by Rebel Hart
“Max, where are we going? Your bike is back that--ah!”
I almost ran into someone carrying a tray of drinks. I whipped around, intending to demand an answer from Max. But the fury in his eyes prompted me to keep my mouth shut. He twisted me back around and kept leading me. I felt the tension in his hands growing. He gripped my shoulders so tightly I thought he’d leave marks behind. And all the while, he guided me back to the back room.
Until we were shrouded in darkness again.
“Max, what’s going on?”
He turned around and closed the door before I heard him rummaging around in his jeans.
“Max? Say something, damn it.”
A light came on. “I said hush.”
I lowered my voice. “Tell me what’s going on. What are we doing?”
He started panning the light around, completely ignoring my voice. What the hell was going on? What in the world just happened?
“Max, please. Tell me.”
He spun around quickly. “Do as I ask, or this is done.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“When you were sitting out in that booth, you made a commitment to me. Did you mean it?”
I stared at him. “Of course I meant it. But that doesn't mean--”
“When it’s safe, I’ll explain. Until then? Trust me to protect you.”
My blood turned cold. “I’m in danger?”
“We both are. Follow me. There’s a stairwell over here.”
He wrapped his hand around my wrist and tugged me along behind him. I mean, it was all I could do to keep up. Even I heard the panic in his voice. And I’d never heard that before. Ever. Not once had he ever wavered. But the more he tried to keep me quiet, the more wavers I heard.
It made me nervous.
He opened the door to the stairwell and we rushed down it. I stumbled into him a few times. And every time, he turned around to catch me. Worry rushed through my body. It felt like I could hear everything within a five-block radius. Every single part of my body was on alert, waiting to be seen. Waiting to be yanked around.
Waiting to be jumped.
I followed Max while he followed his little light. And when we found a door with an ‘exit’ sign, we dashed in that direction. He eased the door open silently and I peeked outside. There was an alleyway outside.
“Come on. Stay close, gorgeous.”
He certainly didn't have to tell me twice.
The alleyway was dark, with signs to direct trucks into a loading zone. I rubbernecked around, trying to take it all in, making sure no one was approaching us from any other angle. Max dropped my hand and jogged to the entrance of the alley, peeking out onto the sidewalk, his eyes dancing against something I couldn't see. I stood there, waiting for him. Waiting for our next move. But, as I watched him, I saw his shoulders tense.
Before he burst into a sprint back my way.
“Run with me, and keep up as much as you can,” he said.
Not like I had a choice in the matter.
Nonetheless, I kept the pace Max set. The running helped me to dispel some of the nervous energy pooling in my gut. It didn’t stop my entire body from shaking, though. I cursed my inner wimp. I needed to be able to handle shit like this if I was going to be with him. Our destination seemed to be the other side of the alleyway, away from the parking lot. Away from his bike. Away from the noise and the chaos and the crowd standing outside the restaurant-slash-club.
But before we got there, he pinned me against the wall in the darkness. He held his breath. He cloaked me with his body as the world fell momentarily silent around us with his hands on either side of my face as we leaned against the brick wall.
Listening for something I couldn’t hear.
“Max?” I whispered.
His head kept darting around, looking up and down the alley. As if he were waiting for something. Or someone.
“Max?” I whispered harshly.
“Someone was waiting for me. I think they spotted me.”
My hands rose to his chest. “Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how do you know they were waiting for you?”
“They were by my bike.”
I nodded quickly. “Okay, that’s bad. Um, what were they doing? Were they carrying any--?”
He groaned. “Just give me a second.”
“Do you know what they want?”
He growled. “Dani?”
“Yes?”
“Shut up and give me a second to think.”
My stomach churned with nerves. Tears of fear rushed my eyes. I closed them, trying to hold them back because I didn’t want Max to see me this weak. I didn’t want him to think I couldn't handle this life. Or being out with him. But when my body began to tremble, I knew my anxiety had betrayed me.
Of course you’d walk into trouble the night Max warns you it’ll come for them.
It was like the world was actively trying to separate us.
“Shit.”
My eyes flew open. “What?”
He gripped my arm. “Come with me. Now.”
I stumbled away from the wall. “Wait a second. What’s happening. What--?”
“They’re coming. We have to run. Now.”
And again, he certainly didn’t have to tell me twice.
14
Max
I dragged Dani behind me until we made it to the back of the alleyway. I ripped her around the corner and spun her until she faced me, placing her back against the wall. Then I jammed my hand back into my pocket and pulled out my phone.
“Dani, I need you to do something for me. It’s important.”
I kept my voice as low as I could while she looked up at me with wide eyes.
“What is it?” she asked.
I slapped my phone in her hand. “Call a man in my contacts named Rupert. You remember him, right? Red hair?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I--I do.”
“Good. Call him. Tell him where we are. Tell him I need him now. As soon as he can get here.”
“What’s going to happen? What’s happening, Max?”
The tremble in her voice broke my heart. The tears she kept trying to blink back shook me to my core. The way her hand quaked as he wrapped her fingers around my phone made me wonder if I was a fool. If I really had done right by her in letting her make her own decision about this.
Then again, she was a grown woman. No longer the cute little girl I’d seen across the street moving into her little dorm room.
And baptism by fire was one way to initiate someone into my lifestyle.
“Dani, just do as I’m asking. Duck behind that dumpster and don’t you move, no matter what you hear. Got it?”
She swallowed hard. “Max?”
I growled. “Just call him. And stay down. Do as I’m asking you to do, gorgeous.”
I helped her to slide behind the dumpster before I started back down the alleyway. When I had peeked around the corner originally, I saw the two men come out of the club and go over to my bike, their eyes caressing my metal beauty as if they had a right to. But one of the guys moved quickly, practically snapping his neck as he peered over his shoulder.
And I’m pretty sure he spotted me as I dashed back for Dani.
I knew they weren’t the friendly sort, either. They were both dressed in black. All black, like those guys who jumped me just outside her dorm building. I wondered if they knew the men that attacked me. Or maybe they were two of the four guys there that night.
One of them did tell you that was nothing but an appetizer.
In the pit of my gut, I knew this was connected. I didn’t know how to prove it. But my gut never steered me wrong. It always kept me safe. It always kept my men safe. It always kept my brother safe.
Now I hoped it would keep Dani safe.
I stood in the middle of the alleyway, thankful that they hadn’t turned the corner yet. Maybe if they saw just me standing here, they’d get their focus off Dani. Because I was alm
ost certain they’d seen her in the wake of me trying to get away from them. I squared off my shoulders as two shadows rounded the corner. My hands balled up into fists as I stood there, my feet shoulder-width apart. I was ready for a fight. I was ready for a possible takedown. I was ready to re-open some injuries.
What I wasn’t ready for was Dani getting hurt.
God, I hope she’s calling Rupert.
The massive men kept walking until they were only twenty or so feet away from me. Then they stopped. They both looked me up and down before grins spread across their faces. After they were done drinking in their fill of me, one spoke up.
“Looks like the right guy to me.”
The second man nodded. “I’d say so.”
I licked my lips. “What do you want?”
I braced myself for a battle as the first man took a step toward me.
“There’s someone who wants to speak with you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m sure they do.”
The second one nodded. “You can make this easy, or you can make this hard. We’re prepared for either.”
I snickered. “Tell me who wants to speak with me and that’ll determine how we do this.”
The first man smiled. “And spoil the fun? Nah. We don’t ever get this much fun in our profession.”
The second man rolled up his sleeves. “So you can either come with us, or we’ll take you ourselves.”
“Your choice, tough guy.”
I drew in a deep breath as both of the men stood there. I wasn’t sure if Dani had done as I’d asked. So I didn’t know if there was any point in pausing. Or buying myself time until Rupert got here. However, I did know a few things about this situation. Things that weren’t happening.
I wasn’t going with two fucking strangers to meet their mysterious boss.
Nor was I leaving Dani behind to be found by someone else.
“You know what, boys? I think I’ll take my chances,” I said.
The first man snickered. “Are you serious?”
The second man chuckled. “You owe me forty bucks.”
I nodded. “Glad I could make someone a little bit of money.”
The first man charged me, his feet moving quicker than I anticipated. The gleaming of his serrated knife in his hand caused me to step to the side. The second man ambushed me, clocking me square in my ribs with his fucking fist. And as I let out a groan, I prayed to any god listening that Dani did as I asked.
Stay where you are, gorgeous. Let me handle this.
I saw the knife coming straight for my face. I grabbed the man’s wrist and pulled him to me before knocking the two men’s heads together. I slipped out from against the wall they tried to use to corner me and picked up a metal pipe I’d stumbled over. With my back hunched and my nostrils flaring, I held my own in the middle of the alley. Ready to fight for the small amount of space I could give Dani as a safety threshold.
“What? That’s all you got?” I asked.
And as the first man charged me again, I held the metal pipe over my head.
15
Dani
I scooted further between the dumpster and the wall as I held the phone to my ear. I heard the engine of a bike roaring on the other end of the phone. But I didn’t know how much time had passed. I couldn't hear anything that was going on. I didn’t know if Max had run. Or dipped back into the club. Or lured the guys in another direction.
“Rupert. Where are you?” I hissed.
“I’m less than five minutes out! If that!”
I winced at his yelling. “We don’t have five minutes. I can’t hear anything that’s going on.”
“Stay where you are. Do as Max asked. I’m serious. I’m not far away now.”
“Hurry up!”
My heart thundered in my chest. The shadows cloaked me as I continued to grow more curious. I needed to know what was going on with Max. I needed to at least know that he was still standing.
“I’m going to try and see if--”
“Bambi, no. Just do as Max is asking you. He’s trying to keep you out of trouble.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s just a peek. Calm down.”
“ETA two minutes!”
I slowly crept away from the dumpster and peered around the corner. With his phone held to my ear and Rupert rattling off some nonsense, I watched as one of the guys charged Max. My jaw fell open as the fight began, unraveling within the confines of the alley as I knelt there. Being useless.
“Rupert, they’re ganging up on him.”
“Stay where you are. I’m fucking serious. I’m about to--”
I watched as Max reached for something. I watched him hold it over his head. And as one of those guys charged him, he ducked as Max swung. Another guy came out of seemingly nowhere and slammed straight into his gut. I saw the man’s knee connect before Max crumbled to his knees. And the sound of something metallic clanged off in the distance.
“Rupert. He’s down. What do I do? Tell me what the fuck to do!”
“What the hell do you mean, down?”
“Rupert!” I hissed.
“Stay where you fucking are. Don’t get involved. Guys like them don’t have a moral code. I’m turning onto the club’s street now. They’ll hurt you in a heartbeat. They don’t care. Trust me, just stay down.”
“I can’t just crouch here while he needs help,” I insisted.
He roared. “That’s exactly what you’ll do! Stay the fuck out of this. It’s my ass if you get hurt, too.”
I sighed. “Where did you say you--?”
“Fuck!”
I held the phone away from my ear at his exclamation.
“Fuck. Fuck. Shit. God damn it!”
I frowned. “What? What is it?’
“An accident. It’s blocking the fucking road!”
I winced. “Reroute. How much longer?”
I heard his engine revving before his voice sounded in my ear again.
“Fucking hell, three minutes. I’m three minutes out. I have to take the alleys to get to you.”
I sighed. “Better make it two if these guys are really gonna hurt a woman.”
“What? No. Bambi, damn it, listen to me!”
But I hung up the phone.
I slipped out of the crevice and stood to my feet. Max’s phone was already lighting up again, but I slipped it into my back pocket. I looked around me, trying to figure out what I could grab to use as a weapon before I charged these assholes. I slipped to the front of the dumpster and opened the top. There was nothing but black bags of trash in there. Rotten food that made my nose curl. Leaves that had gotten blown down this way and kicked up into the damn thing.
Then my eyes settled on the glistening object in the corner.
“Bingo.”
I jumped and pulled the wine bottle out of the trash before touching back down onto my feet. Without thinking, I slipped around the corner. Max was grunting as he tried to get up. I heard the pain laced in his voice as the men kept driving their boots into his ribs.
“Get off him!” I roared.
My voice startled the men enough for them to leave Max alone. And before I could think straight, I rushed them. With the bottle over my head and my eyes trained on the men in black, I felt wine dripping down my arm. Over my shirt. Down onto my jeans as I sprinted toward them.
“Dani, no!” Max bellowed.
But it was too late.
The man that had charged Max got a bottle to the back of his neck. And as he sank to his knees, I whipped around and clocked the other man in his jaw. I whirled back around as Max scrambled to his feet. But before I knew it, one of those dumbasses had their arms wrapped around Max, ready to take him back down.
And that shit wasn’t flying with me.
“You. Let. Him. Go!”
I punctuated my words with blows to his back. I felt the wine bottle creaking and cracking in my hands. I finally brought it down against the back of the man’s head, and it shattered, breaking into piece
s as he finally slumped. He took Max to the ground. I saw the man’s head bleeding as I drew in shallow breaths through my nose.
“Dani, look out!”
I whipped around, the sharp broken neck of the bottle still clutched in my hand. The other man tackled me to the ground, and I saw something shining in the corner of my eye. He started laughing, taunting me as he straddled my flailing body, holding a knife to my neck.
“You really should learn your place, bitch.”
I snarled. “Stay the hell away from us.”
I swiped at the man’s face with the neck of the bottle, catching him across the cheek. He let out a growl as Max finally rolled the other man off him and charged the guy straddling my body. I heard him grunt as Max pinned him to the brick wall. I scrambled to my feet as the man I loved landed punch after punch. I saw the dude’s cheek bleeding. I heard an engine roaring down the alleyway. And once the tires squealed up to my side, it pulled my attention away from the fight.
Long enough to see Rupert come into view.
“Get on his bike!”
Max’s voice boomed in my ear as Rupert reached out for me.
“Max, wait. No! Max!”
Rupert forced me onto the back of his bike. “Got her.”
Max yelled. “Get her out of here. Now!”
Panic rose up my throat. “Max!”
Rupert sped off, leaving Max with those two brutes. I tried to reach out for him, but I almost fell off the speeding bike in the process. Rupert blazed a trail straight to the road. People honked their horns and cursed at us as we parted the unwilling sea of bodies and engines. I clung to Rupert, trying to crane my neck back to see if I could catch a glimpse of Max.
And just as Rupert got his bike steady, I watched Max sprint away from the alley.
The bike cut a U-turn in the middle of the road. Rupert revved his engine as I watched Max make a mad dash toward his bike. My eyes whipped back to the alleyway, waiting for those men to emerge, to chase us down.
But no one came out.
“Hang on tight, Bambi. We’re following him. And don’t drop that bottle neck, whatever you do.”
I wrapped my arms around him. “Done and done.”
