Page 49 of Feral

“Jogging. I’m leaving.”

“You look familiar. Where have I seen you?”

I shrug, not willing to admit the truth. “Don’t know, man.”

He opens the door and steps out, which makes my nerves kick up even more. I glance over my shoulder at a group of guys standing on the corner. They look about as inviting as a pool full of sharks.

“So maybe you haven’t heard, but this is our neighborhood. You’re trespassing.”

“What? I’m just exercising. I didn’t do anything.”

“But you did,” he says, rubbing his fist in his hand. “There’s a price to pay for trespassing. What you got to give me?”

I open my hands. “Nothing. I don’t have anything with me.”

He twists his lips then frowns. “That’s too bad. Now you’re gonna owe me.”

I’m really regretting not bringing my phone with me now. “Can’t I have some kind of pass for the first mistake? I’ll never come this way again.”

“Come on, Vito, you’re wasting time,” the driver says, leaning over the roof of the car.

Vito. That’s it.

“Shut up, Pippo,” Vito says without taking his dark eyes off me. When he starts nodding, his cheeks turn red. “I know where I saw you. That club the other night.” In a flash, he grabs the collar of my t-shirt and hauls me toward him. “I got a message for the owners of that place, and you get to be the one to deliver it.”

I nod, hoping he’ll just let me go.

“Get over here, Pippo.”

The other guy stands to his full height and walks over. He’s a beast of a man, taller than me and I’d guess about fifty pounds of muscle heavier.

“This is one of those pretty boys from the club I told Ricco about. What do you say we mess up his face a little?”

Pippo cracks his knuckles. “Now you’re talking.”

Fuck. I’m in serious trouble, but I’m not about to go down without a fight.

Vito shoves me back until I hit the car. I’m barely able to catch myself before his first punch lands across my cheek. My instincts kick in and I throw a punch right back, catching his jaw.

“You motherfucker!” Vito shouts, punching me in the stomach, but I saw it coming and tensed my muscles.

Pippo comes at me too, and I know the only thing I can do is not let one of them hold me down, so I dart out of the way as Pippo smashes his hand into the car instead of me. Vito rushes me, grabbing me around the waist and trying to take me to the ground, but I wrap my leg around his and he’s the one who tumbles. My minimal wrestling days in high school are coming back to help.

“Fucker,” Pippo growls, rubbing his fist as he closes in on me again.

I look for somewhere to run, but a crowd is gathering and I’m pretty sure they won’t be on my side. Before I can plan my next move, my feet are off the ground and I’m in the air, coming down hard on the hood of the car, the wind knocked out of me.

Pippo is on me again, hauling me to my feet and pushing me against the side of the car again. Both men close in, and all I can do is try to defend myself and hope they don’t kill me. I need Hale.

I’m so fucked.

Chapter 16

Hale

I’m agitated but I can’t figure out why. It’s as if the air feels wrong.

“Does everything feel normal to you, Tiago?”

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