Page 30 of Guardian

“I can’t do that. You see, Suzy is a regular here which puts her under my care. She can damn well screw whoever she wants whenever she wants. But you can’t hurt her unless I say so or she offers that kind of service. Let her go.” Sweet’s tone was mild, but his eyes were hard. He was the devil. He scared me. He was ready to do whatever it took to make the man release his hostage.

The dark-haired man was rising. He’d gotten a gun from somewhere. I screamed a warning, but EZ had already seen what was happening. He fought the man for the gun. It went off, and EZ was left on the ground, blood pumping out of his shoulder.

Sweet slammed a fist into the blonde’s face causing him to drop the woman. He turned to wrestle with the man who held the gun only to find himself facing the barrel. He raised his arms as if he was surrendering, then brought them down in a karate chop motion that moved the gun from his face toward the floor. He twisted the guy’s arms until I heard a bone crack, and the guy screamed in agony.

With the gun he’d taken from the dark-haired man he was ready to send the blonde packing, but the blonde had a gun, too. A shot rang out. The bullet missed Sweet and sank into an innocent bystander’s arm. Without hesitation, Sweet shot back, using the dark-haired man’s gun. The blonde fell in a puddle of blood. The bullet had hit him in the gut.

I leaped off the barstool and ran to EZ. I put one hand over the wound and put pressure on it with the other, trying to slow the bleeding. Someone else, a woman, was doing the same for the bystander. No one seemed to care about the blonde man who was pumping out blood all over the floor.

I felt hands trying to lift me away from EZ, whose blood was now all over my hands and my jeans. “Don’t! I can’t let go or he’ll bleed to death!”

“Jemma, it’s okay. Doc is here. He’s our medic,” I heard Sweet say as he again tried to lift me off the floor.

“Get your filthy fucking hands off me, you bastard! Don’t touch me! Not now or ever again! I don’t ever want to see you again. This is too much, just too damn much! Stay away from Jackson and me. We’ll be fine without your kind of protection. In fact, we’ll be better off without you period!” I screamed.

I rose from the floor, letting the older man take my place. I saw sadness in Sweet’s eyes, but I didn’t give a damn. I had a man’s blood on me, and I blamed Sweet for it.

“You’re not who I thought you were. Stay away. Don’t contact me or Jackson. I’m taking my son and going home.”

I rushed to the back, running into Flame who stood guard at the door to keep my son from coming out or anyone else from going in. She’d never let him come to harm.

“It’s his job,” she quietly said. “He did what had to be done to keep that fool from shooting a lot more innocents. Cut him some slack, chica.”

“It may be his job, his duty, his life, but it’s not mine or my son’s. I don’t want any part of this!” I shouted.

Tears streamed down my face as I collected my son and stormed out the back door. I heard the sirens and chose to ignore them. If the cops wanted a statement from me then they knew where to find me. I wasn’t hanging around, not even to wash off the blood.

Jackson wisely kept his mouth shut. He was smart enough to know his mom didn’t want to answer questions, not even from a horrified child who must wonder how much of the blood all over her was her own.

Chapter 17

Sweet

With the victims transportedto the hospital and the bar cleared out once everyone’s statements were taken, I went in search of Jemma. I hoped she’d calmed down, that Flame had made her understand how things were, and she’d be waiting in the back to make sure I was okay.

“She’s gone,” Flame said the instant he stepped through the door. “She took the kid and left before the cops even got close. She’s scared, Sweet. I tried to explain why you shot, but she wasn’t really in the mood to listen. Maybe, the words will sink in later, after she’s washed off the blood and hugged her son.”

“What did she say? Did she mention me at all?” I asked.

Flame hung her head but admitted, “She said this was your life but not hers or the kid’s. She said she doesn’t want any part of this. She’ll get over it. I think she may love you, Sweet. She did good for a first timer. She kept her head long enough to help EZ,then she lost it. She’s tough, but this was even almost too much for me. You can’t blame her for freaking out.”

“No, I can’t. She was already unhappy about what I am. Just the sight of my tats set her off in the beginning. She wanted to get Jackson another mentor back then. I should have let her. Instead, I played like I was normal. I watched over her, taught her to fight, soothed her cuts, and took her on a damn date. She’ll see tonight as a betrayal. She’ll say I’ve lied about everything. And she’ll mostly be right. I lied to myself thinking I could make this work.”

“You didn’t lie, big guy. I know you. I know your heart. You’re a softy until someone you care about is threatened, then you become hell’s fury. That’s what happened here. I’ll bet you were afraid one of those bullets would reach Jemma. That’s why you took the shot. But you didn’t aim for the kill, and that says something too. She needs to know that,” Flame replied.

“It won’t matter. She saw the real me tonight. She hates me now. She’ll keep Jackson from me, too. At least my loyalties won’t be divided any more. I’ll go let Prime know,” I said.

I slipped out into the dark hallway. I wasn’t about to let Flame see the tears pooling in my eyes. I’d screwed up the only good thing I’d ever had in my life. Now it was gone. I knew that men like me were only given one shot at love, and I’d ground mine into the dirt with bloody hands.

The MC was all I had left, and it was in trouble. My Prez needed me to be focused and ready for trouble at all times. I had to let my personal pain go and think about what needed to be done. I pushed away from the wall, steadied myself, denied that I gave a damn, and headed for Prime’s office.

“I’ve got a copy of the police report, courtesy of Carmichael. It calls your actions self-defense. Everyone in the bar gave witness to that. So, you’re off the hook for it all,” Prime announced when I entered.

“Fine,” was all I said.

Prime looked up from his paperwork and simply stared at my face for a moment. Whatever he saw had him changing tactics.

“Sweet, you did what was necessary. You kept things from getting far worse. It could have been a bloodbath. Suzy is being soothed by her friends, and she’ll probably go visit both of those assholes tomorrow because that’s who she is. The guy shot in the arm is already headed home. The bullet went all the way through. It lodged in the table. EZ is doing great. He’ll be out by tomorrow afternoon with stitches and pain meds. They had to dig out that bullet. Even the asshole you shot is gonna live. Don’t beat yourself up over it,” he told me.

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