Page 45 of Beaten

We were hosting a BBQ for the SSI staff and their families. It was totally casual, just hanging out in our backyard and stuffing ourselves with barbequed meats. Ma had invited Beth and Chase too, so Ashley and Emily wouldn’t be the only non-SSI people coming.

Thank you, Meg. She could invite them without anyone questioning her motives. Well except me, I was most definitely questioning her motives. As an added bonus, if Emily was at our place, dad wouldn’t have to work. He’dvolunteered to cover the afternoon shift so everyone else could attend the BBQ.

“Doug’s bringing a second grill, he says he needs it for his “world famous” smoked ribs, apparently they need to be slow cooked— just so.” Meg rolled her eyes. She was still getting used to how seriously we men were about grilled meat.

Our grill would be used for the burgers and chicken.

“Sounds fun.” Ashley wasted no time answering. “We don’t have any plans, right Em?”

“No. It’ll be fun.” Then she asked, “What can we bring?”

“Just yourselves, we’ve got everything covered.” Meg answered with a flourish of her hands.

Jack added, “We’ll have a fuck ton of beer, but you’re on your own if you want something else.”

After dinner, Emily went to the lady’s room. I turned in my chair so I had a clear line of sight to the doorway, and most of the hall, on the side of the bar. I heard Ashley mumble something about overkill just as I noticed two guys, who’d been loud and obnoxious the entire time we’d been there, get up and block Emily as she exited the hall. She put her head down, rounding her shoulders to make herself small as she tried to walk past them. They didn’t let her.

I got out of my chair, and stalked over. I could hear them taunting her. They were drunk, but that was no excuse for rude, aggressive behavior.

One of them said, “You should come home-”

I stepped between him and Emily and cut him off.

“Is there a problem?” I asked through gritted teeth as I held up my left hand, in a defensive position. My primal brain wanted nothing more than to bust this guys nose, but my logic brain knew ‘he’s being an asshole to the woman who’s mine to protect’ wasn’t a good enough reason to start swinging.

Come on dude, take a swing at me. Give me a reason.

I kept my left hand up, in the universal position of defensive posturing, and left my right hand relaxed near my side. Technically, it was “relaxing” near my gun, but I wouldn’t draw it unless I absolutely had to. And while I really wanted to punch this guy, I didn’t want to have to shoot him.

“Who the fuck are you?” He sneered as he batted my hand away and stepped closer, pulling his right fist back to throw a punch.

Thank you.

I shifted my stance and watched his hand come forward. Then, before he made contact, I grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm behind his back.

“You owe the lady an apology.” I growled through gritted teeth. It’d taken every ounce of effort I could muster to not break the fucker’s nose. I wasn’t normally a violent guy, but this guy deserved it for threatening Emily.

I saw his friend moving to interfere in my peripheral vision a half second before AJ, using nothing except his six-foot-one frame and an intimidating posture, made him think better of it. He put his hands up and backed away muttering ‘sorry man just having some fun’. Smart choice, AJ wasn’t just big,he was a black belt in Brazilian Ju Jitsu, and an all around badass. That dude wouldn’t have lasted two seconds.Hell, I rarely ever last more than a few seconds in the ring with AJ.

“What the fuck man! Let me go before I call the cops.”

I almost laughed; he had no idea.Too bad I’m not still on the force.I wasn’t going to lie, but the fear I'd seen on Emily’s face was enough for me to decide a little white lie wouldn’t hurt anyone. I got close to his ear and said, “I am the cops. Now apologize.”

“Oh shit.” I felt him stiffen, then he turned towards me. “Sorry, man.”

I applied a little more pressure to his arm. “Not to me, to her.” I gave the order in my deepest, meanest cop voice.

He mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

I wasn’t convinced but I didn’t want to create an even bigger scene so I asked AJ, who was making sure no one else tried to interfere, “Can you take Snow back to the table?”

Snow White was the code name we’d given Emily. Meg had suggested we use princess names for female clients after she started working for SSI. We’d given her the code name Cinderella, and she thought it’d be a positive, fun way to ID our other female clients during tough times in their lives. She claimed every girl dreamed of being a princess. Unfortunately, most of them were damsels in distress when they came to us.

“On it.” He walked around me and guided Emily back towards the table.

For the first time since they’d cornered her, I could see her face. Her expression was a mix of fear and surprise. I got thefear. But surprise? Did she think I wouldn’t protect her just because these guys weren’t Craig?

I counted to ten, then pushed him towards the bar. “Sit down and stare at the bar. Don’t even think about looking up. Have I made myself clear?”

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