Page 46 of Hyde

“I love her,” I tell him, instantly realizing it’s the wrong thing to say.

With a feint to my left, his opposite fist connects with my head.

“You.”

Bam.

“Don’t.”

A slap across my jaw when I see stars.

“Know.”

His fist lands directly on my lips, narrowly missing my nose but inflecting damage nonetheless.

“What it means tolovethat girl,” he roars.

Shaking my head, I try to figure out how there are suddenly so many men surrounding us. There couldn’t have been more than a handful when this started a moment ago. Blinking my eyes repeatedly brings the world into clearer focus, along with the knowledge that Gunner has not softened with age.

At this point, Gunner shoves my shoulder and I fall on my ass.

“I do,” I say, stopping to spit out a mouthful of blood. “I’ll protect her.”

“I protect her. I always have!”

I shift as he kicks his leg out. My ass absorbs the blow, but he’s far from done with me. His next kick connects with my stomach,knocking the wind, and whatever was left of my breakfast, out of me.

Gunner lifts me by my belt and tosses me further away. I land face down in the dirt, unfortunately inhaling that instead of the oxygen I desperately need.

“Enough, goddammit!” Anvil separates himself from the rest of the guys who are watching. “You do any more damage, and you’ll lose your daughter, Gunner.”

Gunner never turns to look at him, he just walks over to where I’m trying to balance on all fours and swings his meaty fist down at my head one more time.

*

“Joey?”

I snap awake at the pain I hear in Leslee’s voice, but my body screams out even louder.

“Lie still, Tabby’s here and she’s just going to check you out.”

Opening my eyes, I can’t see very well and it takes me a second to realize that my right eye is only partially cracked open, which is more than my left eye is capable of. There’s a wet rag over the other side of my face, uncomfortably dripping down my neck.

“I love you,” I announce to the blurry figure hovering above me.

“That’s very nice, Hyde,” Tabby replies, holding my eyelid open and peering into it. “But Leslee’s on your other side.”

“Everything hurts,” I respond.

“And it’s going to for a good couple of weeks,” Tabby replies, catching my head when I try to turn in Leslee’s direction. “Keep still. I need to check your ribs.”

“They’re intact,” I tell her. Having had them broken when I was younger, I knew that I wouldn’t be breathing this easily otherwise.

Breathing through my mouth, that is. My nose was definitely broken and my sternum is in rough shape.

“Hmm,” Tabby lets out a low hum. “Gunner had planned to break a few of those. Lucky for you he got distracted.”

Leslee starts swearing a blue streak again.

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