Page 34 of Mace

For a moment, he doesn’t move, but then he eats up the space between us in a handful of strides. I brace for whatever is coming next, unsure what’s about to happen.

His nostrils flare as he pulls the ice pack off my neck, and as his fingers skim over my skin, I swear I hold my breath.

“Fuck,” he grinds out at whatever he sees.

“Is it bad?” I ask, wishing there was a mirror so I could look myself.

“You hurt anywhere else?” He ignores my question, which doesn’t help my feeling of unease.

“No. I’m fine. I can go back to work.”

I try to stand. His hand on my shoulder is gentle but insistent as he pushes me back into the chair. “That ain’t happening.”

Great. Another shift, another loss of earnings. I’m a positive person, but this is starting to feel personal. “I don’t need to be coddled, Mace. I want to work.”

He dips his head, and the hardness in his eyes is a little scary. “You just got assaulted right in front of me, Maylie. Do you think I’m gonna let you head back out there like nothing happened?”

Is he worried I’m going to cause trouble over this?“Nothing did happen. You stopped it from getting out of hand. Everything’s?—”

“If you say ‘fine’, I’ll lose my mind,” he mutters, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Nothing about this is fucking fine.”

The door opens again and Steve slips in, his expression contrite and a little broken as he takes me in. “Shit,May, I’m sorry. We were dealin’ with another incident and?—”

Mace grabs him around the throat, and my eyes flare as I launch up to my feet. Am I wobbling? It doesn’t matter. Stopping Mace from hurting Steve is all I care about.

Mace has other ideas, though. He shoves the bigger guy against the wall with so much violence, the shelving unit next to him rocks back and forth, almost spilling its load on the carpet.

“You left Maylie defenceless. If I hadn’t been there?—”

His fist rams into Steve’s gut so hard, I swear I feel the reverberation of it through the air around us.

“Mace,stop!” When he doesn’t, I grab his bicep and try to pull him back. He doesn’t move so much as an inch.Shit, this man is strong.Once again, I’m reminded how weak I actually am. I can’t stop him, so I do the only thing I can—I beg. “Please! Enough! Just stop!”

I don’t know if it’s my plea or the tone of my voice that gets through to him, but he snaps his head towards me, focusing his attention in my direction. Any hope I have that I might be able to reason with him is swiftly dispersed as his gaze drops to my neck and his eyes become stormy.

“You’re gonna bruise,” he growls, like it’s a personal affront that I got hurt on his watch.

I don’t know why he cares so much, but despite the chaos of the situation, I feel something warm spreading through my belly. It’s been so long since someone gave a shit about me. I’m always so busy taking care of everyone else.

“It’s not his fault,” I choke the words out, my voice thick. “These things happen sometimes.”

His eyes narrow. “This has happened before?” The wayhe grinds the words tells me my answer is going to determine how the rest of this conversation goes.

I dart my gaze towards Steve, who is statue-still, just as he was when the other biker grabbed him around the throat the first night the Sons took over Temptation. The fact he doesn’t fight back doesn’t feel like a positive.

“No. Never,” I say. It’s not a lie, so I give the assurance easily. “The guys take good care of us. This was just… shitty bad luck. Please let go of him.”

Mace’s lip curls up into a snarl, but to my relief, he does release Steve, stepping away from him. I position myself in front of the man my friend loves, even though I would be helpless if they decided to fight.

“Your fuckin’ job is to keep her safe.” Mace’s words are like carved stone.

“I know,” Steve says, and I hear the guilt threading through his words. “I’m not makin’ excuses, but I had three of my guys on the main floor dealin’ with an altercation.”

“You’re blamin’ this on fuckin’ staffing issues?”

Steve wisely keeps his mouth shut.

“Mace, it’s not his fault, and I’m fine. You saved me.”

---