Chapter 17 Bronx
SEVENTEEN
brONX
The second I left that hotel I was worried about her.
As I walked down to the parking garage, I debated on staying.
Hanging out. Making sure she’d be okay. I didn’t know Freya well, but she struck me as the kind of person that didn’t enjoy being cooped up.
Which meant there was a good chance she’d go walking or something of the sort.
I fought against it for a while. I got on my bike and started back for my place, trying to convince myself I was doing the right thing by listening to her.
But there was a feeling in my gut that stopped me.
Not because I knew her well, but because of something deeper.
She reminded me a lot of myself. And whenever I was under pressure, I needed away from any confined spaces.
I went on many bike rides up and down the West Coast because of that mentality.
And the fact that she was willing to run off to a city she knew nothing about to find answers she sought struck a chord with me that resonated for hours.
Days, really.
Ever since I’d saved her in that alleyway.
Space was something people needed sometimes.
And I didn’t mind giving that to her. But the second the memory of her in that alleyway flooded to the forefront of my mind, I turned my bike around.
I couldn’t let her get hurt again. Even if I stuck to the shadows and simply watched out for her, I couldn’t let her do whatever she was about to do alone.
Whether she went to the beach or went back home.
Whether she went for a walk or went to go get some food.
Whatever she was about to do, I needed to be there.
Watching. Protecting. Making sure she didn’t get herself into trouble.
And I was so glad I made that decision.
The second I spotted her, she was already surrounded by those Chinese goons.
I parked my bike beside the bakery on the corner and ran around to where they were.
I knew none of them heard me coming. Stone had taught me how to move quickly under pressure without being heard.
Everyone in the crew knew how to do that, and it served me well in many instances.
This being one of them. I eased myself right into the middle of that circle where they had Freya cornered and stepped in front of her, blocking the man’s view of her.
Blocking his reach for her.
But now that we stood in a dark, deserted alleyway, I wondered if I’d made the best decision.
I was the only card Freya didn’t know she had played in her favor, and now I had exposed myself in an attempt to save her.
The man behind me had a tight grip on her arm, and the other three men had their guns pointed at me.
The man in the suit snarled like he had just gotten the upper hand on all of us.
And despite the fact that he was shorter than me, it had me worried.
He had that gun aimed right at my chest, which meant I had further to reach for my own guns than he had to pull that trigger and rob me of my life.
“Get off me,” Freya said.
“Stay still and shut up,” the man holding her hissed.
Oh, that wasn’t going to fly.
“Let her go,” I said.
The man in the suit chuckled. “And why would we do that?”
“Because she’s got nothing to do with this.”
The man sniffed the air before a dastardly smile crossed his face.
“Now, I only had theories of why you were coming out of that hotel earlier. But after smelling pussy on your body, I know exactly why you were in that hotel.”
I gritted my teeth as Freya let out a painful yelp.
“I’m going to ask you one last time. You really need to let her go,” I said.
“Or what? You’re outnumbered. Outgunned.
One trip of my hand blows you back to where you originally came from.
And her? Well, she’ll be coming with us.
As leverage until we figure out whether or not your crew really cares to protect her.
That’s where you were going, right? To see if your crew would protect her? ” the man asked.
“Bronx, what are they talking about?” Freya asked softly.
I stood my ground, calculating all the ways I could take these men out without her getting hurt. I didn’t care about myself. I had tattoos over scars covering stories that would make grown men shiver to their cores. I didn’t give a damn how this man marked my body. How much blood he pulled from me.
What mattered was whether or not Freya got out of this unscathed.
“No response for the pretty woman’s question?” the man in the suit asked.
I wasn’t going to bother with his name, because after I settled on a plan, I knew he’d be on the ground in seconds.
“Let her go and no one eats lead today. But if you choose to feast, understand it starts war between your boss and mine. I promise you that. Better get your answer in before the alarm goes off,” I glowered.
The man in the suit chuckled as he cocked his gun.
“Bronx!” Freya yelped.
“And there it goes,” I growled.
My hand came around, crashing into the side of the man’s hand.
I came around with my other hand and swooped the gun underneath my arm, aiming the barrel at the ground.
The gun went off into the pavement and I heard Freya scream while the man holding her cursed and fussed with his weapon.
I heard her struggling against the man, but it only took me a fraction of a second to rid the man in the suit of his weapon.
I aimed the gun, putting a bullet in each knee of the man standing to my left.
Then, I shot the man in the suit in the foot as bullets whizzed over my head.
“Bronx!” Freya exclaimed.
“Get her out of here,” the man in the suit groaned.
“Oh, no you don’t,” I grumbled.
I whipped around, drawing my own weapon and quickly stuffing the other man holding his weapon to me with bullets.
I pumped his stomach full before I put another bullet in the man in the suit.
Right into his shoulder. He stumbled backward as I whipped around, aiming both of the barrels to the man’s head holding Freya.
He had just gotten his weapon in his hand because she’d been fighting against him.
“Good girl,” I said.
“Release her. Now,” I said.
The man put Freya in front of him, and I didn’t give him a chance to finish his position.
I shot his elbow, causing him to loosen his grip on his gun.
His hand relaxed just enough for Freya to slip away, and she ran into the shadows and cowered around a corner.
I took out that man’s knees as well as his other elbow, making sure he wouldn’t be able to move or grab for anything.
Then, I turned around and leveled my eyes with the man in the suit who was, remarkably, still upright. Thanks to a dumpster off in the corner he was leaning against.
I holstered my gun before pulling out a microfiber cloth from my pocket.
I wiped off my prints as the man struggled against the dumpster bleeding and calling out for help into his cufflink.
I tossed the gun onto the ground and made my way for him, grabbing his thick head of black hair and pulling his eyes up to see mine.
Blood seeped up his throat as I gazed down at him.
“You and those Lost Boys of yours will pay for what you’ve done,” the man said, sputtering.
“Well, next time? If you’re going to make a deal with the police, make sure we don’t find out about it,” I said.
Then, my fist connected with his face and he was out against the pavement.
As the conscious men groaned and bled out on the ground, my eyes searched for Freya.
I heard her panting. Whimpering. Crying softly to herself.
But the shadows shrouded her. I stepped over the men in my wake and walked toward where I’d seen her lumber off, listening as her feet skittered across the cold pavement.
“Freya, it’s just me,” I said.
I stood at the entrance of a dark alleyway and saw nothing but her frightened eyes.
I saw the whites of them. Wide and emerald green.
One of the most beautiful colors that signified within her such fear.
It made me hurt how she looked at me. How she cowered away from me with every step I took toward her.
“Freya, we need to get out of here,” I said.
It took her a few seconds. Maybe she was trying to see if anyone would come up behind me.
Or maybe she needed a moment to collect herself.
But, after a few pauses and some sirens wailing off in the distance, she took off running toward me.
She jumped into my arms. Leapt herself right off the ground and flew at me.
I wrapped my arms around her, catching her midair as she clung to me, burying her face into the crook of my neck.
I felt her tears drenching my skin as I began walking us out of the network of alleyways those assholes dragged us down.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe with me. Always,” I whispered.
“Are we going back to the hotel?” she asked softly.
I kept myself silent on that question until we made our way back to my bike.
It was where I left it, parked behind the bakery those guys had cornered her in front of.
I slipped her out of my arms and set her right down onto my bike.
I eased my helmet over her head, tightening it up a bit so it wouldn’t go anywhere.
I couldn’t get that image of that man talking into his cufflink.
They hadn’t been the only ones sitting around here. Waiting. Biding their time.
They knew about Freya and her connection to me. Which meant she wasn’t safe.
“No,” I said as I sat down onto my bike.
“No, what?” Freya asked.
She wrapped her arms tightly around me as I cranked up my motorcycle.
“No, we aren’t going back to the hotel,” I said.
“Then, where are we going?”
I kicked up my kickstand and walked the bike out to the intersection.
“I’m taking you back to the lodge. It isn’t safe for you here,” I said.
And before she could answer me, I rode off, feeling her clinging to me and continuing to cry into the helmet as I whisked her away from downtown and headed for Highway One.
Hopefully, her purse had everything in it she needed for now.
Because it wouldn’t be safe for any of us to go back to her hotel room right now.