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Wow, Vittoria. Terrifying.
He takes a step closer and shoves me against the wall. My head cracks against concrete, and a spider skitters down the wall beside me. I stifle a whimper, but before I can move, one of his hands is around my arm and the other around my throat, pinning me in place.
“Were you threatening me?”
I can’t speak. My head feels too light, my cheeks too hot, and there’s a ringing in my ears that makes me feel like I’m going to pass out.
I shake my head. He’s too big. He’s too strong. I could kick his nuts but I’d never make it to my car in time. If I scream, who would even hear me?
I gasp when he releases my throat, only to drop his hand to my chest and grope me. I slap at him, but he quickly deflects me.
“I wanted you alone tonight. If you’re not gonna give it to me easy, I’ll take it. You owe me.”
Panic makes me manic. I shove at him, I try to push him, but he’s as immovable as concrete. He’s heavy, and way too strong for me to fend off.
So this is how it happens, I think wildly to myself. This is how women get assaulted.
His fingers grab onto my top and he yanks it, the fabric tearing. I go to scream, but before I do, his hand cracks across my face. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth.
I scramble to get away, but he yanks me to him. I open my mouth to scream when something’s shoved between my teeth. He pushes me onto the concrete facedown and my head bangs with a sickening thunk. I push and shove and claw and scream against the gag, but I can’t get away.
“Fucking bitch,” he growls. “I didn’t want to do this the hard way.”
I’m going to vomit. I’m going to pass out. I’m overheated and terrified and shaking.
The sound of a cigarette lighter snicks in the darkness. A flame illuminates the shadows of a face about ten feet away.
“The lady said no.” A deep, dark, dangerous drawl. “And where I’m from, no means no.”
The lit end of a cigarette burns in the night sky, the shadows of a stranger’s face and his body leaning casually up against the hood of a car.
A sane person would run, but the asshole who’s got me pinned beneath him’s hell bent for leather on having his way.
“Get the fuck out of here. This has nothing to do with you.”
The stranger’s chuckle sends a shiver down my spine. While these two are having their little conversation, I’ll find a way to escape.
I wriggle, but he holds me fast with no effort. Jesus.
The voice of the man smoking is low, but even I feel the hint of deadly warning imbued in his tone. “Let her up. I’ll give you one minute to get the fuck out of here, and we’ll pretend like this never happened,” the stranger says in warning. He takes another drag of his smoke, and this time the light of the smoke shows me the glimmer of a suit. He’s one of them, then. Figures.
“Or what?” the asshole mutters. But he’s already backing away from me.
The stranger exhales the smoke. “Or I’ll kill you.”
My heartbeat spikes.
“The fuck you—”
“You know what we’re celebrating tonight, asshole? My release from prison. Served eighteen months for manslaughter and believe me when I tell you, I ain’t afraid of goin’ back.” He shrugs out of his suit coat in a way that’s suddenly ominous. “So make me.”
The asshole’s got a death wish. He lets me go, only to lunge at the man leaning against the car’s hood. I scramble to my feet to right myself, but to get to my car I need to run past the two of them. I huddle against the wall, wondering what to do next. Something tells me not to call the police. Maybe the bartender?
The stranger steps out of the light. Is that the man from the bar? The one who arrested me with those mesmerizing eyes? I feel frozen in place now just watching him, his confidence. Menace drips off of him like poison.
He steps casually to the side to avoid the asshole’s attack. With effortless ease, he casually grabs my assaulter around the neck and bends him over in his iron grip. The sizzle of smoke and screams of pain tell me he’s used his cigarette as a weapon. I cringe and stifle a scream.
I didn’t realize when he was with all those other guys exactly how big the man in the suit was, but I see now. He makes holding my attacker in his grip look like child’s play.
My attacker punches the air and finally connects with my brutal savior. That earns him a savage punch to the gut that makes me wince, followed by another that no doubt breaks ribs. My attacker screams like an injured animal. I choke on a dry sob.
