His eyes narrowed, filled with fury at the man whose arms supported Gia, who was barely conscious.
“Gia?” His voice was low with repressed rage. “Are you okay?”
It was a stupid question. He could see with his own eyes shewasn’t, so he turned his blistering glare to Alex. The man who should be in jail for ruining Gia’s life had her in his clutches again.
Over my dead body.
“What. The. Fuck,” he growled between heaving breaths. “Did. You. Do.” He clenched his fists, knuckles popping, as he restrained himself from punching the weasel.
The cocky smirk on Alex’s face was all the incentive he needed. His eyes caught sight of Clay behind Alex’s shoulder, who gave him a clipped nod. As much as he wanted to beat Alex to a bloody pulp, his only priority was getting Gia away from him.
“Let. Her. Go.” He took a deep breath. “Now!” It was the only warning he gave before rushing forward.
Everything happened in a blur.
With a burst of speed, Jake reached for Gia, pulling her away from Alex while Clay’s arm locked around his neck in a suffocating grip. He cradled Gia’s limp form to his body, eyes scanning her face for any signs of life.
She was far too pale. All color was gone from her face, leaving her looking ghostly. Her breathing was shallow. He checked her pulse at the base of her neck, which felt sluggish.
“Gia, baby, wake up,” he murmured softly against her temples, planting a kiss like she was Sleeping Beauty and his kiss would fix her.
“What the fuck did you give her, you fucking bastard?” he roared. Clay had his beefy arms wrapped around Alex, caging his arms in a vicelike grip. There was no escaping.
“Nothing, man! I swear!” Alex yelled, struggling to escape.
“Check his pockets,” Clay ordered, but before he could move to follow the command, Quynh appeared and shoved her hands down Alex’s front jeans pocket, pulling out a small Ziplock bag with white pills.
“Roofies.” Clay sneered, meeting Jake’s eyes with a clear message. “Must have spiked her water.”
Quynh rushed forward to Gia. “I’m a nurse practitioner. Let me check her out, please.” She gestured for Jake to carry her to abooth, where he laid her down gently, never once taking his eyes off the bastard. Emily, his other neighbor, who was also a nurse, helped Quynh as they examined Gia.
Once he was confident Gia was in expert hands, he stormed forward until he stood toe to toe with Alex, who shrank back, trying to escape him.
There was no escape.
With a nod to Clay to let Alex go, he gave Alex five seconds to explain or to apologize. The bastard spat at Jake, the spittle flying, before uttering the words that made his blood boil: “She fucking deserved it.”
The next thing Jake knew, his fist was flying toward Alex’s face. The sound of bones crunching was the only noise in the otherwise quiet dining room.
Alex dropped to the floor, crying about his nose being broken, while Clay held him down by planting a boot on his back.
Fuck, that hurt.
Clay crossed his arms, smirking at Jake like it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen.
“What’s so funny?” Jake shook out his hand, stretching his fingers.
“Never thought I’d see the day when the golden boy of Willowbrook would break the law.” He shrugged while Jake winced.
Yeah, it was not very smart of him to do, assaulting someone in public with witnesses—but what other choice did he have?
Clay gestured to the door. “Go on and get outta here. The sheriff is already on the way, and I’ll send him to your house after.”
That was the nice thing about small towns: everyone knew one another, and the sheriff knew exactly where to find him.
Jake nodded, running back to Gia’s side.
“How is she?” Jake asked Quynh, who looked up at him with a sad smile.
