Rock Chick Reckoning (Rock Chick #6)(56)

Shitsof*ckit!

Before I knew what was happening or I could utter a word, both men moved.

Fast.

I was thrown free of Eric. There was a scuffle and Mace and Eric ended the scuffle face-to-face, fingers curled into each other’s tees.

“Stop it!” I shouted, rushing forward and shoving between their bodies to separate them (this failed too, for your information). Stil , my intervention kind of worked. They both pushed off with their hands, each taking a step back but they continued the stare down.

Effing men.

I opened my mouth to speak but, to my increasing frustration, Eric got there before me.

“I’m taking her into protective custody,” he announced.

Oh dear.

“The hel you are,” Mace shot back.

“You aren’t keepin’ her safe,” Eric returned.

“Yeah, and it’s safe standin’ out here f**kin’ dealin’ with you,” Mace snapped, throwing his arm out to the night to make his point.

Eric switched subjects. “She got shot at.”

“I know that,” Mace retorted.

“Again,” Eric pushed.

“I know that,” Mace repeated, visibly losing what was left of his patience.

“Pong nearly got his head blown off.” Eric kept at it and I wondered how he knew that but didn’t have a chance to process that either because Mace lost his patience.

Leaning toward Eric, he roared, “I f**king know that! ”

“I can keep her safe!” Eric shouted back.

“Yeah, like you kept Skinny Blackburn safe?” Mace returned, his tone shifting smoothly to quiet and dripping with sarcasm.

I blinked in confusion.

I blinked in confusion.

Skinny Blackburn? Who the ef was Skinny Blackburn?

I watched Eric wince and knew Mace scored a point.

Before I could butt in, Eric recovered and informed Mace, “I’l see to Stel a personal y.”

Uh-oh. I was thinking that wasn’t the right thing to say.

Mace, already tense, went solid, and his voice was now dangerous when he said softly, “I bet you wil .”

“Stop thinkin’ with your dick, Mason, and be f**kin’

smart,” Eric warned.

That, I suspected, wasn’t the right thing to say either.

“You got a minute to get the f**k out of here before I rip your goddamned head off,” Mace snarled.

Yep, I was right. Not the right thing to say.

Eric ignored Mace, turned to me and ordered, “Get in the Blazer, Stel a.”

Oh shit.

I didn’t have a chance to speak or move before Mace, not taking his eyes off Eric, said to me, “Stel a, don’t go near that f**kin’ Blazer.”

“For f**k’s sake, get in the goddamned Blazer!” Eric yel ed, also now talking to me while glaring at Mace and also losing patience.

Hmm.

Conundrum.

See, Eric was a Fed and I figured the federal government had the resources to make it unlikely that I would be riddled with bul ets. And this was something which was looking uncomfortably more and more like it might happen in my near future.

But Eric also had a thing for me that I didn’t have the emotional capacity to explore at the present moment, considering my life was in danger, not to mention a complete mess. One thing I knew, I didn’t need to owe him.

Unh-unh.

No way.

On the other hand, Mace was a badass, hot guy. He and the Nightingale Team knew what they were doing. What happened tonight wasn’t his fault, it was Monk’s and it was mine. First, the boys wanted to give in and I didn’t let them with what I now considered my immensely idiotic “I want a vote” speech. Second, we played the gig knowing the danger and the security chal enge it represented. I knew Mace felt it was his fault which I found upsetting. I didn’t want to find it upsetting but I couldn’t help myself. I was over Mace (kind of, or at least I was stil going with that thought) but I wasn’t that over Mace.

However, I was trying to steer clear of Mace and Eric was giving me a golden opportunity.

Shit.

What to do?

When I hesitated, Mace, his eyes stil locked on Eric, spoke low. “Stel a.”

“My luck sucks,” I declared because I hadn’t made a decision and I was stal ing for time, and, of course, it was the truth.

“Stel a, sweetheart, get in the Blazer,” Eric coaxed, eyes stil on Mace.

“You cal her ‘sweetheart’ one more f**kin’ time, I’l shove your teeth down your throat,” Mace growled.

Oh no. It appeared the impossible was happening and things were degenerating.

Eric grinned a humorless grin and jerked his chin at Mace.

“Let’s go,” he invited.

Yikes!

Mace took a step forward. Eric stood his ground but brought up his fists.

“Oh for goodness sake, stop it!” I shouted, getting between them again and putting a palm on each of their chests. I made a split-second, scary-as-shit decision and turned to Eric. “What happened tonight wasn’t his fault, Eric. They had tons of men there. Monk’s an ass**le, you know that. He was worried about the money. He didn’t do thorough searches so he could get people in the door.” Eric looked down at me. “You shouldn’t have been up there in the first f**kin’ place.”