Using the hand clamped across my mouth, he slammed my head back against the side of the van at my side and said, “Hold still or you’ll lose an eye.” I froze. He released my arm and pulled out a pocketknife. My knees went weak and I nearly fell down, but he held me where I was. “Cut it out.”
“We’re here!” Dawn screamed. Someone must have appeared. The man’s eyes flickered briefly towards the bar. Then, quick as a flash, he flicked the knife just below my eye. I gasped at the sting. Hot liquid dripped down my cheek. Blood. He fucking cut me!
Then he hurled me to the ground and took off.
Another big pair of hands were on me a minute later. I screamed and tried to slap them away. No more! “Hey, calm down, you’re okay.” Theo. I scrambled to my feet, straightening my shirt as I stood. Tears rolled down my cheeks - stupid, stupid! - and I wiped them and some of the blood away before finally looking up at him. He cursed under his breath and held my face, inspecting the cut beneath my eye. “Can you see?”
“I’m fine.”
“It looks shallow.” His grip tightened and his eyes became fierce. I tried to shrink away. “What the fuck were you doing out here?” The gravel behind him shifted and he shouted over his shoulder, “Don’t you get up yet, you stay where you are.”
My eyes narrowed. “Don’t yell at her, she didn’t do anything.” Dawn got up anyway and beat on Theo’s shoulder uselessly with her tiny fists.
“Let her go!”
He held her back easily with one hand, keeping his deep brown eyes locked on mine. “Do you have any idea what could have happened?”
I was captivated by his eyes. He still held my chin in one hand and his fingers were warm against my skin. Despite the sting below my eye, my racing heart, Dawn’s shrieks, I longed to turn in to his touch, to kiss his hand. My pulse’s rhythm changed, from one of fear to one of desire. I settled for laying a hand on his wrist. “I’m sorry,” I said, not quite sure what I was apologizing for.
His grip softened. “Apologize to your friend for leading her into danger.”
“I’m sorry, Dawn.” The girl finally stopped struggling against his grip. His thumb gently traced my jaw before he released me - a touch so gentle I might have just imagined it. But my breath caught and my heart stuttered. It couldn’t have just been in my head. Then he released Dawn’s arm and took her by one hand. He held mine with the other.
“Bill needs to see this.”
“What?” Though I protested, I let him lead me back inside. “It’s barely a scratch. I just want to go home.”
“It’s not just a ‘scratch.’ It’s a warning.”
Bill was furious. I swear I could see steam coming out of his ears. "Who the fuck does this guy think he is?" He only barely examined my face and didn't ask how I was - his main concern was the insult to his club. Still, it felt good to see him get so angry, good to know they would go after this guy so it wouldn't happen again. He wasn't concerned about me personally, but I was part of the club circle, and an injury to me would not go unanswered.
"Go on home," he said as he disappeared into the back room. Probably to call the cavalry. Theo followed, but not before cursing out Irish.
"You let these girls walk out of here alone at night again and I'll rip your fucking jaw off, got it?"
Turning a little pale, Irish nodded.
"That was graphic," I said after Theo made his exit.
Irish mumbled, "Let's go," and walked us out to my truck. "Why don't you park out front?" he asked, "At least until they deal with that guy."
I assured him I would think about it.
I took the next night off. Nella was back on duty, so she gave Dawn a lift in my place. Part of me wanted to go - Dawn having the bar to herself for a night would go straight to her head. She'd be insufferable. I've got to stop. I'm just being territorial. So I stayed home with a tub of ice cream and watched tv and checked myself out in the mirror repeatedly, stressed out over the thought that I might have a scar. It didn't need stitches, but would probably leave a mark anyway. The bastard. My arm was covered in bruises where he'd grabbed me, too.
So when Bill surprised me by knocking on my door the next morning, the first thing I blurted was, "You found the guy?"
"Not yet." He squinted at my face. "Doesn't look too bad."
"No." I touched the shallow cut - now nothing more than a thin red scab that would be gone in no time. "It was just scary. I thought he was gonna put me in a car and take off. Why'd he do this?"
"A warning to the club," Bill said. "And a damn insult, pulling that shit right in our parking lot. Don't you worry about it, though. You just concern yourself with thanking Theo."