Page 18 of Targeted By Vengeance

Mateo ignored my plea and lifted me up with one arm.

I kicked the air beneath me, trying to wriggle out from his grasp. “Let me go, asshole!”

“Hey, man,” the man I was dancing with tried to intervene. He held his hand out to grab Mateo’s arm. “The lady said-”

Mateo grabbed his wrist before he could even touch him and twisted it so hard the crack of his bones was heard over the music.

“Fuck,” the man yelped, staring at his wrist as it hung at an unnatural angle. He quickly retreated, holding his wounded hand close to his chest.

“What the hell is wrong with you?’ I yelled at Mateo. “You didn’t have to hurt him!”

“He’s lucky I didn’t kill him,” Mateo muttered, lifting me higher to avoid being hit by my flailing legs.

“Put me down, you psychopath!” I yelled.

The music drowned out my voice. People around us were completely oblivious to my pleas. They continued dancing without a care in the world, barely even glancing in our direction as Mateo effortlessly weaved through the small open spaces in the crowd.

When we finally passed through the entrance doorway, there was no one to scream to. The line to enter had disappeared, and the bouncer at the door likely retired for the night. Still, I yelled at the top of my lungs, hoping maybe the wind would carry my voice.

I wasn’t banking on anybody helping me. I just wanted to annoy him enough to release me.

Mateo didn’t give a damn about how loud I was or how much I writhed in his grasp. He made a beeline for the van and tossed my ass in the loading bay.

“Seriously?” I screamed as he shut the doors on me. “Are we back to this?” I rammed my fists on the doors. “Let me out!”

This van was different from the one he’d kept me in before. A partition separated the loading bay from the seats up front. I guess he learned his lesson after I tried to choke him out last time.

I shuffled to the other side of the bay and rapped my knuckles on the plastic. “Mateo! This isn’t fucking funny!”

He slid the tinted cover over the partition, blocking my view of him.

I scoffed at the audacity. “Oh, you wait until we get out this fucking car! I am going to wail on your head like it’s fucking wack a mole!”

The engine purred and the floor vibrated underneath me. Force yanked me backwards as the tires moved, moving the car at an unnaturally fast speed. I barely caught myself, landing on my forearms. “Bastard,” I mumbled.

Pushing myself up, I leaned against the closest wall and crossed my arms. Quietly, I plotted all the ways I was going to kick his ass when he opened those doors.

How dare he leave me, and then pop up acting like he had the right to drag me around? I wasn’t his fucking play toy.

Heat from my anger replaced the one from the alcohol. It simmered in my veins, boiling my veins. I was going to claw his fucking eyes out. And I was going to enjoy every second of it.

I waited until the tires came to a complete stop to crawl back towards the doors. I stood on my high heels and positioned my arms in the perfect posture for attack.

The metal latches on the other side of the doors clicked as Mateo pulled on them.

I pounced on him the second the doors opened. “You motherfucking asshole,” I screamed, slamming my fist against his head. “You ruin everything! My night! My life! Fuck you!”

Mateo grimaced from annoyance rather than pain. Moving his head to the side to dodge my blows, he roped his arm around my legs and tossed me over his shoulder.

I pounded on his back. “Stop throwing me around like a ragdoll and fight!”

“Is that what you want?” He asked as he carried me. To avoid unwanted eyes, he went through one of the side doors and headed towards the stairwell there. “To fight?”

“Duh! It’s all we ever do! Since having a conversation clearly isn’t in your fucking vocabulary!”

His already tense shoulders tightened up more at my words. His grip on my legs tightened as he jogged up the steps and went down the hall to my apartment. “Fine,” he said, setting me down once we were inside. “You wanna talk? Let’s fucking talk!”

It was too late for that. I didn’t want to hear anything he had to say. I raised my fist again and swung at him.