Page 7 of Three

“Get in the very long line, shithead,” I retort, taking a step back. “Four minutes and counting,” I address Grizzly.

He grits his teeth but turns to the guy. “I’m going to ask you three questions.” The donor has the foolish idea of trying to hit my bear's face with a weak punch, which ends in a loud scream when the Grizzly breaks his other wrist.

I check the idiots on the ground to see if the painful screech has prompted them into action. Douglas has disappeared, must have run away, while the other two are still down.

I look at my bear again when he goes back to talking. “And you will give me the right answers, or you’ll sing like one of those kids in the church choir.” His big hand moves to the front of the donor’s pants and tightens on his…family jewels.

Old school, but effective. I’d have used my foot, although in his position, it’d have been kind of awkward.

That reminds me, I have my yoga lesson on Tuesday.

“Fuuuuck!” August tilts his head up and lets out a choked sound, both his arms limp at his sides.

“First question. Who are you?”

The donor tightens his lips, and Grizzly’s fingers do the same…south.

“Ahhhhh! Auggie Baker.”

Satan, he’s a disgrace to all the hitmen in the world.

Bear Man seems to ponder the donor’s words for a few seconds. “Baker. Do you know a Molly Baker?” His hand squeezes some more.

“Yeeeees!”

I take out my phone, and entering inside my database, I tap in the name of the woman, cross-referencing with August Gene Baker and his brother, Marcus, as well. Bingo!

“It’s his doofus brother’s wife.” I aim my thumb at Marcus.

Grizzly looks at the prone body on the ground. “I thought I saw that flat ass before. So, this is what? Some stupid revenge on the guy who was paid to take pictures of your brother’s cheating habits by his wife?”

“Ex-wife,” I correct him. Yep, the divorce was final three months ago.

“Ex-wife,” Grizzly surprisingly repeats, turning his curious eyes on me and then my phone.

I puff out my chest like a peacock. Maybe I’m showboating a bit, but I fucking want him, and I’m still not sure if the feeling is reciprocated. What am I thinking? Of course it is.

“Gabe is a minute away,” Serena lets me know.

“You’re dead! Dead meat,” the hitmangrunts, smiling menacingly at Grizzly. My hacker senses start to tingle. I’m pretty sure he knows he’ll be the one doing the dying tonight, so what’s with the certainty filling his voice?

Then again, who wouldn’t want the person who’s turning their balls into dry raisins dead?

A black van stops right at the entrance of the alley. I see Gabe’s face peek through the open window. His five-hundred-dollar haircutand tailored black button-up shirt and suit jacket are such a contrast to the battered vehicle.

His gray eyes take in the situation: the two guys on the ground, my grizzly squeezing my donor’s nuts, and me standing with my arms crossed a couple of feet away.

“Who tried to fix your face?” he teases me with his flat voice, glancing at the bruise that is surely forming under my eye. The pain is slowly disappearing. Now that the fight is over, the numbness is taking control of my body again, but it will disappear as soon as I start taking care of my donor. The rush from torturing him will make me fully feel again.

“Idiot number two on the ground,” I reply.

“Who’s the big guy?” My foster brother looks at my bear.

“Grizzly, the…victim.”

“Grizzly?” Bear Man repeats, lifting a dark brow at me.

“Do you prefer Bear Man? Bears have a very high IQ on top of the superhuman physical strength,” I let him know.