Page 8 of Guarding Grace (Hawk Security #2)

Grace

Screeching tires signaled a car almost hitting the Suburban as they maneuvered me toward the backseat.

“Put her down.” Terry’s yell came a second later.

I’d never heard a more welcome voice. I pulled in a relieved breath as he came into view.

“Stay the fuck out of this,” Gio countered.

Terry moved lightning fast, landing three punches in succession, the last one sending Gio against the side of the SUV.

“Asshole,” Mario sputtered as he dropped me in a heap on the sidewalk.

I landed hard enough to know I’d just collected another set of bruises, but at least my head faced the action.

“You were warned.” Mario pulled a gun. Before he could aim, Terry’s foot collided with the asshole’s hand, and the gun skittered under the car. Mario lunged at him.

Terry dodged.

Mario turned like an enraged bull.

As soon as the goon started forward, Terry landed two swift hits and a kick that sent the guy back against the restaurant window. Surprisingly, it didn’t break .

Terry swiveled and rushed to me. “What happened?” he asked, kneeling down.

“Taser.”

Mario stumbled to his feet and hobbled to Gio.

“He’s getting away,” I croaked.

“Not my priority. You are.”

I melted a little bit inside and lifted my hand as much as I could.

Terry knelt beside me and took my hand. “I’ve got you, Grace.”

This made it two times now that he hadn’t called me some derogatory cat name.

Mario pulled Gio to his feet, and the pair stumbled down the street.

It seemed too obvious, but I had to say it. “You saved me. Thank you.”

He squeezed my hand. “It’s my duty. I promised Pete.”

I’d hoped for a better reason.

“You were supposed to stay put with Serena and Duke,” he added after a moment.

There it was, the recrimination I’d expected. It was always my fault. “I couldn’t. I had to…help Elliot.”

“Yeah, right.” Derision coated his words. “And where is the little pussy now?”

A man came out of the Burger King. “Hey, you all right? Want me to call 9-1-1?”

“I’ve got her, thanks,” Terry responded as he took my hands. “I’m going to help you up. Okay?”

Some muscle control had returned, so I nodded. “I’ll try.” My back, my ass, my head, every damned thing hurt like a thousand bee stings.

After helping me up, Terry turned us toward his Porsche. When I stumbled, he caught me and helped me to the car, opening the back door instead of the front. “Lie down on your stomach in here.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I have to get the barbs out right away. Do you want me pulling your pants down in public?”

I grumbled, but did as he said and folded my knees so he could close the door.

He came around to the other side after retrieving a first aid kit from the back. “He got you in the back and the ass.”

“Thanks for the news flash. They’re starting to hurt.”

He placed a hand on my lower back. “When the barbs come out, it will just be a little prick. On three. One…two?—”

“Shit,” I screamed. “What happened to three?” He’d yanked it out without warning. “You did that on purpose. ”

“Yeah.”

“You said little.” It felt like he’d pulled off a pound of flesh.

He huffed and tore open an antiseptic pad. “Stop being a baby.” He lifted my top and rubbed antiseptic on the spot.

That stung, but after the baby comment, I wasn’t telling him so. “Is it going to heal?”

“You’ll be fine. It came out clean. See?” He held the barb attachment in front of my face. It didn’t have the flesh hanging from it I’d expected, so that was good. After another swipe of the antiseptic pad, he tore open a bandage and applied it.

“The other one hurts more.”

“Hang on.”

I felt his hand on my ass and then a very slight tug.

“Crap.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “What’s wrong?”

“The tip broke off.”

“What does that mean?”

He laid a hand on my shoulder. “It’ll have to be dug out.”

I was sure he meant his touch to be reassuring, but the warmth of his hand on me was more exciting than soothing. It took me a second to register that he meant cutting into me. That did not sound fun. I tried to get up.

He held me down. “Hold on, Tiger. Lie still. It’s like a fishhook. Movement will make it go deeper.”

“This day just keeps getting better.” I shook my head, but refused to cry. “Get me to the hospital.”

“It will be better if I take you to my place and take care of it there.”

I cocked my head. He was insane. “And have you cut into me?”

“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

“Hold on. I’ll go with the professionals on this.”

He pulled his hand away and laughed. “It’s your choice: trust me to get the barb out or take your chances with the cops.”

Instantly, I missed the contact of his hand. “What do you mean cops?”

“We can go to the hospital, if you want, and then they’ll report to the cops that you got Tasered because it’s a rule. They have to. Then the cops start asking you how this happened, and you have to tell them about Elliot. Is that a talk you want to have?”

I trembled.

Terry brushed my hair behind my ear. “Or you let me handle it.” His gentle touch soothed me.

My phone rang .

Terry jerked his hand away and pulled the device from my purse, handing it to me.

Talking to my assistant was not something I had time for right now. With a sigh, I answered. “Peyton, I’m busy. I’ll have to?—”

“Where are you?” she asked frantically. “We’re lucky Mrs. Eclestone called to say she’s running late, but she won’t be long. Tell me you’re only a block away.”

This was bad. I’d completely forgotten about her appointment this morning. Mrs. Eclestone was on the board of directors of her country club and a half dozen charities. Her recommendation for working with us would be big in her upscale community.

“Sorry. I got held up. Car trouble.” That was at least partially true, because I didn’t have my car. “Have Paul handle the design with her. I’ll be in as soon as I can.” Paul’s mother had actually gotten us the introduction.

“Paul? He hasn’t flown solo before.”

“Then have Marci join in and help him out. And don’t let him push black enamel and chrome. And…make sure he gargles first.”

That pulled a laugh out of Peyton. “I’ll do my best, but hurry.”

I felt silly as hell as I lay on my stomach in the back of Terry’s car having this conversation. I ended the call. “Shit. Shit. Shit.” The hospital was definitely out.

“What’s wrong?” Terry asked.

“Change of plans. I don’t have time for the hospital. Take me to my place. Do whatever you need to get this sucker out of me, but I need to change and go to work.”

“Wherever you go, I’m coming along, and that’s nonnegotiable.”

I sighed. Now that he’d saved me twice, my normal tendency to fight him was gone. “Prepare to be bored out of your mind.”

After the first pothole, I had to ask. “Do I really have to stay on my stomach like this?”

“It’s entirely your choice. Feel free to sit up if you want the barb to dig its way farther into you. It’s designed to dig into your skin and not let go, even if you’re running.”

It took him just a minute to criticize me again. “This only happened because you didn’t wait for me.”

Terr y

I answered Lucas’s call as I drove. “Hi, boss.”

“What’s the status?” he asked.

Grace surprised me by speaking up from the backseat. “My cousin is in deep trouble and needs my help is what the status is.”

“Grace got ambushed because she went to meet Elliot on her own. Two guys, a black Suburban partial plate eight mike echo lima. Her cousin took off.”

“I’ll have Jordy run the plate. Grace, that wasn’t very smart.”

“So I’ve been told,” she responded, like a smartass.

“Were these the same guys as last night?”

“No,” she answered.

“Stay with her, Terry.”

I was way ahead of him on that score. “Roger that.”

“He’s right,” I told her after ending the call.

“You’re mad at me,” she said as we neared her building.

“Damned straight. You almost got yourself killed.”

“What was I supposed to do?”

“First, you should have waited for me like you were supposed to. Second, you should have known better than to meet Elliot by yourself, and third, you should carry some protection, like a Taser.”

“That’s dangerous,” she objected.

“You’re obviously in a dangerous situation, so yes, carry something dangerous—pepper spray if you don’t like a Taser. I can provide whichever one you want.”

“I’ve got my darts in my purse.”

“What are you going to do? Wave them and give him a pinprick? You need more than that.”

I’d known Grace was a dedicated dart player and carried her set around with her, but those wouldn’t stop guys with the kind of weapons she’d been up against last night or today.

Shaking her head, she ignored my logic. “I said no.”

Typical Grace, she’d rather fight me than accept my help.

“I’ll bring you a Taser later.”

“I won’t use it.”

“Goddamnit, woman. You have to fight back. Do not go quietly. Fight with whatever you have. The heel of your shoe, even a pencil can be a weapon. A Taser is just a tool. It’s not inherently dangerous.”

She didn’t acknowledge me one way or the other and was quiet for the rest of the drive to her building.

I parked as near to her door as I could manage. After exiting, I grabbed needle-nosed pliers and my small first aid pack from the back before opening her door to get her out.

“I want to walk,” she complained as I pulled her from the car and picked her up.

I kicked the car door closed with my foot. “Remember about movement making it dig in deeper?”

She sighed. “I’m not a child. I feel stupid being carried.”

“Now you’re acting like a child.”

She looked away. “You’re always putting me down.”

“Do you have any idea who those guys were?”

“Elliot said they worked for his boss.”

That gave me one piece of the puzzle. “They work for Tony Russo, the local Italian mob boss. You get on the wrong side of those guys in New York and they give you cement shoes and dump you in the East River.” I pulled open the door to her building and scooted in sideways so as not to bump her head.

“Oh.”

“Out here,” I explained, “they don’t bother with the cement. They just take you out on a boat, cut you a few times to make you bleed, and throw you overboard for the sharks.”

She cringed.

I carried her up the stairs of her building, and damn if she didn’t feel right in my arms as she laid her head against my chest and closed her eyes.

She pulled in a deep breath. “Thank you. Did I say thank you? Yes, I’ll ask for help next time, but what can I do to repay you? Anything. Just name it.”

I chuckled as we started down her hallway. “Those are dangerous words with a man like me.”

A come-hither smile appeared on her lips. “Anything. I mean it.” She had no idea how tempting her offer was.

“Dinner,” I said like the good man I aspired to be and definitely wasn’t. “Home-cooked,” I added to make it clearer.

“All you want is dinner, in addition to coffee I already owe you?”

“I did specify home-cooked. I have simple tastes.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

I managed a smile. It’s not a date . She’s your best friend’s little sister, you fuckwad.