Page 17 of Falcon

I didn’t know if it was the fear that shot through me or the timbre of his voice, but my nipples could suddenly cut glass. Swallowing hard and putting my perfect, pretty mask back on, I turned and steeled myself against looking him up and down. “Well, hey there. Couldn’t stay away?” Gross. Did I just give him that line?

He rubbed his hand down his beard with a smirk. I just wanted to grab it. Shit. I had to focus.

He finally answered. “Something like that. We had business up this way and figured we’d stop by to blow off some steam.”

Lacy looked him up and down then craned her neck around him to look at the others. “You boys looking for some company, then? Want a dance? Or maybe a room?”

If looks could kill, she’d be dead. What the fuck was she thinking? We’d end up dead if we went into a room with them.

He shrugged. “What’s that for, like a private dance?”

“Something like that,” she crooned. “You know, you can bring one of your friends and I can come, too.”

If we lived through this, I was going to kill her myself. What the hell was she doing? “I actually think we already had one, but maybe one of the other girl–”

“Everything good over here?”

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Hey Vin, we’re good.”

Mr. Sexy Biker Beard turned around and straightened to his full height. There was some sort of reaper surrounded by Destiny’s Enforcers on the big patch on the back of his vest. “These ladies were just telling me about a room. I think we’d like one.”

Vinny stepped in closer to him. He was a little taller but not by much. Something about this guy made me think he could take Vinny down fairly easily. He surely wasn’t bothered by him, or at least he didn’t seem like he was. The other bikers stood up and started walking over.

“Everything okay?” one of the other biker guys asked. He was pretty big, with black hair, short on the sides but longer on top. His eyes were crystal blue. He was here the last time. If my biker wasn’t in charge, this guy had to be.

Vinny turned to the side and stepped back, so he didn’t have his back to any of them. My eyes darted around. Tony had guys outside the back and front door at all times. The bartender was big enough to also jump in if needed. But there were four bikers inside right now. None of the clientele here would intervene. They’d scatter before cops showed up, so they didn’t end up with their names on a police report.

The guy outside was supposed to pat people down, but he did a shitty job. I’ve grinded on enough laps to know what a pocketknife felt like. I wasn’t sure if these guys made it inside with any weapons, but I wasn’t sure they’d need them, either.

“Fellas, this is a private establishment. We can’t have you starting any trouble around the ladies. Maybe it’s time to go.”

“No trouble from me. I was just trying to speak to the lady here when you interrupted,” my biker said. Fuck it, I was going to either get killed later or disappear so I may as well end it thinking this man was mine.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me,” Vinny said with his chest puffed out. You had to hand it to him, he was either really brave, or really stupid. “It’s time for you fellas to leave.”

“Or what?” my biker asked.

The one that seemed to be in charge shot him a look but didn’t flinch. They all stood there waiting for Vinny to enlighten them. A few of the customers were watching now, and some ladies were looking over, trying to figure out what was happening. The music was too loud for anyone to really hear anything, but it was pretty obvious something was going down and people were innately nosy. I’d be watching if I was on the outside, but here I was, right in the middle of some bullshit. Before I could ponder on how I went from being independent and doing alright to running from a psycho ex and stuck being whored out, a commotion broke out.

I wasn’t sure if Vinny was dumb enough to try to jump four guys on his own or if they were tired of his warnings, but limbs were flying around. Everyone not involved was scattering. The exits were flooded with men running and nearly naked women squealing and going to the back as fast as their platforms would take them.

It was when I saw a glint of brushed black metal that I realized why everyone was running. Someone got a gun inside.

I was frozen, unsure of what to do. It was dumb to sit and wait for this to play out, and probably get shot or beaten in the process, but my legs wouldn’t allow me to move. All I could do was watch as Vinny and Jimmy, the guy from the back door, wrestled around with these guys.

Lacy started tugging on my arm. “We need to get out of the way!” she shouted as I kept my feet firmly planted.

My head shook then I glanced up to see Jace, the front door guy, running in toward the brawl. Gasping, I realized if Vinny, Jace, and Jimmy were all right here, nobody was watching the doors. For a moment I considered grabbing Lacy’s arm and dragging her out into the night, but we were both clad in nothing but little scraps of fabric and only had the money from our G-string on us. It was highly unlikely anyone would be willing to help us with clothes, a phone, or even a meal unless they intended to do the exact same thing Tony had, or at least something like it.

Tony’s desk was in the dressing room where our clothes were, so we couldn’t get in there and past him without him noticing. There was nowhere to go and nothing to do but wait. Time seemed to stand still but the fight was playing out in a matter of seconds.

The bikers were definitely getting the upper hand on the bouncers, and the fight was moving closer, so Lacy forcefully shoved me off to the side. The bartender came around and started whaling on the other guy with longer brown hair before the biker pulled away, turning to nail the bartender right in the nose.

I looked over my shoulder and watched as Tony came running in with a gun in his hand. My eyes shot back over to the pile of bodies and my biker stood, pulling his arm back ready to throw a blow to Jimmy.

He didn’t see Tony coming. I didn’t even know this guy, but I couldn’t let this happen. Tony was closing in and my stomach tightened into knots. Lacy still had my arm in her grasp as she watched with her mouth wide open, her eyes just as wide. I turned and gripped her shoulders, causing her to release me, then I flung her away from the brawl and she headed for the ground with a screech. Before she even landed, I grabbed a metal chair and rushed toward Tony, slamming the chair into him as hard as I could.

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