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And she was getting her damn dog back.
Eb could be the distraction in the front of the bar.
She’d sneak in the back.
Game.On.
ChapterTwo
The music still pounded,but every eye in the place was on him.
Eb stood just inside the old bar’s doorway.As soon as he’d crossed the threshold, heads had whipped toward him.Several goons jumped to their feet.Their hands were fisted, and it was clear that they were just waiting on the order before they attacked him.
Yep, he was gonna have to take out far too many bastards in order to get back one mangy dog.Such a pain in his ass.He didn’t even like dogs.That’s provided that the story about the dog is even true.He half-feared she was just setting him up for an ass-kicking.
But if that was the case, Naomi would discover he could more than hold his own in a fight.
“Who’s gonna be first?”Eb wanted to know.He lifted his right hand and waved two fingers in a come-and-get-some motion.
One tattoo-covered man with a shaved head and a face full of piercings took a step forward.Right.Why not start with the biggest guy in the place?Figured.Eb rolled back his shoulders.“Okay, so are there gonna be any ground rules?”
A giant fist came at his face.Eb dodged the blow, lunged to the right, then immediately plowed his fist into the attacker’s stomach.“Guess there are no ground rules.”He shoved the prick into a table.“Good to know.”
Someone grabbed Eb from behind.Thick, hard arms closed around him and tried to squeeze the life from him.Eb just slammed his head back at his attacker and drove his foot back at the SOB in the same instance.When those grabbing arms let go, Eb spun around and delivered an uppercut that had the biker stumbling back.
Two more attackers came at him.Dammit.Eb had started to breathe a bit harder.He grabbed the first attacker, but the second managed to slam a fist into Eb’s side.Eb kicked the fist-slamming bastard in the dick.Hard enough to have the man howling, and then he took out the other jerk with two fast punches.Eb scanned the room and saw that plenty more attacks were about to come his way.Fine.Bring it.Let’s get this show over.
They advanced.
“Stop!”A hard order from Ivan.
The goons stopped advancing.
“Really?The fun is ending so soon?”Eb rolled back his shoulders.“And here I was getting good and warmed up.”
Ivan strolled right up to Eb.He barely spared a glance for his injured men.Instead, he raked a stare over Eb.“You took care of the woman?”
“Yes.”For the moment.“She’s long gone.”
Ivan grunted.“Then we talk.In my office.”
But Eb didn’t move.Not yet.Suspicion crystalized in him.“You know who I am.”Not just that he was afriendof Hudson’s as Eb had said before.The Russian understood exactly who—what—Eb was.
A shrug.“After seeing those punches, I figure you have to be Eb.Always heard you had a killer punch.”
Ah, so Hudson had definitely mentioned him to the Russian.Good to know that Ivan was holding lots of secrets.
Ivan turned and began to stalk through the crowd.Of course, the crowd parted instantly for him.
Not so much for Eb.He had to shoulder and shove his way past the jerks.
But after a few moments of shoving, he found himself in front of a black door.Ivan swung it open.They marched inside and?—
Growling.
Huh.How the hell about that?There was a dog, after all.So he wasn’t just chasing a bullshit story from Naomi.Good to know.“I think the dog’s owner wants him back—” Eb broke off, stunned.
Because they’d just made it fully inside of Ivan’s private office.An office that had been locked because Ivan hadunlockedthe door before he swung it open.The dog was inside the office—a big, grinning Golden Retriever with a blue collar waited in a black cage near Ivan’s desk.Only the dog wasn’t alone.