Chapter Nine
Morgan found it was hard keeping a level head when it was swimming with alcohol. Though her fear was helping her burn through her haze, it wasn’t happening nearly quickly enough.
The large man nudged her toward the back door. “Let’s get out of here,” he said with a grim smile.
Morgan tried to slip out between his body and the wall, but found a meaty hand holding her firmly in place by the shoulder.
“Let me go,” she said. Her voice rose with panic the harder he tried to press her toward the door. “Please.”
“Do you know who I am?” the man said, his face contorted in anger.
Morgan opened her mouth to respond.
“Son of a whore?”
She closed her mouth. Those hadn’t been her words. Then she realized it hadn’t been her voice, but a man’s.
The large hand on her shoulder slid off as the Russian man turned. She hurried away from him, relieved by the sight of Davin standing there.
His green eyes twinkled with merriment as he watched the large man.
“What did you say about my mother?” the large man said.
Davin smiled back at the angry man, and Morgan groaned at his choice of words.
“You’re right,” Davin said, scratching his eyebrow. “That was rude and unfair. Your mother can’t help that her son is a rotting sack of shit.”
Morgan’s heart hammered loudly in her chest. It only mildly calmed when Davin reached out to pull her behind his back. He started to slowly back her away.
She could see the large mans hands clench into meaty balls near his sides. If he got his hands on Davin, there was no way he’d come out okay. Not with a man that size. It didn’t matter how tough Davin was.
“You going to pay,” the man ground out.
Davin reached behind him and grasped her hand in his tightly. She could see his other hand making its way to his side where she knew he kept his gun.
“Doubtful,” Davin said, sounding almost cheerful
Like a flash, his hand reached out but instead of landing on his gun like she expected, it hit the wall, and darkness swallowed the room.
He pulled hard on her hand as they stumbled through the darkness to the bright red exit sign over the door.
The instant he hit the door, alarms blared. Flashes of strobing light lit the room as the alarm screamed into the night.
Then they were outside in the cool night. The door slammed behind him.
She turned to Davin who stood grinning beside her.
“Well, that was fun,” he said with a shrug.
Morgan felt her hand twitch to slap the smile right off his face. She was terrified, and he was having a great time. It seemed like some things never changed.
Bright lights turned down the alley, and she covered her eyes to get a look at the driver. Maybe it was that man and his friends. The fear gripped her heart.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here before shit gets real,” a man said as he climbed out of the car. It took her a second, but she recognized him as Torin.
Another car pulled in behind him as he spoke.
Davin pulled on her hand just when the metal door creaked open. “Shit.”
Exactly what she was thinking when the large man and his friends stepped out, guns drawn.
“We fucking kill you!” the man screamed.
Davin turned to her as he pulled out his own gun. “Run.”
Morgan didn’t need to be told twice as several loud bangs echoed through the alley.
She ran as fast as she could. Rocks around her pelted her feet as bullets hit the ground.
When she reached the car, Morgan ducked behind it. Torin and Kane returned fire as the other men ducked behind a nearby trashcan.
“Get in,” Davin shouted to her.
She opened the door and ducked inside, just as Davin slipped in.
He hit the gas and revved the engine. Morgan looked behind them. The other car still blocked their escape.
“We’re trapped!” she said.
Davin turned and gave a smile that made her think he was enjoying this just a bit too much.
“We’re not trapped,” he said with a grin. “We’re going through.”
Morgan gripped the door frame as the tires under them spun on the gravel.
“Get down!” he shouted.
Davin grabbed her by the neck and forced her down. It was a risk going this way, but he had to show these bastards that they didn’t fear them. It was the only way to make men like them understand.
He pressed his foot against the floor as his car shot out of the entrance of the alley, missing the other car and the wall by inches. He held his gun out the window and fired at the men as they scrambled to get out of the way of the bullets raining down on them.
Pain ripped through his arm, and he grunted. Just a flesh wound. Nothing he hadn’t dealt with before.
For one brief moment, he caught the eye of the man that had been touching Morgan and fired. The bullet found its mark in the man’s chest,
Satisfaction filled him over taking out the bastard. There was one less piece of shit on the streets.
“You killed him,” Morgan said.
He hadn’t even noticed she was sitting up until she spoke.
Davin stared out in front as he whipped into oncoming traffic. He rolled up his window quickly and placed the gun on the side of his seat.
He glanced behind him and was glad to see Kane behind him in the SUV.
They drove in silence now. Davin could see her from the corner of his eye as she shivered and reached over to turn on the heat.
When she flinched, he felt it right to his very soul.
They turned down several streets before coming to the gates leading to his new community.
Once inside, he watched as Kane turned off to his own home.
They stopped just outside his place.
“You killed him,” she repeated.
He could hear the horror in her voice, and no matter how much he tried to make it okay, hearing it right there in her voice only made it worse.
“He’s dead,” Morgan said a little louder. “How could you kill him?”
He turned in his seat to glare at her. “Are you kidding me? How could I?”
She stared at him in shock, and even though he knew this wasn’t going to help, Davin couldn’t seem to find a way to pull himself back.
“First of all, in case it escaped your attention, he and his buddies were trying to kill us.” He snorted. “And do you even know what that son of a bitch was going to do to you?” He watched her throat work as she swallowed hard. “He shouldn’t even be able to look at you, let alone touch you,” he said with the venom he felt. “So, yes, I fucking killed him. I gave him his chance, and he came after me. He didn’t just try and hit me. He shot at me. And, shit, I’d do it all over again if it meant one less piece of shit on the streets.”
Davin didn’t wait around for her to speak again. He didn’t want to hear the disappointment in her voice or to see the fear in her eyes. It was too much.
He should have known it would be like this. Morgan wasn’t like everyone else. Even after everything she’d been through, she was still the sweet innocent person she always was.
More than anything, he wanted her to keep that. That was one of the reasons he needed to stay away from her.
He stepped out. He’d just dress his wound and then have her back at her apartment where she belonged. She’d be away from this sort of life and safe in her book world.