Page 9 of Vas

Counting in his head, he rounded a tree and leapt a bush, reaching the wall to the alley in thirty-four seconds. A blip in time in the grand scheme of things—hell, it took longer than that to take a piss—but he also knew how long thirty-four seconds could be. He could kill a man in less time, so he knew what damage could be done, causing a renewed rush of adrenaline to pump through his veins as he jumped the wall.

His eyes had been off Anya for thirty-four seconds. To him, it had felt like a lifetime.

He ran into the alley, fury filling him when his gaze zeroed in on Anya and her attacker. In ten steps—he counted those, too—Vas had his hands on the asshole who had her pressed to the wall, ripping him off her.

“You just fucked up.” His words came out as a menacing growl as he spun the guy around. Years of fighting for his life on the streets had instinct kicking in, and his rage made him doubly lethal. Pulling back a fist, he aimed for the guy’s jaw, feeling bone splinter under the crushing weight of his knuckles. Not a killing blow as he would’ve liked, but he wasn’t in some war-torn country where he could just leave dead bodies lying around. And that was a fucking pity.

The blow did knock the asshole out cold, landing him on the ground with a satisfying thud. Again, Vas reminded himself he couldn’t kill him, as he gave him a few solid kicks to the kidneys and stomped on his midsection, breaking a few ribs. Not dead, but the fucker would be hating life when he woke up.

Vas searched the guy’s pockets, finding his wallet. Opening it, he pulled out the ID and was just pocketing it when he heard a gasp. Spinning on his heel, he saw Anya, hand braced against the wall, struggling to stand.

Cursing under his breath for being so focused on her attacker he neglected to see if she was okay, he went directly to her and squatted. He brushed a lock of hair from her eyes then cupped her jaw, rubbing a thumb just under an abrasion that marred the petal-soft texture of her skin. “Are you okay?”

“I think so. Just shaken.”

He took her hand, noticing it tremble as he helped her to her feet. His eyes caught on the open zip of her jacket before tracking downwards to find her pants undone. Regardless of the consequences, it took all his self-control not to murder the bastard. Releasing her hand, he reached for the closure.

Cheeks flaming, she stepped out of his reach and hastened to do them up herself.

Locking his jaw, he said through ground teeth, “Did he hurt you?”

She shook her head, glancing at the unconscious body lying on the ground. He witnessed her slight shudder before she announced, a bit unsteadily, “No. You got here in time.” A look of confusion crossed her face as she crossed her arms protectively across her chest, “Not that I’m complaining, but how are you here? You left the diner over an hour ago.”

Not wanting to reveal his compulsion to watch over her, he pointed at his building and told a half-truth. “I was on my balcony when I saw the guy grab you.”

She looked toward his apartment then back at him. “Lucky for me you were out on it.” She gave a shake of her head in disbelief. “What are the odds?I had no idea you lived so nearby. I mean, I guess I should’ve guessed, seeing as you come to the diner so often but…” She trailed off, her cheeks pinkening as she cast her eyes to the ground.

“Yeah, well,” he cleared his throat, growing just as uncomfortable as she seemed to be with the direction of the conversation and was just about to change the subject when a scuffling noise drew his attention. He whipped his head around. The dude had gotten up and was run-hobbling down the alley as fast as his broken ribs would allow. Vas thought about chasing after him but decided to let the guy go. He’d track him down later.

That way he could make sure the asshole never hurt Anya again.

Chapter 4

“He cracked your distributor cap.”

“You mean it wasn’t a coincidence my car broke down? You think I was targeted?” They both had their heads under the hood of Anna’s car and the light from Vas’s phone wobbled in her shaky hand as she held it, aiming the flashlight at the engine while he poked around.

“That would be my guess. See those white scuff marks?”

Anna leaned in closer and saw the marks he pointed to, along with a few dust flakes. “Yes.”

“Looks like he smashed it with a rock to disable your car.” He lifted his head, his eyes colliding with hers. “Fucker knew what he was doing.”

There was anger in his tone, easy to detect even through his slight accent. She shivered, happy that fierceness wasn’t directed at her.

He read her reaction wrong. “This wasn’t your fault.”

She agreed with him, to a point. “I should’ve never gotten out of my car. And I wouldn’t have had my phone been working.”

His eyebrows lowered over hooded lids. “What’s wrong with your phone?”

She worried her bottom lip before admitting, “Well, there’s nothing technically wrong with it. I’m on a pay-as-you-go plan and it’s out of minutes.”

He blew out what sounded like an exasperated breath, raking a hand through his hair. “So, are you saying, you could have used the money I tried to give you to buy minutes for your phone instead of stubbornly giving it back to me?”

Damn,nowhe sounded mad at her. She thought it best to deflect that question, changing the subject. “Speaking of phones, is it okay if I use yours to call for an Uber?”

Taking his phone from her hand, he tucked it into his back pocket. “I’ll drive you home. We’ll take care of your car tomorrow. If I can find the part, it should be an easy fix.”

---