Page 57 of PortCity Killers

“I think someone owes me a goddamn apology, don’t you?”

I don’t know how I would have answered him because he was ripped away from me. My knees hit the metal as I fell to them. I felt the sharp burn of the skin ripping, but I didn’t care.

My fingers had welded themselves to the railing and didn’t let up, even when he’d tried to yank me with him. I clutched the side, ducking down to find even ground, sacred, solid ground as Don pulled the man to face him.

He was standing to the side of him, pushing his shoulders and back off the railing like he had been my front. If he pushed any more, I imagined the man would fall over into those dark waters and be fish food himself. I needn’t have worried about that though because Don didn’t push at the man’s shoulders.

No. He simply reached a long, tanned arm down, gripping the man’s ankle and lifted his leg up and over the railing.

The man’s hands windmilled, his scream cut off by the water as he was enveloped by the ocean. My gasp was ragged, my fingers frozen tight. My stomach dropped into my feet as I searched the water knowing I wouldn’t find anything. I huddled into a ball, closing in on myself to keep me grounded. Steady, beautiful ground.

Don squatted down next to me, his fingers warm as they tried to gently pry mine from the railing, but I didn’t budge—didn’t move anything but my eyes, still frantically searching for the man who had made his way into the water but hadn’t come back up, not once, not even for air.

I knew, realistically, that he would be behind us now. He couldn’t have maintained the speed of the boat, and I probably would have heard a thump or the underwater screams of agony if he had been sucked into the propellers’ orbit. I knew, didn’t I?

“Alex. Come, let us get you warm.”

I shook, all over from my stomach to my fingertips I shook with adrenaline and shock. I shouldn’t feel bad for the man, and I didn’t, at least I didn't think I felt bad for him, but the look on his face had been... Terrified. It seemed right that I at least needed to feel an ounce of that terror because no one else here would.

“Don’t be frightened, Alex.”

I shook my head over and over, but not because I was scared of the man who had thrown the asshole overboard; no, the moment I had seen Don’s intention in grasping the man’s ankle, I had felt the sudden thrill of a roller coaster rioting through my veins. It was as if my body knew it was unnatural and went out of its way to stop, but it was caught between laughing and screaming out, mixing joy with terror.

I knew my body and soul well enough to know for a matter of fact that I had never been less scared of another man. I had been scared of men all my life; they had given me reason to be, but Don... I had wanted him to push at his shoulders, to punch him in the face and watch him tumble with a chuckle down into the great abyss.

Instead, when he’d reached his hand down, there was a moment of unadulterated joy at knowing he had something so, so much better planned, and that was what scared me.

I stood up, Don’s hand in mine. He didn’t say anything as he held my hand, pulling me to him. His arms were tight around my shoulders, his chest solid beneath my cheek. I breathed him in, a spicy citrus smell that, if I inhaled deeply enough, I could taste it on the back of my tongue.

He was warm and strong under me, making the cold at my back even colder. He rocked with me in his arms. I could save a horse, ride a cowboy all night long, but put me vertically on two feet, and I lost all sense of my roots. Bulky. Clunky. But Don didn’t let me feel like that. I felt the fluidness of his movements in every rock of his hips, every steadying breath.

“How do you feel?” His lips pressed gently to my temple, the warmth of his breath falling across my cheeks.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

He tried to pull my chin up, but I didn’t want him to see just how fine I was.

“I’m sure.” I lifted up on my toes, wrapping my hands around his neck, dragging him down to me as I buried my face in his neck.

I don’t know why I didn’t want him to know the extent of how okay I was. Maybe I just wasn’t ready to deal with it myself. The twins would encourage me to embrace it, no doubt, to lean into it. He didn’t fight me, but let me pull him down.

My lips brushed across his, softly. He groaned into my mouth, shaking his head. I smiled against him. No, I wasn’t sure I was ready to embrace this thing inside of me, not just yet.

It was there, bubbling underneath the surface. I felt it like a living thing, a darkness waiting inside of me for the right catalyst. All I needed to do was reach out and touch it, to hold it in my hands and allow it to flow through my veins.

It seemed a long time coming, like something ancient had infused my soul and was now waiting impatiently, taking every opportunity to pour into me until I was completely consumed by it.

“I’m sure.”

The barge sounded, shaking the platform below us. Don took my hand, placing it on the crook of his elbow and walked us back to the car. He tucked me into the back before entering on the other side as workers balanced back and forth around their stations readying us to dock.

“I know this may be a little strange to get used to at first, Alex, but if we’re going to do this,” Don gestured between us, “Really do this, then you’ll need to remember your place. You’re a princess, darling. Our princess, and if someone should forget that then I expect that you’ll see to fixing it.”

He smiled as he continued. It helped ease the odd sting I felt, like I was already failing them in a game I didn’t know I was playing, but I didn’t think he meant it that way, “Until then, we’ll do it for you. You’ll have your ‘babysitter’ of course, as you so affectionately have dubbed him.”

“I really don’t think it’s necessary to have him around 24/7.”

“It will become necessary. People will see us together, Alex, and there will be no question as to our relationship status the more we go out. It’s the unintended consequences of being a bachelor such as myself for as long as I have been. Valentina as well, but we would like to do things differently with you.” He held his hands out to me, an unexpectedly tender gesture that I felt rude not accepting.

Truth be told, I wanted to curl up around him, to lay myself at his feet and feel his warmth all around me, so I did. I let myself shimmy into his side and lay my legs across the cool seat to ease the flush I felt from being so close to him.

“We cannot shield you from everything, though Dios knows Valentina will try. And you won’t be expected to handle physical threats alone, of course, but there will be many dangerous encounters that will require your sharp tongue and quick wit. I fear your temper will be both your greatest strength and weakness...like Valentina’s.”

He chuckled, but the sound was too hollow to be amused. Don wasn’t wrong. My temper had always been the thing to push me forward, but it was also the thing that got me in the most trouble. I didn’t know what it said about me that he was comparing Valentina and myself, but I didn’t think it was meant as a compliment.

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