Hard to Forget

The song ends and we stand like that, wrapped in each other, until a throat clears and I jerk backwards. A tall, gorgeous woman is standing, smiling at Jax. “Hi there, gorgeous. Remember me?”

His eyes scan over her face and his jaw hardens. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

She grins, not at all offended by his harsh tone. “I’m sure, but I was just going to ask for the next dance.”

“No thanks,” he grunts.

“I need to, ah, use the bathroom,” I say, pushing back.

“Me too,” Jax growls, glaring at the woman and following me out of the room.

We have to use the bathrooms that are in a long narrow hall outside the ballroom, because there’s none directly in the ballroom. Granted, they’re just outside it, but it still means stepping into an unsecured area. I open the door first, shoving my hand in my purse to clutch my gun as I stare around. It seems fine, so I follow Jax towards the restroom.

We reach them and I come to a problem. If I go into the bathroom, Jax won’t be safe. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, then I turn to him. “I think you’re going to have to go, and I’ll have to take you back to the safety of the ballroom and then go myself.”

The muscle in his jaw jumps, and I know he doesn’t like me coming out here alone. Before he can answer, two men step into the hallway. One comes from the left, the other from the right. I flinch and my eyes instantly fall to their hands that are reaching into their jackets.

“Look at that, two in one,” the man to my left says, and my blood runs cold.

I step closer to Jax and finger the gun in my purse, not wanting to use it, but more than willing to if need be. Jax curls a hand around my wrist and squeezes, he’s sending a message, only I don’t know what it is.

“This will be easier than we thought. You’ve been a burden on us for too long now,” the second man grunts, glaring at Jax.

He pulls out a gun and all the breath is sucked from my lungs. They wouldn’t shoot us in a casino, would they? God, of course they would, and now’s their perfect chance. I stare at the gun and I know I can’t reach for mine that fast, my only chance is a quick attack. I’ve been taught how to disarm a man with a shock attack, but it’s still a risk considering there’s a man on the other side of Jax with a gun, too.

If I take this guy down, will the other man shoot Jax before I get the chance to get to him, too? I have to take the risk, because if I just stand here doing nothing, they will most certainly shoot us. I glance at Jax and he nods ever so slightly. Does he know what I’m going to do? Is he going to take the other man down? I have to hope he is. I nod slightly too and the man laughs.

“You two have no way out, you can close your eyes, if you like. It’ll hurt less. I promise to make it right between the eyes.”

I flinch and turn to glare at him, he aims the gun between my eyes. Now or never. I duck low and twist so quickly he doesn’t see it coming. I don’t try to disarm him yet, but instead drive a fist into his stomach when I make contact. He takes a couple of steps back upon impact and I’m grateful that I haven’t heard a gun go off. Instead I hear grunting. Jax was thinking the same as me, thank god.

I focus on the man who has now wrapped one arm around my head and is shoving my face into his stomach, trying to suffocate me. I use my free fist to drive up and punch him between the legs. He bellows and topples backwards. I stand and twist my body to the side, preparing to kick him as hard as I can when he turns skillfully and drives a fist into my cheek.

I gasp as pain shoots through my skull, exploding in the depths and sending me off-guard for a second. The man takes that second, and drives the other fist into my eye and I topple backwards. I trip on something and I realize it’s a body. I land on my backside and like lightning, Jax moves past me. There’s a loud crack and then a gun slides my way. I grasp it even though I’m dizzy.

I see Jax and the man on the ground, their bodies rolling about, fists flying. The other man, who I tripped over, is out cold on the ground. I take a deep, shaky breath and fight the pain as I crawl across the floor towards the two men. The one I was fighting has a small knife. I don’t know where he pulled it from, but there’s no way he’s going to get that into Jax.

I aim the gun and with a shaky hand, I shoot him in the leg just as he raises the knife to slash at Jax. He bellows in agony and topples backwards, hitting the wall. After that, what happens is a blur. A passerby heading toward the bathroom spots us and runs away, then starts shouting for help. Soon people from the casino swarm us. I fall backwards, head spinning. I realize my dress is torn and my panties are showing, but I make no effort to cover myself as Jax kneels beside me. He’s got blood on his lip, but otherwise he looks okay.

“Hey, look at me,” he says. “Can you see?”

“Y-y-y-yes,” I whisper, groaning.

Before he can say anything more a guard comes through the crowd. I vaguely hear him asking Jax what happened, and listening as Jax explains his situation. I keep my eyes closed, and focus on anything but the pain in my face. This is why I don’t get into fights, being punched hurts.

“Hey.” I feel a warm hand on my cheek. “Look at me.”

I open my eyes to see Jax staring down at me, a worried expression on his face. There are two police officers beside him, handcuffing the two men.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

I nod.

He turns and barks at the crowd in general, “Someone get me some fucking ice.”

Then he turns back and swipes a piece of hair from my forehead. “How’s your vision? Can you see? Is the pain severe?”

“I’m okay,” I whisper. “It’s just going to hurt like hell tomorrow.”

“I’ve called Nak, he’s on his way. Here.” He shrugs off his suit jacket and lifts me gently, draping it over my shoulders. I clutch it close, breathing it in, grateful for the warmth and coverage it creates.

“I have to talk to the police, but I’ll be right here,” Jax assures me.

He stands and when an ice pack comes, he hands it to me. I place it against my cheek and sit back against the wall, as I listen to him give a full statement. The officers are familiar with his case, and they said it’s a good thing these two men have been arrested. I think it’s a bad thing. A very, very bad thing.

This will only make them angrier.

“Jesus.”

I hear Nak’s voice and open my eyes to see him shoving through the crowd. When he reaches me, he kneels in front of me, taking my chin in his hands. “What happened?”

“They cornered us in the hall when we were alone,” I croak. “They had their guns drawn before I could pull mine. I did the best I c-c-could.”

“Hey,” Nak says. “You’re both alive and they’re both in custody, you did well.”

“He hit me, I went down … Jax fought the other one and then got the guy off me.”

“Then it was lucky you were together.”

I nod. There’s no point worrying that I didn’t do my job correctly. It would have been no different if it was Kyle in the situation, or even Nak. Nak is right, we got out safely and that’s all that matters.

“Are you in serious pain?” Nak asks, turning my face from side to side.