Page 18 of Sins & Paradise

She's comforting me, but I can't take my eyes off the scene in front of me.

Lobo fights these men as if he does this for a living. He punches the last man over and over in the face and midsection until blood is nearly spewing out of the man's mouth. The violence makes me queasy. This is wrong. It has to be.

"Stop! Don't kill him. Please stop," I cry. The words aren't as loud as I want them to be, but Lobo turns to look at me.

He growls at me—literally growls at me like a wolf—before he turns back to the man who is barely breathing. Lobo grabs for the machete that the intruder was carrying and puts it up to the man's throat. "Si alguna vez te veo a ti o a tus amiguitos bastardos por aquí otra vez, te voy a matar."

I'm not sure what Lobo said to the man, but the way the other guys shrank away from him, it's clear that it was a threat.

A second later, a group of three other men rush in, and I nearly trip over Magda to get away from them. It's not until I see they are all wearing vests like Lobo's that I understand they aren't here to hurt me.

They are here to help. A little too late, if I can say so myself.

"Lobo, you good?" A man with light blond hair and the word "dig" tattooed on the side of his neck asks Lobo.

"Yeah. It’s handled. Make sure these assholes get out of here and stay out. Digger, help Magda get this place cleaned up and tell Vado, whenever he gets back, that I'll be at the hotel for the day."

He doesn't wait for either of them to acknowledge his orders; instead, he walks by me, grabbing my hand on the way and pulling me out the door with him.

The second we get outside, he pulls me so I'm standing in front of him. His hands go up as if he wants to cradle my face, but he stops just before he touches me, almost as if he thinks better of it.

He's right. As it stands, I'd rather no one ever touch me again.

"Are you okay?" Lobo questions. His words come out terse, and his gaze is steady on mine.

"I'm fine. It's not a big deal."

He growls again before he squeezes his eyes shut and takes a step back.

"Don't do that."

I'm confused as to what he thinks I've done in the few seconds that he's been talking to me.

"Don't do what?"

"Trivialize this shit. You were just attacked by three grown men at your place of work. It's absolutely normal for you to be scared or angry. This is anything but not a big deal."

I want to fight him, but I don't have the energy. Now the adrenaline that must have been coursing through my veins earlier is already on the way out. I can barely stand on my own.

I wobble in front of Lobo, and that's all he needs to see before he moves in.

"No!" I squeak just as he hooks his arm behind my thighs and the other behind my back. He lifts me off the ground and starts walking in the direction of the hotel.

"You know you don't have to do this, right?" I question after a few seconds of walking.

"I've never met anyone as selfless as you, Angela. I don't know where you’re from or what caused you to come over here, but I'm starting to think I'm going to need more information before I just let you walk off on your own.

We're going back to the hotel so you can relax and get yourself together after what you've just gone through. And once you're feeling a little better, you and I are going to sit down, and you're going to tell me exactly what it is you're fighting against." He stares down at me.

I can see what looks like determination and honesty in his eyes. I want to believe that he's truly here to help me, but I've been fooled before. What happens if I tell him everything that's going on and he winds up wanting to help Miguel instead of me? What happens if he tips Miguel off? If I tell him what happened, I could be setting myself up to be shipped right back to Florida.

"How do I know I can trust you?" I whisper, and Lobo just stares down at me.

There's a war going on inside his eyes.

"Don't trust me. I'm no good for you," he answers, and I believe him.

He's warning me, but now I have to wonder if his brand of evil is exactly what I need in order to finally put Miguel and all my nightmares behind me once and for all.

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