn’t nearly as strong. He roared and she knew she’d made a very bad mistake.
She saw his fist coming at her. Tried to duck but knew he’d hit her. Knew he’d probably knock her out, leaving her completely helpless against God only knew whatever else he planned to do.
But then to her complete bewilderment, a hand, a really huge, beefy hand, lashed out and caught Eddie’s fist as if it were nothing more than a child’s. An enormous man loomed over Eddie, a killing rage flashing over his features. He squeezed Eddie’s hand and Evangeline could swear she heard bones snapping.
Eddie let go of her completely and screamed. He actually screamed. She winced because wow, it was pathetic. A grown man screaming likea girl. The man continued his assault, bending Eddie’s arm until Eddie went to his knees, whimpering like a kicked puppy.
Evangeline backed hastily away, wanting only to get out as fast as she could. She would have run if her legs hadn’t been wobbling so badly.
The man, seemingly unruffled by Eddie on his knees begging piteously, turned and pinned Evangeline with dark green eyes. She swallowed because, whoa. Not only was the man seriously hot, but he was extremely intimidating. In that moment, she didn’t know if she was more terrified of Eddie or the guy who’d intervened on her behalf.
“You, don’t move,” he clipped out.
She locked her knees and nodded, wondering why she’d just obeyed this man. But then therewasthe fact that he looked like he could crush her like a bug—hell, he’d just crushedEddielike a bug, and Eddie was a lot bigger than Evangeline—that was the deciding factor in her compliance.
Shit, shit, shit. What thehellhad she gotten herself into? She knew this had been a bad idea and that she should have never let her girlfriends talk her into this complete debacle. She needed to apologizefastand then swear she’d never come back and get the hell out as fast as she could. Go home to her girls and eat a pint—no, a gallon—of ice cream and at least give them the satisfaction of hearing of Eddie’s humiliation.
Eddie was on the floor in a fetal position now, and Evangeline just now noticed that the bartender was just to her side, a look of disgust on his face. Had he intended to intervene? For that matter, a quick look around the room told her that everyone thought Eddie was a pathetic excuse for a man. She’d take what little satisfaction she could derive from that. A few bruises on her arm was a small price to pay to see him so humbled. She wasn’t so nice and forgiving that she’d expend even a morsel of compassion or pity for Eddie’s plight because he deserved every single thing done to him tonight.
Okay, so her arm would hurt like hell for a few days. But still.
The man who’d commanded her to stay, like she was some traineddog, turned his attention back to Eddie and then roughly yanked him up by his collar and tossed—yes, tossed—Eddie like a rag doll to another man who was as big and as intimidating as he was. The new guy, someone she hadn’t even noticed until now, simply turned, dragging Eddie behind him, away from the entrance where Evangeline had entered the club, as though he weighed absolutely nothing. How had she not noticed the new guy’s arrival? He was every bit as impressive as the guy who’d intervened on her behalf and then ordered her not to move, and certainly not someone she’d ever overlook in any other circumstances. Geez, but suddenly the small front bar was filled with hot, badass-looking guys who had simply materialized in a matter of seconds and prevented Eddie from punching her directly in the face. He could have easily broken her jaw or her nose, and God only knew what other damage he would have inflicted if not for the men who’d effortlessly put a stop to his assault. No matter how badass and intimidating they looked, they hadn’t once threatened her or made her feel unsafe. Nervous? Yes. Because she’d been commanded not to so much as move from where she stood, but as naïve as it made her sound, she truly didn’t believe these new men would lay a finger on her. Maybe that made her stupid and a complete moron, but given a choice between them and Eddie, who she knew meant her serious harm, she’d take the unknown without a second thought. And that gave her a measure of comfort and reassurance.
How they pulled that off she would never know, because these men were not men who would ever go unnoticed even in a much, much larger crowd. They were big, tall men, with broad shoulders, ripped muscles and faces you could break a stone on. And they all looked... pissed. At her?Forher? It was hard to tell, although not one of them spared a glance in her direction. No, their anger and disgust was solely focused on Eddie and the pitiful sight he made squirming around on the floor.
Eddie was not a small man, but these guys? They made Eddie look like a scrawny boy.
She swallowed. Hard. And her hand automatically went to her arm as the man who’d intervened on her behalf turned his attention fully on her now that Eddie had been dragged away.
She idly wondered where exactly they were taking him, but then decided she needed to be more worried about how she was going to get out of here. Or if they were takingheranywhere. Panic swamped her and she could feel the beginnings of a full-scale mother of all anxiety attacks. Not what she needed tonight. She just wanted to call the number her girlfriends had provided and be picked up and out of there as soon as humanly possible.
“Um, thank you,” she stammered out. “I’ll just be going now. I shouldn’t have come.”
The man’s expression gentled and he put his hand out to her shoulder. She flinched involuntarily, a natural reaction after being assaulted by another man. He frowned, his eyes narrowing, as though he’d been insulted by her response, intentional or not, but his displeasure wasn’t in any way reflected in his touch.
It was exceedingly gentle and he gave her a reassuring squeeze even as his frown disappeared and he regarded her almost tenderly.
Now Maddox understood all too well Drake’s reaction and his instant call for Maddox, Zander and Silas to intervene, because this was one mean son of a bitch taking out his rage and humiliation on a beautiful woman half his size.
