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“Something like that,” she said, studying all the men.
“Well, behave yourself until I get back, okay? Or I’ll instruct Catherine to use the hose on you.”
Ally flushed. “Just get out of here and hurry back, will ya?”
I nodded. “See you soon.” With that, I left Mia’s apartment in search of my own. The day was turning into evening, and there were few people on the street. It was a nice night for a walk. I could use a walk to clear my head and work through the events of the day.
I didn’t make it far, though.
I wasn’t a block away from Mia’s when a figure popped out and pushed me into an alley. He threw me against the brick, and I could feel my nose smash against it. That was going to leave a mark.
“Turn around,” the voice behind me commanded. I’d never heard his voice before, but I knew who it was. I knew when I turned around, I would be face to face with Chad. I wanted to kick his ass.
Slowly, I turned around and took him in. He was about my height, not quite as built as I was. His gray eyes were barely visible under a gray ski cap. He wasn’t wearing it like a disguise. This was a part of his style, from what I could tell. It went with the grudge persona he had going on—flannel shirt open with a band tee underneath, worn jeans, and Converse sneakers. He looked like an okay guy—someone women could trust. But I knew better.
“So you’re Terry,” he said, speaking first.
“And you’re Chad.” I spat his name from my lips with such distaste that the son of a bitch actually laughed. “You’ve heard of me?” I asked him, doing my best to grin at him cockily.
“Oh, yeah. She talked about you a few times. Cried about you a few times. Went on and on about how much you hurt her. Made her easy for me,” Chad said with a menacing laugh.
“Did you ever love her?” I asked him. I wasn’t sure why it mattered to me. But the way he was talking, it seemed like he never had any intention of doing anything but abusing Mia.
“I did,” he admitted. For a moment, he looked conflicted, his stance uneasy, shifting from foot to foot. His eyes barely met mine, but only for a minute. “But things happen.”
I nodded, not sure what those things were.
We stared at each other, each one sizing up the other one. This wasn’t how I thought this conversation would go. I thought for sure I would tell him what a despicable human being he was and beat the shit out of him. But now, I wanted answers as to why he would ever hurt Mia. I couldn’t fathom it. I couldn’t understand why anyone would ever want to see someone they love cry.
“Why do you want to hurt her? If you love her, why do you make her cry? Why do you hurt her?”
He just let out a malicious laugh and continued watching me. A plan was forming behind those wild gray eyes, and I knew I wasn’t going to like it. He was regaining the upper hand, and I needed to try to knock him off balance again.
“What do you want with me, Chad?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “As if you don’t know.”
“What, you want me to bring Mia out here? You want me to stay away from her? You want me to let you be with her? What is it? What’s the request of the day?”
I was mocking him, and he shook his head again, looking rather displeased with me. I enjoyed it for just a moment, then a fist slammed into my nose with a loud crack and my head jerked back. The pain spread from my nose into my head. I knew it was broken.
“You listen here. You tell them that I don’t care how many of them are up there. I will get to her. I’m a patient man and I’ve done it before. They can’t keep her safe. You can’t keep her safe because I am coming for her.”
I wanted to laugh through the pain he inflicted on me. Tell him he had no idea what he was up against. But I didn’t dare provoke him further. Instead, I focused on trying to stand up.
“There!” I heard shouts from the entrance of the alley. I recognized two of the men that had just been upstairs running toward me. Chad took off in a shot. He was fast. One man took off after him while the other stopped in front of me. I saw this was Hawkeye. Out here to rescue me.
Great.
“Are you all right?” he asked, surveying the damage to my face.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Did he get him?” I asked, attempting to cradle my nose and keep the blood from running down my face. Hawkeye pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to me.
“Here you go,” he said, not answering my question. He picked up a walkie-talkie from his hip and spoke into it. “I have Terry. I think he has a broken nose. We should get him to a hospital. Other than that, he’s okay. Sparkes went after Chad, but I’m not sure where they are.”
Jackson’s voice came over the walkie. “Okay, I’m sending down Goat to take care of him. You need to get back up here. We’re moving her.”
“You’re moving her?” I said, trying to understand what was happening while dealing with the blinding pain that was spreading through my head.
