AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Like I said, we’re fully booked.”
He was silent for a moment, and I hoped this was the end of it, that he’d turn around and leave the store. But instead, his eyes hardened and he dropped the pretence that he was here to get a tattoo.
“Where the fuck is she?”
I didn’t react.
“Where is who?”
“You know who,” Nathan said. “My girlfriend.”
I never took my eyes off Nathan as I shook my head. “Nope. Adrian, do you know where his girlfriend is?”
Adrian gave a half shrug.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know she’s here,” Nathan seethed. “Her car’s parked out the back.”
His words set off alarms in my head. Since the parking spaces in the alley weren’t visible from the street, the only way he could have known her car was there was if he’d driven down it. This wasn’t an accident — he’d gone looking for her. And he’d known where to look.
“There are dozens of businesses on this block,” Adrian pointed out. “That alley isn’t ours.”
Nathan wasn’t falling for it.
“Is she fucking you?” he asked.
I stayed silent. Jackson came in from the back room, and it only made Nathan angrier.
“She’s fucking you too, isn’t she?” he spat at Adrian. “She’s fucking all of you. I knew it — that cunt is fucking her way around the whole city.”
His face grew red as he ranted. Was he drunk? At lunchtime? I wouldn’t be surprised. He’d worked himself into such a state that he picked up my pen holder and threw it at the wall. Pens scattered everywhere on the floor.
“You need to leave,” I said, flicking my eyes to the door. Nathan planted his feet apart and glared at me.
“Or what?”
I glanced at Adrian. Sure, I’d promised not to hurt Nathan, but surely Adrian would support me using his crooked nose for boxing practice just once? But the look he gave me said that wasn’t the case, so I changed my approach.
“Or I’ll hold you down and tattoo ‘I abuse women’ on your forehead.”
Nathan was well beyond making rational decisions now.
“She belongs to me. She’smine.”
“She doesn’t belong to anyone,” Jackson said. “Especially not you.”
“Yes, she does. How dare you cover up my name?” Nathan ranted. “Who gave you the right? Not me!”
His hands were clenched into fists now, and spittle flew from his lips with every consonant he spat.
“Move on, buddy,” I said, in the kind of voice I’d use when talking to a child. “She has.”
It was the wrong thing to say.
Nathan stormed around the counter and took a swing at me. My self-defense training kicked in, and I dodged his punch, grabbed his arm, and flipped him over. He landed on his back on the floor, gasping as the air flew out of his lungs. “Had enough?” I asked, as he stumbled to his feet, but apparently he hadn’t because he charged at me again, charging his shoulder into my waist in an attempt to tackle me. I intercepted him and swung him around, sending him crashing into one of the reclining chairs. It slid into the trolley next to it, knocking it over, spilling its contents over the ground.
When Nathan stood up again, his lip was bleeding. He wiped it with the back of his hand and stared at the blood like he didn’t know what it was.
