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“I wait tables there most nights.” Was this one of those freaks I’d rejected recently?
“You’re their little fuck toy, ain’t you? The one all those Ashby punks use as a come dumpster?”
He let out a disgusted laugh, and I looked up again, trying to ID the big man who hit women. Pregnant women.
“I heard sometimes all three brothers fuck you at once. That true?”
He laughed like this was a fucking movie, and he was the misunderstood villain, but I knew better. He was a piece of shit. He was also lucky that all I could think about was my baby.
“I’m just a waitress.”
“Bullshit,” he growled and kicked my chest with enough force to send me crashing to the concrete.
My head hit the pavement hard enough to blur my vision.
“It’s true,” I choked out, barely able to breathe due to the size twelve—at least—that tried to interrupt my heartbeat.
“A whore and a liar, no wonder the Ashby bitches like you so much.”
His deep laughter sounded behind me as I got on my knees and attempted to crawl away from the danger.
“Stop!” I yelled when his hand grabbed a handful of hair and yanked me backward. The move reminded me of the few times I’d been brave enough to attempt escape as a little girl. Crawling away, running away, hiding. None of it ever worked. Never saved me from a hard, sweaty fuck with dear old Dad.
“Stop!”
“In a minute,” he growled and dragged me across the pavement, small pieces of debris embedded themselves in my skin.
“Just give Jasper Ashby a message for me.”
Before he gave me the message, the man let me go, and I fell to the pavement, taking the opportunity to crawl away. I looked up to see what was going on. Was he going for a weapon to mutilate or murder me? Or worse? No, there was a sound of bone cracking against bone and through my one good eye that had filled with tears, I could see two figures fighting.
I slid backward, eager to get away from the men just to be safe, glancing over my shoulder once a while to see how close I was to the entrance of my building.
“Help!” The word came out hoarse, and I choked on it, heart still racing with adrenaline and the force of the kick to my chest. Where was a big, burly neighbor when I needed one?
Fuck this. I turned on my hands and knees, knowing I could crawl faster than I could slide on my ass, anxious to get to the entrance. To safety.
A pair of hands landed on my back, and I froze.
“No! Get away! Help! Get off!”
I turned on my back and kicked with all the might I could muster, pushing at the attacker I couldn’t see. My baby needed me. Hell, I needed me, and I wasn’t ready for either of us to die.
“Stop fucking kicking me, Mo!” Jasper’s familiar voice grunted when I landed a kick.
“Where the fuck is Hulu, anyway? I’m going to kill him.”
“I’m right here. Just arrived to pick Mo up for her shift.” Hulu’s confusion was palpable because Jasper was pissed off, and he had no idea why.
“It’s not Hulu’s fault. I didn’t tell him my plans for today. I drove.”
“You what? What the fuck were you thinking? Didn’t I tell you no one goes out without protection? Stubborn fucking woman,” he grunted and helped me to my feet. “Are you okay?”
I took a step away on wobbly legs. I couldn’t see Jasper, not clearly, but he wasn’t quite as big as Hulu, and I took another step back.
“Get your hands off me! Did you send him here to kill my baby?”
It didn’t make sense that some thug had shown up with a message for Jasper, who happened to show up at the same time.
I could practically feel the anger vibrating off him, and I took another step back.
“Did you really just ask me that?”
“Answer the question.”
His shoulders fell, I could see that much. “No. What do you think I am? A fucking monster? I don’t hurt kids of any age. Period.”
I believed him instantly. Jasper and I had never talked much, but he had the same haunted look in his eyes that I often saw in my own. He hid his demons from the world, and those demons kept him from being a monster.
“The things he said, about me fucking all the Ashby men, sounds like they came straight from your mouth.”
“Ah fuck, Mo. I’m sorry this happened to you.” He slung an arm around my shoulder, and I stiffened for a moment before relaxing against him.
“Hulu, take that asshole to The Warehouse. I’ll meet you there after I get Mo settled.”
“Got it. Don’t do that shit again, Mo.”
I nodded at his angry words, but I didn’t bother looking back because I still couldn’t see anything clearly.
