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I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t know what I was going to do. But I knew with cold certainty that none of those Howlers were going to lay a finger on my girls.
As I approached. Cam’s gaze flicked toward me and a devilish smile spread across her face.
“I’m not the one you should be afraid of. It’s my dad you have to worry about.”
Then I collided with Acosta at full speed. We hit the ground in a sprawl of limbs and rage. His Howlers cracked their baseball bats against my back. It didn’t stop me, didn’t even slow me down as I drove my fist into Acosta’s face, over and over.
Blood sprayed the floor. Stained my fists.
The Howlers continued hitting me, sending sparks of pain shooting through me. I felt a rib crack with breathtaking agony. Five Howlers against one man. The odds weren’t in my favor.
Until I caught a glimpse of Abby’s face through the chaos. She looked horrified. This was the last thing I wanted her to see. She should have never been subjected to this. It was club business and this was exactly the life she’d tried to avoid.
When Acosta finally stopped fighting and sagged to the floor, limp, I turned to the nearest Howler and yanked the baseball bat out of his hands. I snapped it across my knee, flung it aside.
Turning toward the Howlers, I spread my arms wide, showing no fear, exposed, with only my fists for weapons. I was still outnumbered—four men with three baseball bats between them. But I was ready to go down swinging if that’s what it took to give Abby and Cam a chance to make a run for it.
From somewhere deeper in the grocery store, running footsteps echoed. A moment later, two Howlers went racing by.
“I’m gettin’ the hell out of here.”
“There are too many of them!”
The Howlers before me hesitated and shifted back on their heels, casting uncertain glances at each other. I took advantage of their wariness and pointed at their leader, bloody and unconscious on the floor.
“You want to end up like him?”
When no one spoke, I took a threatening step toward them. They skittered back a few inches then took off running.
As soon as they were gone, the pain caught up to me. I swayed on my feet, feeling lightheaded.
“Joel?”
Abby’s voice, soft and quiet behind me.
Her hand settled on my shoulder as she moved into my line of sight with a look of concern. My heart ached to see her again. I knew I had no right to touch her—not after she’d explicitly told me I had to choose and I couldn’t do it—but I found myself reaching out anyway and I pressed my palm to her cheek.
“Are you…okay?” I rasped.
She smiled gently and nodded, tucking Cam under her arm.
“We’re fine, Joel. But you…”
I didn’t hear what she said. There was a deafening roar in my ears and darkness skirted my vision, closing in around me.
Then my knees buckled and I crumpled like a rag doll. Distantly, I knew it would hurt when I hit the floor if I didn’t do something to stop my fall.
“Joel!”
Abby’s voice was the last thing I heard before I lost consciousness.
***
When I woke, my vision was hazy and the incessant beep of a machine nearby made me groan with annoyance.
Someone moved next to me—a blur of dark hair and a purple shirt.
“Dad? Don’t move, all right? I’m gonna get Mom.”
