Page 58 of The Wild Moon
Most of the workers nearby ignored Aaron, but he didn’t seem to take that personally.
“What the hell do you want?” a voice spat from behind us.
I turned. The man approaching had to be Paul Byron. Only someone his size could comfortably threaten Aaron. The giant troll approaching was easily six and a half feet tall with a belly to match. His legs were thick as tree trunks. If we weren’t on pure concrete, the ground itself would likely rumble with each step. A beard covered a weak chin, big, bushy, and unkept, the complete opposite of his head, which was bald, and beyond red. Ruddy, alcoholic cheeks completed the look.
“I want my stuff,” Aaron said in a voice so cold I blinked in surprise.
This was the first time I’d heard him speak with anything approaching anger. Anyone who had a shred of intelligence in them should have known not to disrespect someone who could speak like that.
Paul Byron didn’t care.
“Get lost. I told you last time, if you fucked me over, I was done with you,” Byron growled, stopping in front of Aaron, looking down at him by four inches or more.
“I paid for these goods,” Aaron said just as harshly. “I expect delivery.”
“You paid me what you owed me last time, plus interest and late charges. Nothing more,” Byron said. “You want them, it’ll cost you.”
“That wasn’t our deal,” Aaron said, voice going flat.
I flinched at that, and he was onmyside. Byron should be blanching in fear. Instead, he just hiked up his denim overalls and laughed.
“Get out of my warehouse,Greiss,” he snarled, dismissing Aaron and turning to go.
“No,” Aaron said, and before I could react, he punched Byron in the face. Bone crunched audibly.
The other man reeled backward under the blow, blood spurting from his nostrils, roaring loudly.
“What thehell?” I hissed, stunned at the sudden development. “I thought you–”
Half a dozen men came charging out from behind various skids, summoned by their boss’ pained bellow. I glanced at Aaron, but he was too busy focusing on Byron. Which meant the rest of them were left to me.
“You and I are going to have some words after this,Greiss,” I growled, mimicking Byron’s contemptuous use of Aaron’s last name.
Even as I spoke, I was positioning myself between the gang of thugs and my employee. I didn’t miss the irony of it at all, either. It was painfully evident. I was paying Aaron to be his bodyguard.
I’ve got to get a better lawyer,I thought to myself, smiling as I positioned myself, blocking the path.
“Out of our way, lady,” said the first thug, a tall, slim man with a thick brown goatee who reminded me strongly of the second-in-command from Star Trek.
Clearly, he lacked Riker’s charm. Shame.
“Sorry, no can do,” I said with a peppy smile. “But if you want, I can help you lose thirty pounds in thirty days? All you have to do is take some pills three times a day!”
“What?” The man blinked at me, then looked at his buddies.
Behind me, Byron shouted angrily. “Stop staring at her titties and get over here, you mongrels.”
“Rude,” I said, glancing over my shoulder. “I don’t have any titties for them to stare at. Way to hurt a girl’s self-confidence.” I thought about it, tapping my chin. “Or maybe he’s trying to help. What do you think?”
“What thefuckare you talking about?” the first thug said, stepping forward, arm extended, clearly meaning to brush me aside as they went to their boss’ aid.
“It’s my sidehustle,”I growled the last word as his hand swept toward me, and I moved.
Ducking under his arm, I drove a knuckled fist into his kidney. The man doubled over, and I snapped my upper body down, balancing on one leg. My other leg came up and over my head in a display of flexibility I did not care to repeat, the sole of my foot catching him right in the face as he tried to stand up.
“Ow,” I hissed, my groin shooting bright darts of pain through the rest of me. “That was dumb.”
But I’d always wanted to try that move. Now I knew better. Leave it to the pros. The really, really flexible pros.
