Page 55 of Truths

“Let me go,” Marnie says, looking him straight in the eyes. “Trust me, I'm the last woman you want to piss off. I'm not going with you anywhere, and as far as I'm concerned, you can get the hell out of this bar.”

“I'm just talking about one quick blowjob in the bathroom. It can't be the first one you've given. It'll be well worth it. I'm a big spender.”

“I'm not a hooker,” she says and tries to yank her wrist from his hand. “Get off me, asshole.”

She continues to struggle, and Jed, the other bartender, hurries over, trying to help her. “Let her go!”

“She's coming with me whether she wants to or not.”

“I'm calling the cops!” Jed shouts.

“Go for it. By the time I'm done with her, it'll be too late anyway. No payment for you now, bitch,” he says, yanking her over the bar.

Within a flash, Venom moves beside the man named Pat, and he taps him on the shoulder. “Hey, asshole.”

“She's mine! I saw her first!”

Venom's fist hits him square in the nose, forcing him to release Marnie as his eyes water while blood drips. “She said no.”

“I don't take no for an answer.”

“And that's why you're scum,” he says, taking the hand he gripped and yanked Marnie with. Slamming it on the bar top, he continues until he hears the satisfying crack of broken bones. “Scum who will have to use his other hand to get some tonight.”

“Fuck you!” he shouts. “You just broke my wrist!”

He grabs Pat's hair and slams his face onto the bar three times before tossing him back to fall on the ground like a tree being cut down in the forest. Everyone around him scattered before he could land on them. “And your face. I would've asked if it was okay, but you said no isn't an acceptable answer.”

His leg moves out to kick Venom, but he jumps over it like a jump rope. “Fuck you!”

“Oh, you want legs included, too? That works for me.”

Three swift kicks provide the satisfactory cracks of ribs while Pat cries out in pain on the floor. Colt stands off to the side, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, ready to jump in if needed. With the anger and pain Venom has raging within him, no help is needed by anyone.

“Anything else we want to do? Oh, yeah,” he says, stomping on his groin, feeling a not-as-satisfactory squish beneath his boot. Even though he deserves it, the mental pain of the injury he just inflicted makes his own groin ache.

“Call an ambulance!” Pat cries out in excruciating pain. “I think you just broke my balls.”

Marnie walks up to them and bends down. “Remember when I said I wasn't someone you wanted to fuck with? This is why.”

“Call an ambulance, you bitch!” he squeaks.

“That's no way to talk to someone you're trying to get help from, don't you think?”

A few patrons lifted him and then carried him out to their car to bring him to the hospital. “Guess he's getting medical attention. Well, I can't convince everyone to be a heartless monster. You good?” Venom asks Marnie.

“Uh, yeah, it's just a bruise.”

“Still more than you should have,” he says and walks outside with Colt quickly behind him.

“Venom, wait!” Marnie calls outside.

Colt and he both turn around, and Colt slaps his arm with the back of his hand. “I'll be at the bikes. Take as long as you need.”

“What?” he asks.

“What were you doing here tonight? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me.”

Swallowing, he looks at the ground. “Dax wanted us to come and check on you. The Kingsmen are stirring up some trouble, and he wanted to make sure everyone was safe. Colt and I were closest to the bar, so we came to check it out.”

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