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“Yeah, well—”
“Don’t do this again. Not without protection,” Enzo warned, cutting Maria off. If Maria were sober, she’d put Enzo in his place. It didn’t matter how intimidating the man could be, she wouldn’t care. No one told Maria what to do.
My shoulders fell.
Except Thomas.
I wondered why she felt comfortable enough with Enzo to speak her mind, but she didn’t with Thomas.
“Seeing as though you might start World War Three with this woman,” Ryan began, clearly drawing the same conclusion I had as he tipped his head toward Maria, “I say we go.”
Maria rolled her eyes and started to walk ahead, but Enzo quickly caught up, setting a hand on her back as we made our way to the street.
I kept quiet as we walked since that seemed to be what Ryan wanted. He made no attempt to start a conversation, or even look at me, from the time we left the bar. Enzo’s Porsche was parked next to Ryan’s truck in the garage. I’d forgotten to ask where they’d been hanging out before they’d shown up, and the more important question—why were they hanging out?
“See you back at the Romanos’,” Enzo said while helping Maria into the passenger seat of his Porsche.
I hugged him goodbye, then faced Ryan, unsure whether he planned to continue our conversation in the garage, in his truck, or maybe not at all.
“Get in the truck,” Ryan abruptly snarled a moment later, his eyes focused over my shoulder. Before I had a chance to check what was happening behind me, he quickly maneuvered me around him, shielding me. But from what?
Enzo gestured to Maria to lock the doors, then moved to stand by Ryan.
“Well, well, well,” someone called out, and I lifted up on my toes to peek over Ryan’s shoulder.
My stomach dropped when I spotted that same college-aged guy from the club who’d bothered me, but he had five friends with him.
“What do you want?” Ryan reached back, nudging his keys into my hand, a reminder to get into the truck.
I hesitantly took them and followed his order. Once inside, I locked up and slid over the console onto the driver’s seat to check on Maria. Her focus was out the window, probably confused by what was going on. From her vantage point, she wouldn’t be able to see everything.
As much as I wanted to call the police, I preferred to keep Enzo away from the spotlight when it came to the PD. I also had a feeling Ryan and Enzo didn’t need an assist, even if it was six to two.
I switched back to the passenger seat so I could better see what was going on.
The man-child from the club had two guys on one side of him now, three on the other. One had something in his hand. A pole or pipe?
I cracked the window open so I could hear what they were saying.
“You really think you can embarrass me like you did and walk away from that?” He jerked a thumb to the guy at his left. “My buddies and I plan to teach you a lesson.”
“Oh, is that so?” Ryan asked, a little too calmly. His profile was turned to me, but he appeared to be maintaining his composure as if he wasn’t about to fight off six guys.
Enzo began rolling one sleeve to his elbow, remaining quiet.
“My friend here is a karate expert,” the man-child went on. “And this guy on my right is a wrestler.”
“Are we going to fight, or do you want to keep up with the introductions?” Ryan asked, working at his own sleeves, as the guys remained lined up maybe six feet away. “I love a good icebreaker get-to-know-you game as much as the next guy,” he added sarcastically, “but if I’m going to get my hands dirty, I’d prefer to not waste time.”
“You messed with the wrong person tonight.” The man-child reached into his pocket and produced a knife.
A light laugh left Ryan’s mouth. “Yeah, I can tell. You guys look like a cover band for the Backstreet Boys.” He didn’t seem nervous, so I was pretty sure I didn’t need to be. But I was worried one of the twenty something-year-olds would wind up bleeding out on the parking garage floor if they didn’t walk away.
“Fuck you, man,” the idiot fired back. “That bitch,” he added while jerking his chin toward me in the truck, “was asking for some guy to touch her in that dress she had on. If she doesn’t want a guy putting his hands on her, then she ought to know better than to wear that.”
Ryan’s shoulders arched back at his words, and he gripped his neck, rotating it a bit. “Now you see, I was going to show you some mercy since you’re young and obviously stupid, but you went and crossed the line with that comment.”
“Get these assholes.” The man-child waved his knife, and the other guys charged Ryan and Enzo while the coward hung back.
