Page 12 of Avenging Jessie
A hand snagged her wrist as she passed an empty hallway. “Not so fast.”
It was one of the men. The taller one with the hawk tattoo on his neck. He yanked her toward him, making her trip in her heels, and shoved her inside a service room before she could scream.
“Your purse,” he demanded, holding out his hand.
This was going to get ugly. He outweighed her by eighty pounds or more and towered a good six inches over her. He could probably kill her with a single blow, and still be out the door before security blinked.
She straightened, ignoring the pain in one of her ankles from twisting it. Tucking her pocketbook under her arm, she blinked her eyelashes at him and gave him her best innocent look. “Excuse me?”
He smacked her hand away from the purse and jerked it from its spot under her armpit. “Give me your goddamn purse. I saw you taking pictures. Who the hell are you?”
“Geez, take it easy. I took a picture of you because I thought you were cute.” She grabbed the bag, which resulted in a tug of war with him. “Don’t be an asshole.”
He slapped her, snapping her head back into the wall and stunning her. Stars danced in front of her eyes. “Don’t lie to me, bitch. Who are you? Who do you work for?”
Damn.So that’s how this is gonna go down. Blinking, she scanned the room, searching for a weapon. That was the only way she could level the playing field.
There were plenty of potentials, but her best option was the one she had on her. “Go to hell.”
She kicked his shin and went for the knife strapped to her thigh beneath the slit of her dress.
He was fast, though, anticipating her moves. He slammed her against the wall, bringing up a beefy arm and pressing it to her throat. His other hand flicked out a knife, smaller than hers but equally deadly. “Nice try.”
She jammed the butt of her palm into his nose, ducked under his arm, and scrambled past him. He grabbed her by the waist. She slashed with the knife, catching his bicep, and staggered as he clipped her shoulder with his.
Pain flared, sharp and bright to match her stinging cheek and blurry vision. She stumbled but didn’t fall. When he lunged again, she caught him between his legs with her knee.
He collapsed to the floor with a strangled curse, dropping the knife.
Jessie stood over him, shaking and ready to do more damage with hers, when Spence burst in. “Jess!”
“Got it handled,” she said, breathless and blinking away the spots in her vision.
“Fuck.” He eyed the guy, who was holding his balls and groaning, and turned to her. “What the hell happened?”
“He didn’t like me taking his picture.” She retrieved her purse and staggered on her bad ankle. Spence reached for her elbow, keeping her from falling. “If we let him live, he’ll cause trouble.”
The asshole was lurching to his feet. Spence propped her against a shelving unit, stepped forward, and kicked the brute in the head. The guy went down for the count, his eyes rolling up in his head. She didn’t flinch, but something in her chest squeezed at the sound of the man’s skull cracking tile.
His body spasmed once and stopped moving. Spence scanned her from head to toe. “You’re hurt.”
With quick, calm movements, he grabbed a clean cloth from a stack of towels on the shelf and some hand sanitizer. He cleaned the cut on her shoulder, every movement professional.
His hands brushed her skin, but there was nothing sexual in it—just care. “We’re compromised. We need to get out of here pronto and go underground.”
Jessie nodded, trying to force away the dizziness. His lips were close enough to kiss. The nod cost her, making the spots flare and the pain in her cheek burn. “Let’s move.”
Spence retrieved their coats, and she only put her shoes back on long enough to walk to the limo. Her eyelid twitched, and she fought the urge to curl into him and sleep. “I may have a concussion,” she admitted through gritted teeth.
He took her chin between his fingers and thumb and forced her to meet his gaze, studying her pupils. “Anything else I should know about?”
Plenty, but she didn’t have the energy to tell him. “I’ll be okay. I just need a minute to regroup.”
The physical violence had been bad enough, but the PTSD that surfaced thanks to what Mosai Hagar had done to her was worse.
She shivered, and Spence pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin. “I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”
If only that were true. She knew it wasn’t, but she appreciated him saying it anyway.
