Page 55 of Fight For Us
He laughed again. Such a cocky bastard. “And why not? What? You going to beat me up with your fake leg?” He turned toward Olivia again. “You must love to fuck that stump, don’t you? Kinky bit—”
Before he could finish speaking, I swung the barstool against his knees and he lurched forward. I took advantage of his compromised position and brought the stool up again, this time smashing it against his back. When I stepped away, he crawled to his knees.
“Fuck yeah, cripple!” He let out a maniacal laugh that seemed to beckon his friends. “Let’s do this.”
That was when all hell broke loose. Shouts bounced through the room while a group of men surrounded me. Olivia screamed. The same man who alerted me in the bathroom came to my side. Between the pounding of my pulse and my rage clouded vision, it was as if all the movement happened at half speed. I stood to my full height, readying the stool to strike, when the sound of a gun cocking broke through my haze.
“Not in my bar, motherfuckers!” The bartender held her shotgun, pointing it toward us. “Brian, Mike, Lenny… You all get the hell out of here. Brian, your uncle will hear about this!”
“Simmer down, Shelly. We have it taken care of. No need to tell him.” Brian grabbed a stool and pushed himself up, wiping fluids off his mouth. “We’re leaving.”
The place grew silent except for the blaring TV and the scraping of stools. I finally blinked and looked around, noticing that every single person in the place was standing at attention, clutching something in their hands. My gaze reached Olivia’s and a breath whooshed out of me.
“You both pay and get outta here, too. I don’t want any more trouble.” The bartender looked at Olivia directly. “You should know better than to go to bars dressed like that.”
Olivia’s mouth gaped open and she hung her head. I wanted to yell on her behalf, to hit someone else. But I pulled her against my chest and wrapped my arms around her.Thank God.As I breathed her in, relief flooded my system.
“Did you call the cops?” I managed to whisper although my throat was clogged with emotion.
“Not yet. My phone’s over there.” She gestured toward the bar with her chin.
I nodded. “Grab your stuff. I’ll pay, and as soon as they step outside, we’ll call.”
We waited the few minutes until the group of offenders walked through the door, urged on by the shotgun still clutched in Shelly’s grip. My body prickled with awareness, clockingevery move around us. Olivia called the cops, while I kept a protective arm around her waist.
“You two okay?” I turned to face the voice, coming face to face with the older man who got my attention in the bathroom. He looked to be in his early sixties. He wore a shirt that listed all the names of his grandkids.
“I think so,” I said. “Thank you for having my back. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if you didn’t get me.”
He smiled at Olivia, who was still on the phone. “I would have stepped in myself, but I had hip surgery not too long ago. Too many years behind the wheel. Glad I could help, though. I’ve seen those fools in here a few times. Their uncle owns the bar. He oughta be behind bars, if you ask me.”
“Yeah, my wife is on the phone with the police.”
“Good. Well, if you need me to leave a statement, I’ll be over there for another hour or so.” He pointed to a booth across the room.
We shook hands and he walked off as Olivia finished her call. “Well, that was frustrating.”
“Are they coming?” I asked.
“They said they’d get a patrol car out here but since it’s not an emergency, it may take a while.”
“That’s bullshit,” I said. My jaw ached from clenching it and a headache made its way from my shoulders up the base of my neck. “What should we do? I’ll wait for them all night if you want.”
I followed her wide-eyed gaze to Shelly’s shotgun leaning against the bottle-lined shelf. “Let’s just go. By the time the cops get here those guys will be long gone.”
Cupping her chin, I angled her face toward mine. Staring at the gun wouldn’t help either of us. Neither would sitting here replaying the past twenty minutes in our minds. Guilt was already clawing its way through my gut. “I’m sorry. Fuck. I’m so sorry that I let them touch you.”
I was too busy being sad in the bathroom while the woman I’d sworn to protect above all else was in danger. There were too many close calls. What if that guy hadn’t warned me when he did? What if I couldn’t have taken down the asshat they sent to the bathroom?
I forced myself to breathe Olivia in while I brushed my fingertips over her soft skin. A tear spilled from the corner of her eye, trailing down the apple of her cheek and onto the pad of my finger. I swiped the moisture away but it kept coming.
I wanted to kiss her tears away. Taste the salt she shed while I whispered promises of safety. Hold her until she knew in her bones that I’d never let anything happen to her.
But I stepped away and wrapped her trembling hand in mine. “I’ve got you. Come on, let’s go to bed.”
Chapter 23
Wes
