AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I say a quick goodbye to the boy and his mom, with one last pet of the cat’s soft fur. Cursing when I realize I’m now nearly ten whole minutes late, I jog the rest of the way to Autumn’s apartment. My mind races through all the ways I can make it up to her. Hell, I’ll buy her a kitten of her own if she wants. Or a puppy. A house with a garden big enough for whatever pets she wants, big enough for a swing set for the kids I want to put in her belly. Shit, I love this girl, and I have to remind myself not to rush ahead of myself and scare her.
All the spinning thoughts in my head crash as I turn onto Autumn’s street and catch sight of her.
My girl is trapped between the exterior of her building and some asshole who’s got his hands on her. Red clouds my vision when I see the fear and anger on her beautiful face.
Nobody scares her and gets away with it. Nobody gets to put their hands on what’s mine.
I rush towards them, grab the man by his shoulder, and rip him off her.
“Get the fuck away from her!” I roar.
The asshole lands on his back on the sidewalk, giving me my first proper view of his face. A face I recognize. A face I thought I’d already explained the consequences of going near Autumn to. “You,” I snarl, looming over him.
He’s as big as I am, but I’ve trained to defend people for twenty fucking years, and as full of rage as I am, I could fight a fucking bear and win. I want to crush him beneath my shoe, break every finger in his hand that he dared to touch her with.
He tries to get back to his feet, but I refuse to let him. He doesn’t get to run away from what he’s done, not this time. He fights me, but for all his strength, he lacks the skill to do much other than wriggle like a fish caught on a hook while I wrestle him back to the ground. Pressing his cheek into the concrete, I wrench his arms behind his back and set my knee on the middle of his back, holding him down.
“Sweetheart,” I call out, unwilling to take my eyes off this guy for even a second but needing to know she’s okay.
“I’m here,” Autumn says, heels clicking as she steps closer. I feel her presence beside me like rays from the sun.
“Do me a favor, beautiful,” I ask as calmly as I can, trying to soothe her. “Take my phone out of my pocket and call Isaac for me.”
Autumn rushes to do as I ask, fumbling to grab my phone from my pants pocket and flicking to the emergency contacts to find Isaac’s number.
“Who’s Isaac?” She hits the dial and puts the call on speaker.
“A friend who just so happens to be one of the best cops in the city,” I answer, grinning at the guy under me who flails when he realizes he’s got no chance of escape. He can fight all he wants, but I’m not letting him go. He hurt my girl, and he has to pay.
Isaac and I have worked a few of the same scenes before—arson or housefires or crashes—and he’s a good guy. The call connects, and I bark out our location and a very brief explanation to him. With a tone similar to mine, all brusque professionalism and short words, he assures me he’ll be here as fast as he can and tells us not to move.
I badly want to pull Autumn against me and check how she is, make that shell-shocked look on her face fade into calm comfort. I want to touch every inch of her to wipe away this asshole’s fingerprints and replace them with mine.
I can’t do any of that, though, because I flat-out refuse to let said asshole escape.
Thank God Isaac meant it when he said he’d be here soon. Barely ten minutes later, two cop cars pull up, bathing us in blue lights. Beneath me, Autumn’s stalker struggles again, but it’s futile.
Isaac jumps out of the first car, backup following. One of the other officers takes Autumn to the side to collect her statement, while Isaac and his partner relieve me of the job of holding the dude down. Reluctantly, I stand up, only relaxing when Isaac slaps the cuffs on.
Once the attacker is secured in the back of the car, I give Isaac my statement before rushing over to Autumn’s side where she’s finishing up. She’s clearly shaken, a little shivery and breathing shallowly, but the color has returned to her cheeks. There’s a spark of justice in her eyes while we watch the cops pull away.
When the cars turn the corner, out of sight, she sags against me and I wrap her up in my arms. I hold her like that, swaying gently, for minutes until her breaths even out and she’s less jittery.
“You’re okay,” I repeat for what must be the millionth time. “You’re safe, sweetheart. He’s never going to hurt you or scare you again. He’ll never get close to you again.”
Autumn nods, pulling away to look up at me. “I’m so glad you were there,” she whispers, shaking her head. “I can’t imagine what would have happened if I was alone. I…”
The thought makes me wish I got a few more hits in before the guy was taken away. “Don’t think about that,” I say, more to me than her, smoothing her hair away from her face. “You know what will make you feel better?”
“A restraining order and prison sentence?” Autumn jokes, and I laugh, leaning down to kiss her on the nose. Damn, she’s so fucking strong, already joking and grinning despite what she’s been through.
“Not quite what I was thinking.”
“What were you thinking, then?” Autumn raises a brow.
I grin at her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and tucking her close to me. “Ice cream.”
11
