Page 75 of Cocky Jerk

“All clear,” he says, but his voice sounds so far away. My gaze drifts from the patch in the center of Tank’s chest to the gun that’s still in his hand.

I take two steps forward, advancing toward him and for a brief moment my mind flirts with insanity and I wish for him to turn around and pull the trigger. I guess I’d rather take a bullet than hurt Antonia and ultimately, that’s how this all ends.

“I said drop your weapon,” I repeat.

“Antonia.”

The man doesn’t fight fair.

“What about her?” I grind out.

“She’s here,” he reveals.

It’s amazing how one piece of information can change everything. How it can send your whole fucking world crashing down. Her beautiful face flashes before me and my imagination gets the best of me as I picture her lying on the floor in a pool of blood. This is place is a fucking warzone. What if she becomes a victim?

Grinding my teeth, my hands start to shake.

“She’s supposed to be at work, why the fuck is she here?” I holler at him.

Suddenly my arms feel too heavy and I start to lower my gun.

“What are you doing?” Richie growls at me.

Closing my eyes, I draw in a deep breath and force my fingers to tighten around the gun.

“Answer me,” I demand. “Why the fuck is Antonia here?”

With a flick of his wrist Tank drops his gun to the floor and slowly turns to face me.

“I might be the bad guy on paper, but you’re the piece of shit who toyed with an innocent girl,” he sneers.

The weight of those words weighs heavily in the air because even though he’s got it all wrong, that’s exactly how Antonia is going to perceive this whole thing.

He knows it and so do I.

“Turn the fuck around, DeLuca,” Richie hollers. “He might not put a bullet in you, but I won’t fucking hesitate.”

Tank ignores him and keeps his beady eyes glued to me.

“You can lock me up and throw away the key, but you better pray she comes out of this unscathed because it won’t matter where I am, I will fucking ruin you.”

If something happens to her, he won’t have to.

I’ll destroy myself.

Swallowing, I glance at Richie.

“Go find Antonia,” I tell him.

“I’m not leaving you with him.”

“Do it, Richie!” I yell, turning to him. My eyes plead with his. I don’t need my partner to have my back, I need him to have my girls. “Please,” I say hoarsely.

Go get my girl.

He hesitates for a second, before jerking his head and hurrying out of the room. Once he’s gone, I turn back to Tank. We stare at each other for what seems like minutes before I lower my gun. He narrows his eyes as I tuck my gun back into my holster and reach for my handcuffs.

“Turn around,” I instruct.

---