Risking it All (Crossing the Line, #1)(47)

The man holding the baseball bat ignored her. “You belong to one of the *s inside? That’s bad luck for you.”

Crap. Just as she’d feared, they weren’t from this neighborhood, which meant they’d likely come to retaliate for something. It came back to her then.

Bowen’s conversation with Wayne the day he came to the apartment. His subsequent disappearance while she waitressed at Rush. These men were here to issue payback, and now her impulsive butt was caught in the cross fire. She knew how to handle herself, but there were too many of them and they all had weapons. Silently, she begged someone, anyone, to walk out the door and interrupt.

“I don’t belong to anyone.” She shrank back on purpose, appealing to their overblown arrogance, while also making sure they underestimated her. If their goal was to get her into that car, she would fight them with every ounce of strength in her body. Having surprise on her side would come in handy. “Please, just let me go.”

The man holding the bat laughed and ran the coarse wood up the inside of her leg. “Oh, you definitely belong to somebody. You think he’ll miss you?”

Before the bat could reach the apex of her thighs, she smacked it away.

Knowing the attempt might be useless, she tried to pass one more time. Purple Eye snaked a hand around her elbow and yanked her to a halt. “We were parked down the block and saw you walk in with Driscol. Get in the f*cking car.”

Someone inside the car pushed open the back door, letting out a whoop. “Our turn to send the message, isn’t it? Come on in, girl. I’ll keep you warm for him.”

Sera

breathed

deeply

as

they

propelled her toward the car, putting up only a token resistance. As soon as they were under the false impression that she would be coming without a fight, the hand on her elbow loosened. That’s when she acted.

She snatched the baseball bat out of the man’s hands, swinging it in a large arc to give herself some room to evaluate. Two of them jumped back, having been caught off guard, but it connected with Purple Eye’s rib cage.

He let out a vile curse and went down on one knee, allowing Sera a few precious seconds to focus on the other two men.

The man wearing a cast on his arm circled up behind her, actually laughing at her attempts to fight them off. Trying to keep an eye on both men, she backed up a little, waiting to see who would come at her first. Unfortunately, the more she backed up, the farther she got from Marco’s, so she couldn’t let herself get too far.

“He should have taken better care of this one. She’s spirited.”

“Yeah, too bad,” the man in the cast spat. “Let’s go, girl. Only a matter of time, anyway.”

Laughter poured from inside the car, as if the occupant couldn’t believe his friends’ inability to subdue her. It visibly pissed them off. Purple Eye launched himself from the ground and barreled straight for her. She brought the bat down hard, but he dodged it and wrapped a meaty arm around her waist.

Not wasting a second, she brought her foot down on his instep and threw her head back, connecting with his nose. The two other men converged on her, just as Purple Eye’s arm fell away with a shout of pain.

“Bitch.”

The bat was ripped from her hands to clatter on the ground a few yards away.

Saying another quick prayer that someone would come out of Marco’s, she threw a punch at the closest man, satisfied when she felt the crunch under her fist. She didn’t have much time to celebrate landing a decent blow, though.

A hand wrapped around her throat from behind, squeezing tight enough to cut off her air. Reflexively, her fingers tried to pry the hand away, but she couldn’t get a grip. Her vision began to flare in tiny spots as air ran scarce. She had to make a move. Now. After taking a second to judge where his body was positioned so she could inflict the most damage, Sera got ready to let her body go limp. When she caught him off guard, she’d spin and go for his testicles. Three…two…

Smash. The front door to Marco’s flew open, hitting the side of the building with enough force to splinter the wood.

Through her dimming eyesight, Sera made out several men’s silhouettes, including Bowen’s, before his ferocious, earsplitting shout of denial rent the air around her. It startled the man choking her enough that he eased up on the pressure, allowing her to suck precious oxygen into her lungs. She caught herself just before her knees met the concrete, but her relief quickly gave way to horror.

Guns were drawn in quick succession, from both crews. Bowen held one in his outstretched hand. Sera didn’t know what was worse, the inevitable gunfire or Bowen’s expression. She barely recognized him. Never in her life had she seen someone so capable of murder, his body drawn tight, pupils dilated.

Everyone in the vicinity sensed it, too.

Each and every eye trained on him, waiting for him to react.

No. Sera wanted to rail over the unfairness. She’d been trying to save his life and in the process, she’d put him in a situation where he could very well commit murder. In front of her, an undercover cop. Don’t let it happen .

“Bowen,” she whispered, taking a hesitant step toward him.

His haunted gaze made her flinch. She could see the emotional battle taking place on his face. Finger poised on the trigger, he clearly wanted to fire on the man who’d been holding her. Without saying a word, he tore his attention away from her, indicating her captor with a nod of his head. “He doesn’t go anywhere.”