Page 11 of Owning Emma

He made an obnoxious, snorting sound. “What, the baker? Roman wants to protect this sorry excuse of human flesh? His standards sure have decreased over the past few weeks.”

“You can have the baker; he’s of no use to me. Touch the girl, and we will have a problem.” Krank remained calm, but his goons in front of me didn’t do much to hide their sweat, probably because they knew the damage I could do.

“That’s where we have an issue. I have no interest in the baker, but her, I can think of a million and one ways to use her. Step aside; we will take what’s ours and leave.” One guy in front of me grinned, taking his boss' statement as an order. Taking one step to the side then moving his body forward, he moved as if attempting to pass by me. Him getting to Emma wouldn’t do. And unfortunately, I wished they listened. If they had, this whole situation could have been avoided.

The moment his body was within an inch of mine, my hand shot out and wrapped around his throat, preventing him from grabbing her. I squeezed, enjoying the gasps and the way his veins pulsed and bulged under my fingertips, before lifting his body, so he dangled from my grasp a few inches above the tile floor.

Refusing to make eye contact with the piece of shit dangling from my palm, I looked at Krank instead, daring him to do something, challenging him to take me on. I knew he wouldn’t. Deep down, he was just a scared little pussy, and I was a giant son of a bitch. “I told you, touch the girl, and we would have a problem.”

“Do you think I care what you do to him? I’ve got plenty of men dying to take his place at my side.” Krank’s face remained passive, but his stance rigid.

“No?” I shrugged. Fine with me. I could go either way. I didn’t enjoy it or got some sick pleasure from choking a guy out, but if it’s what I had to do, it was a done deal. My fingers closed in, a steel vise against his soft flesh. His already scarlet skin darkened before a shade of purple crept over it. He struggled at first, clawing on my wrist and fingers, trying to force me to release my grip and let air into his passageway. He was seconds away from being lost, his fight was fading, his eyes dulling.

“Enough,” Krank shouted. I took my eyes from the guy in my hand, waiting for Krank to continue. “Let him go; we will discuss this between us.”

The guy was already out, but that didn’t stop me from opening my grasp and letting his body fall to the floor in a solid, hard thunk. “What would you like to discuss?”

My question was spoken casually. There was no need to involve my temper when it was clear I already had the upper hand. Krank sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Technically, the baker has defaulted, so that girl belongs to me.”

“Untrue, she already is under Roman’s employment, a separate arrangement from her father’s dealings. She isn’t yours to claim, and even if she didn’t have Roman’s protection, she’s a person. You can’t trade her in your fucking business dealings. Now how much is Mike short on his payment.”

“Two thousand.” Jesus. What kind of payment arrangement did they make? That wasn’t a weekly payment; it was a mortgage installment. All the same, I didn’t want more drama than needed, and I didn’t want their greasy fingers anywhere near Emma, so I took out my wallet and began counting bills. Taking out the wad of cash, I tossed it on top of the unconscious body that lay at my feet.

“You won’t come near her and threaten her again, we clear?” It was more of a statement than a question. He wouldn’t touch a single brown hair on her head without me ripping him and his men to pieces.

“We are clear for today. I can’t vouch for the next time he’s short on cash. You can’t be here to protect the doll all the time.”

Like fucking hell, I couldn’t. I would attach her to me like my second skin if I had to. There was no way he was getting to her, not as long as I was still breathing. I crossed my arms again. “Leave.”

He didn’t even give the man on the ground a second glance before he pivoted on his heels and turned toward the door, jiggling the bells louder than I’d like. I didn’t flinch though; I watched as his other guy collected the bills and helped his still groggy friend to his feet. My eyes followed them until they left the building, then I watched from the front window until they were on their motorcycles and had driven away.

When they were entirely gone, I went back to my table, sinking in my seat, too angry to fully concentrate on the task at hand. I was furious, enraged, trying to cool myself down before I picked up the whole damn table in front of me and sailed it through the window. The thought of Krank, thinking one day he would own Emma, touch her skin, feel her heat, had me nearly gagging. There was no fucking way I’d let that happen.

It took a few minutes for my mind to cool down and another few more for the energy running through my body to catch up with my mind. I reminded myself the best way to stay centered was to inhale through my nose, then let it all out slowly. Concentrating on things I couldn’t change, like Krank’s quest to touch her, was senseless. But, focusing on what I could control, like Emma always having protection, well that had purpose, meaning, importance, and if nothing else came of this whole mess, at least I knew she would be safe.

I was lost in my own thoughts, consumed by my desire to keep her safe from whatever harm was thrown at her, that when Emma placed a plate in front of me, I almost missed it. Shaken from my stupor, I looked up at her just as she placed a cup of coffee next to the plate; the plate filled with pink and yellow frosted flower sugar cookies. Well, damn. I looked up at her, knowing I should thank her, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t get a damn word out because when I looked at her, she was fucking smiling, gracing me with the first golden rays aimed in my direction all fucking week, and I was frozen. Frozen in place, unsure what to say or do, but it turned out I didn’t have to say anything. She turned and left, leaving the coffee and cookies behind, giving me a nice view of her perfect heart ass as it swayed sassily away. Fuck me; I was done for, an utterly sappy goner.

Deep breaths. It was a reminder, a reminder I needed because without it, my cock would damn near drill a hole into the table. Deep breaths. I picked up a flower cookie, dipping it into the coffee before shoving the whole delicious morsel into my mouth. Deep breaths.

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