Page 33 of Healing Conviction
Ew. He’s a chaser. No wonder he didn’t like the easy-to-get girl. He likes it when we run.
It’d been years since she’d been desperate enough to use the ‘you can have me, but only for the right price’ angle. This time she wouldn’t let it get too far, though. She wanted to gag at the mere thought, but as long as they kept it PG, she could handle him groping her a little. If shehadto. Although if he got even one pinky finger on her, she was going to have to take at least a billion showers back at the hotel. As it stood, she was already itching to wash her hands until they bled, but she’d take one for the team if it meant helping the cause.
As if to prove her point, Joey’s greasy hand was already reaching for her like it was a done deal, and she had to force herself to freeze to let him make contact—
A blur in her vision made her jerk back.
It’d all happened so fast, she would’ve missed the switch if she hadn’t already been watching Joey’s hand move in slow motion.
One second, Joey’s fingers were a hair away from pulling her in by the waist. The next Drake somehow had Joey’s knife pressed to the guy’s thick throat. While Joey had the muscle Drake used to have, Drake had more speed. With the blade already slicing Joey’s skin and Drake at arm’s length, there was no way the larger man could move to fight back.
Aside from Drake breathing heavily through his nose, the rest of him was perfectly still, forcing Joey to swallow past the knife held to his neck. When her Viking hero finally spoke, his voice was deeper and more menacing than she’d ever heard it.
“Touch her and I’ll slice every single finger off, one by one, then use them to gouge your perverted eyes out of your fucking head.”
The commanding tone made her nipples harden and she folded her arms over her breasts.
Chill out, ladies, we are witnessing a mother-effin’ crime right now.
Her core clenched, and she casually leaned against the wall, crossing one purple heel over the other, because the lady parts werenotlistening.
“Now… answer her questions.” At Drake’s demand, the man’s wide eyes darted to hers. A trickle of blood from the knife made him cry out and look back at Drake. “Do notlookat her. We tried it her way, but you were a perverted fuck. So now we’re doing itmyway. Where… is… Shanna?”
Drake’s low voice made her realize how quiet the place was. A dripping sound caught her attention, dragging her gaze toward a spilled glass of sweet tea, dribbling from an empty table in the corner. She scanned the rest of the suddenly vacant restaurant.
With how crowded it had been, BlackStone would’ve easily lost a pretty penny paying off witnesses. But in a culture where almost everything is videotaped, you could still count on places like P&P to do your dirty work in peace. If there was a threat of a fight or police, Pancake Park clientele usually fled the premises quicker than a call to dispatch. Staff too. Apparently ol’ Joey didn’t have many loyal friends.
Napkins were strewn everywhere, and even though the privacy was to their advantage, it made her stomach growl with anger to see a gorgeous Belgian waffle remain untouched.
What a waste.
“I’m not asking again.”
“G-get your dog off me!” Joey’s eyes were dry and furious, but his forehead wept with sweat and fear.
Nora sucked her teeth and whistled a few notes. “Yeah, I don’t think so, buddy. Not until you give us all the deets.”
“Fuck it, fine. She don’t mean nothin’ to me anyhow. She’s at that extended-stay motel near the overpass. I don’t know what you guys think you need her for, but I can tell ya she ain’t worth none of this. Even if she weren’t worthless, ain’t no way she’s gonna help y’all.”
Rage shocked through her, rocking her away from the wall. She snatched Drake’s knife from his back pocket, flicking it open and aiming it at Joey in one fluid motion as she stomped forward.
“Who—theactual—fuck areyouto decide that she is worthless, huh?”
“Whoa, Pix.”
Before she could get up into Joey’s face, Drake snaked his free arm around her stomach and pulled her behind him. Joey howled as they moved, and Nora glared past Drake to see the knife had sliced farther into the man’s neck.
“I-I’m sorry! I-I shouldn’t’ve said that—”
Darkness invaded the edges of her vision and a snarl erupted from her chest, reinforcing how feral she already felt. “You’refuckingright, you shouldn’t have said that, you steaming pile of elephant shit. It’s men like you who convince women that they’re only good for one thing. You tell someone they’re nothing for long enough, they’ll start to believe it. Even when it comes from a dickwart likeyou.” She brandished Drake’s knife at Joey, trying in vain to break out of Drake’s tightening hold.
The ignorant pig shook his head as much as the chef’s knife blade would allow on his neck. “I s-swear… whatever’s her damage ain’t my fault. She was like that when my m-manager found her.”
Nora dug the nails of her free hand into Drake’s bicep as she screeched. “When hefoundher? What the hell does that mean?”
“Sh-she was workin’ the streets. Shit towns like this, not much else to do for druggies. Hell, it’s a fuckin’ second job ‘round here.”
“Pull it together, Pix. Focus, baby.”