His certainty sparked a renewed rush of the desire. I hadn’t thought his brand of arrogant confidence was something that appealed to me, but the little pulse that started low in my belly told me otherwise. Besides, I had never met anyone like Sorin so I had no idea how to react.
A shadow moved and when I looked up, a man, more of a boy really, stood in front of me.
“Give me your money, bitch.”
Seven
Sorin
I saw the figure standing in front of Esther and then the one who stepped beside her, effectively blocking her in. Trouble, I could tell, and the anger at seeing her in that vulnerable position was not surprising, but the worry that came with it assuredly was.
I sped up, put my hand on her shoulder, ignoring, at least for the moment, the thrill of satisfaction that spread through me when she, seemingly on instinct, reached for my hand.
It was nice, Esther reaching out to me for comfort, and even though she may only have done so because I was the only option, I liked it anyway.
The circumstances, however, were not good.
I’d never had to stoop this low, robbing women in the dark of night, but I knew the type who did. Another man might be worried; there were two of them after all. I wasn’t though, had been in much more dangerous situations with a regularity that had all but numbed me to danger. The men who’d accosted Esther had more cause to be worried than I did. I wondered if they were smart enough to figure that out.
“Yours too,” the one in front of Esther said, gesturing toward me.
Guess not. I thinned my lips when I heard his voice. He was Romanian, I knew that for sure, was probably clan and definitely outside of his territory. I’d take that up with his leader later. It was a fortunate thing Esther was here, or I’d take it up with him right now.
A quick glance at Esther showed she looked surprised but didn’t seem that afraid, a fact that made me surprisingly proud. I tightened my grip on her hand and set off.
The one in front of Esther stepped into my path, glaring up at me. I released Esther’s hand and narrowed my eyes at him. He swallowed thickly, but didn’t back away. He couldn’t do that and save face because stories of his cowardice would run rampant in his clan.
“You’re very far from home. You should run along,” I said.
He pulled himself to his full height, narrowing his eyes at me. “Why don’t you make me?” He would have been convincing if not for the little stutter that tripped out with the last word.
“ştii cine sunt eu?” I said as I pushed him.
His eyes widened with shock, but he quickly recovered. “You’re a dead man if you don’t give up the money,” he replied in our native language.
If I wasn’t so pissed, I would have laughed in his face, but I settled on my second impulse.
The blow came faster than he anticipated, and I made clean contact, the low thud of my fist against his face surprisingly loud in the quiet of the night. The kid stared at me disbelieving, and then, on a low growl, he swung wildly.
I caught his fist, twisted his arm until I heard the sickening snap. He cried out and fell to his knees.
“This is what you do? Rob women?” I asked, punctuating the question with a kick to his ribs, the feel of his chest caving against the weight of my kick, sending adrenaline coursing through my veins and filling me with satisfaction.
He grunted and I kicked him again.
“Sorin!”
I turned at Esther’s cry and then ducked as the other lunged at me. I caught him with a punch to the stomach, slammed him to the ground and then delivered three swift kicks. Only Esther’s sharply inhaled breath stopped me. I turned to her again, saw the haunted look in her eyes.
“Get the fuck out of here!” I yelled at the two boys. “Now!”
They struggled to their feet and then set off, moving as fast as they could. I watched as they left, using the seconds to gather myself. When I finally turned and looked at Esther, her expression was one I’d never seen from her. It was closed off, flat, I had no idea what she was thinking. And worse, I found that it mattered. Very much so.
Long moments passed until I grabbed her hand and started to walk again, tightening my grip when she tried to pull away, ignoring the twitch that hit me when she did, not wanting to acknowledge what it meant, wishing she was coming to me and not pulling away.
The walk back to her house was so different than the one that had come before it. I could feel her wariness, her question, her confusion. But I didn’t address it, didn’t say anything until we reached her house, using the time to collect my thoughts and turn over the fact that I even cared how she was reacting.
“Does that happen a lot?” I asked when she stood in front of her door.