Page 80 of Greed
It had been him all along.
The platform spun and pinned the two men against the wall, trapping them in its iron grasp.
Griffin faced Lilo’s pierced attacker, eyes wild behind his spectacles.
Did he even need those glasses?
A vein pulsed in his forehead, his nostrils flared, and a low growl erupted from the base of his throat, scaring the shit out of Lilo.
“Let. Her. Go,” he bit out.
The man nudged Lilo’s chin with his gun, but when cold metal hit her skin, the gun soared across the alley to skid across the floor, splashing through the puddles of old snow.
“What the fuck?” The guy still didn’t get it. He still hadn’t made the same connection Lilo had.
The man with the business-like blue shirt and black-framed spectacles was dangerous and deadly. He was the majestic beast come to life. He was a mythical warrior who had no scruples or ethics. He was the bastard who’d left Lilo alone in that dark stairwell…
She held her breath, wanting to close her eyes but too afraid to look away.
The piercings in the man’s face began to rattle.
“If you don’t back away from her, I will pull those from your face, one by one.”
As Griffin advanced, he made a grabbing motion above his head. More metal pried loose from the rusty fire-escapes—ladders, pipes, gutters…. Long metal bits creaked and arched into the alley, as though being drawn by a magnetic force.
How was he doing this?
The Irish gang-leader hesitated. He glanced at his pinned and groaning friends, then back at Griffin’s rage.
Her attacker’s piercings dangled out—presumably gripped by Griffin’s unseen power—hovering away from his body, and the man hastily moved with them to avoid having them ripped from his flesh. He stepped away from Lilo until he pushed up against the opposite wall with his friends.
“What the fuck are you?” The pierced man cried, wincing at the pain of his piercings being pulled to the limits. “What do you want?”
“I want to know why you want the pictures so badly.” Griffin’s hands were like claws in the air. The metal above him creaked menacingly for effect. “I want to know who you work for.”
The pierced man held up his hands in surrender. “Fine. I don’t care. We’re not getting paid enough for this. I don’t know why they want the pictures, but I can tell you it was a woman with white hair and that’s all I know.”
Griffin’s eyes narrowed. He was silent for so long, Lilo almost said something, but then he let go of his metaphysical hold on the metal above him, and pulled the fire-escape from the wall where it pinned two of the men.
“Get out of here before I change my mind.”
The pierced man helped his Baker Boy hat friend from the ground, and together, all three scrambled away, footsteps splashing loudly through puddles, echoing against the walls.
When Griffin turned to Lilo, all menace melted and was replaced with pure misery.
“Please.” He held his hands up. “Let me explain.”
“You!” She hugged herself. “You humiliated me.”
Tears burned her eyes. She didn’t know what to think. He’d saved her life. He was Griffin. He was Greed. He was someone she knew nothing about, clearly.
“I can explain.”
“You can explain?” she hissed. “How? What possible explanation can excuse you leaving me in that stairwell like that?”
Anguish twisted his features and he reached for her, but pulled back and fisted his hand. “I’m sorry I left you. It was the worst moment of my life. I hate myself for making you feel like that, and I want to tell you everything. Will you let me?”
Frustrated, Lilo’s gaze darted around the alley.
