Anthony D'Onofrio had the good looks of his father, minus twenty years, but unfortunately, not an ounce of his charm or morality. He and Faith had been oil and water from her first day.
"Think you forget who owns this place, Faith," Anthony hissed as he moved to step into the back.
"Your father," she said, moving to try to block his way, "owns this bar. And, incidentally, he doesn't want you back here."
"If you'd quit filling his head with your bullshit fucking exaggerated stories about what I do back here," he said, reaching to put his hand on her shoulder.
"Would think twice about that if I were you, man," Danny said, surprising her, his voice coming from right behind her shoulder.
She had an almost overwhelming urge to angle her head up and look at him, but her training taught her to keep her eyes on potential threats, not to the people who might try to step in and help.
"Don't know who the fuck you are, man, but mind your own goddamn business."
"Some drunk trying to put a hand on a woman in the bar I work at is my goddamn business and I really suggest you don't test me right now."
"Please," Anthony said with an eye roll, reaching to pull his suit jacket open, showing the gun tucked into his waistband.
Guns didn't have any effect on Faith. First, because she knew enough about guns to not be afraid of them. Second, because every damn man in the family came in carrying. That was just how it was. It wasn't exactly unheard of for them to flash them around if there seemed to be any trouble either.
Danny, though, didn't seem phased either, surprising her.
He pressed into the small space, slightly moving her behind him, an action she found completely unnecessary, but admirable and sweet.
"Is that supposed to scare me off?" Danny asked, angling his head to the side, not a tense muscle in his body.
It happened fast and Faith was not in the position to make a move to stop it, being angled half-behind Danny.
Anthony reached for the gun, cocked, and raised it.
But then it happened, just as quickly, so quickly that if she didn't know the move intimately, she might have missed it.
Danny's right hand went across his body, grabbing the barrel of the gun and shoved it to the side and down as his left hand rose and grabbed Anthony around the Adam's apple, fingers digging in until Anthony let out a choking noise.
Sometime between when the gun was produced and Anthony starting to gasp, a couple screams erupted from the women who were obviously not regulars, some sighs came from the ones who were, like Eleanor, and Vin's chair made a scraping sound as he moved to stand, buttoning his jacket like the gentleman he liked to present himself to be.
"Ease up," Faith said, though inwardly really enjoying seeing the scumbag in pain. "We can put our hands on him, but I think Vin draws the line at killing him.
"Shame," Danny said, wrenching the gun from his hand as he released his throat so he could pull the bullets out, dropping them into his pocket before handing the gun back to a very red, very angry Anthony.
"Those were some fast moves," Vin said, walking up, everything about him casual. "I like a man in my bar who can handle himself."
"Worked in bars in Camden and Asbury Park. Have had to disarm more than a handful of drunk assholes," Danny said, again relaxed.
There wasn't a hint of adrenaline or testosterone in his stance. He was calm, way too calm. Most people, even people who had had guns pointed at them many times, would be anxious after, worked up. There was none of that.
She wasn't sure if she trusted that.
"She won't say it either, but Faith likes the fast footwork. She didn't have to do it for herself for once."
"I'm sure Faith can handle herself," he said, giving her a wink over his shoulder that she would normally find cheesy, but on him, found it almost charming. "But I always like to deescalate a situation whenever possible."
"What's the verdict, Faith?" Vin asked, nodding toward Danny.
"He's made it through the first night," she allowed, not wanting to let on that she found herself maybe a bit too impressed by him. "But they almost always do."
Danny put a hand to his heart like he was wounded, but just smiled at her.
"The fact that she hasn't screamed at you for incompetence yet says a lot," Vin said. "Anthony, nurse your wounds and ego somewhere else," he said, waving a careless hand at a son who was an obvious disappointment to him.
"This isn't over," Anthony said under his breath as Vin walked away. "I'm gonna find you outside of here."