Page 91 of A Ryan Recollection

I don’t flinch. I glare at him instead. “You lay one finger on me and he will kill you, Jason. And he won’t do it quickly. He will make you scream for mercy.”

He seems to find that funny and he throws his head back with laughter. “I think I can handle him.”

“I really don’t think you can,” I spit. “You certainly couldn’t the other night.”

He glares at me again, his teeth bared like a rabid animal. “I’m not on my own now though, am I?” He nods toward his three friends. “You have no idea who you’ve been fucking with, whore!”

I glare back at him. I think he is the one who has no idea who he’s dealing with, but I don’t say that. I let him go on thinking he’s a big man — it all buys me some time until one of my husbands gets in here.

“Stop calling me a whore,” I say instead.

He drags the tip of the blade over the soft skin of my neck. Fear prickles along my spine but I stay rooted to the spot, determined not to show any fear to this stupid asshole. “But you are a whore, Jessie,” he snarls. “You slept with me for a place to stay.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Kind of makes you a sick, twisted piece of shit then!”

“And I saw you up there in the club. Oh yeah, I saw you. I hoped we might get a chance to talk alone. Letting your husband’s buddies slide a hand inside your dress. Does he know that they do that? Does he like to pass you around?”

My nostrils flare as I suck in a breath. “He does notpass me around,asshole. They are not his buddies, they’re his brothers, and they’re my husbands too.”

That certainly gets his attention. “You can’t have more than one husband. It’s illegal.”

“Pretty sure my husbands don’t give a crap about the law, as you’re about to find out to your detriment if you don’t let me go right now.”

“You got four husbands?” Jason’s brother asks me.

“Yes,” I snap.

His face turns whiter than Santa’s beard as he realizes who I am. He looks back at Jason before slapping him across the back of the head. “You fucking stupid prick. You said this was just some chick who fucked you over.”

“Sh-she is,” Jason stammers as he frowns at his brother.

“You have any fucking idea who she’s married to?” his brother asks as he runs a hand through his hair. “Fuck!” he mutters, pacing back and forth while Jason stares at him.

“Who?”

“The Ryans, you fucking reject!”

“Who the fuck are they?” Jason snarls.

His brother stops pacing and glares at him so hard it’s a wonder he doesn’t burst into flames. “Only the goddamn Irish.” He slaps Jason again. “Fucking.” Slap. “Mafia.”

“W-what?” Jason stammers.

“Yeah, dipshit,” I say. “So let me go right now and they might not cut off your balls and make you eat them while I watch.”

“We can’t let her go, man,” the reindeer says. “We need to get her out of here. Like now.”

Oh, fuck!

“No. You need to let me go and get yourselves out of here,” I say. “Before they find you.”

“So you can tell your husbands what we did and have them come looking for us?” Jason’s brother scowls.

I fold my arms over my chest. “How the hell do you expect to get me out of here without them noticing?”

“We could knock her out. Pretend she’s drunk,” the elf suggests.

“You’ll never get past the bouncers. You think they don’t know me?”

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