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I can handle it.
***
Kade
I blinked not believing the sight in front of my eyes. Just where did the sweet little blonde strolling along the sidewalk in the epicenter of Devil’s Park think she was going after dark? Pinching the bridge of my nose, I let my head fall back against the brick wall behind me. I had been patrolling the area as I waited for Antonio Morrelli’s car to turn up the street. I had clocked it a few miles back, and it would take another few minutes to get here. As usual, Antonio was up to no good, and I was not in the mood to be interrupted.
And then she showed up. I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes off of this girl. She looked so out of place here, in her tiny pair of black shorts, sneakers, and a hoodie, with that flat, square something perched in her arms.
Pizza?
A pizza delivery in Devil’s Park. That didn’t make any damn sense. Either the delivery girl meant to cover up something nefarious or she was being setup. I rubbed a hand over my beard and waited.
I could be wrong, of course, but her presence was out of the ordinary. A lot of bad shit happened here in Devil’s Park. Cute little young women like herself weren’t often seen randomly roaming the streets.
I didn’t want to call attention to myself, but I couldn’t help but watch her. Devil’s Park had more crime per square inch than most of the city. There were criminals, drug dealers, human traffickers, and the like on every corner and in every shadow. I didn’t usually see a lot of common folk around here. Most pizza parlors had this neighborhood on their ‘no way in hell’ list. And yet, this woman was here, delivering a pizza.
She stopped and stared at a few houses, and then she pranced up the steps and rang the doorbell. I waited with a knot in the pit of my stomach, ready to pounce.
Someone’s going to open that door and knock her out.
Surprisingly, she collected the money, handed over the pizza, and skipped back down the steps without so much as an incident.
I relaxed some and turned my attention back to the spot where I was expecting Antonio to appear. But they didn’t stay there. Again, I was drawn to the delivery girl. I squinted into the darkness, trying to get a better read on the men lurking in the radius around her, but I was too far away to get a real pulse.
My eyes followed her as she made her way back down the same street she had just come up. The delivery may have gone off without incident, but she wasn’t safe yet.
I continued my watch, when the car I had been waiting for raced up the street and stopped near her.
So help me if someone tries to grab her.Oh no. Sheila and Antonio.
Fiery as fuck, Sheila Delgado jumped out of the passenger side and cursed at the top of her lungs at the driver, Antonio, who I knew would get out of the car and undoubtedly drag her back inside in just a moment. I had been semi-patiently waiting for an opportunity like this one, a moment to get Antonio alone without his band of merry thugs around. This was supposed to be it. But it wasn’t, and I didn’t know when I would get another chance to have him alone. Or semi-alone, as the case may be.
“Fuck,” I swore again, under my breath.
***
Caitlyn
I stopped dead in my tracks when a woman with an olive complexion and chestnut colored hair jumped out of a moving car, slammed the door, and then proceeded to curse out the driver. She sounded like she was screaming in Italian, but I didn’t know enough of the romance language to be certain.
I offered my hand out to her. “Hey, do you need help?” I didn’t know what I would be able to do for the angry woman, but I couldn’t just stand there and not offer.
“Stay out of this, girlie.” An angry bald man got out of the driver’s side, brandishing a gun. “Don’t get involved.”
My mouth went dry at the sight of the metal revolver. Sure, I had seen guns before, but never so close to my person and pointed in my general direction.
The dark-haired woman grabbed my hand. “He’s fucking crazy. He broke into my townhouse and forced me into his car. I don’t want to go nowhere with him!”
“Don’t listen to her, girl.” The man sneered. “This is my fiancée, Sheila. She’s just angry that I wanted to have our wedding reception on the river instead of at a dock. Come on, doll. Get back in the car.”
Something didn’t quite add up. “If she’s your girlfriend, what’s with the gun?”
The two of them stared at me, stupid looks on their faces, and the guy rounded the front the car. He aimed the handgun straight at my face. My heart stopped and my life flashed before my eyes, but I wasn’t scared. I didn’t feel powerless the way you would think one might feel with a gun pointed at one’s face. Instead, I got angry, a rage like I had never felt overtook me and I wrapped my fingers around the barrel and squeezed. To the surprise of everyone, including myself, the metal crunched and groaned under my grip until the weapon folded in on itself.
The man’s eyes widened in disbelief, and the woman let go of my arm.
Breathing heavily, I placed my palms on my thighs and bent at the waist.
