Henry lowered his hands to cup his zipper area as he sat back down. “Bloody freakin’ hell!”
Rain played it a bit cooler as he stared at me. But he too, sat back down.
Carlos chuckled. “Can you see it now? Why this woman is for me?”
“She has what I call the three B’s.” Henry nodded. “Brains, beauty, and bravery.”
I laughed. “Maybe it’s four B’s. I’ve been called a bitch by quite a few men.” I shrugged. “Well, they were ones I refused to have sex with.”
“Fuckers…” Carlos growled.
His two friends looked over at him and laughed.
A knock sounded on the door.
Both men were immediately up again, guns out.
I grabbed my phone with my free hand and tapped the camera screen. “A man with a stack of pizza boxes?”
“Oh, that was me,” Henry spoke up. “I ordered us dinner.” He looked over at Rain and sniffed arrogantly. “See? I was not being useless with my phone.” He tucked his gun away and looked over at me.
I nodded at him. “It looks all clear.” Just to be safe I tucked my phone away and raised my gun.
Rain did the same as we both stood on either side of the door.
Henry shook his head as he muttered something about, “Overkill and paranoia.” Then he opened the door.
The pizza guy gave him a huge smile. “Mr. Ford?”
Henry smiled as he nodded. “That’s me.”
The man swung the boxes over and handed them to him. Then he unhooked a plastic bag from his wrist. “Here is your soda. And thanks for the awesome tip! I added some sauces and extra napkins.”
“Thanks, man,” Henry replied with no Brit accent whatsoever as he roped the bag over his own wrist. “Have a great night and be safe out there.” He then shut the door. Turning, he paused as he noted we were all staring at him. “What?”
“Henry Ford?” Rain asked about the fake name of course.
“And you can drop your accent?” I added. “Anytime you want?”
Henry scoffed as he headed to the small table. “I hide just like all of you do.” He set the boxes down.
“From what?” Rain asked.
“All the factions,” he replied. “The Italian and Mexican mafias. The Bratva and even the Irish gangs as they call them.”
“But why?” I asked as I took the soda bag from him to take it over to the ice bucket and cups.
“Da, Mr. Ford,” Rain asked him. “Is there a wanted poster on your head?”
“No, indeed, there is no reward. But I imagine youwouldtry to cash in on that. I am a bodyguard, but I stopped workingfor any illegal groups, so to speak. After Carlos bailed me out, I swore them off.”
I got the cups out and asked, “So are you going to share what he bailed you out from?”
Silence.
I looked up to see him going through the pizza boxes.
Henry set them apart and announced, “We have the ever popular pepperoni. Then the alpha pizza of three meats and what I callGod forbid, it is just cheese.”
