The first man snickered. “Are you serious?”
The second man chuckled. “You owe me forty bucks.”
I nodded. “Glad I could make someone a little bit of money.”
The first man charged me, his feet moving quicker than I anticipated. The gleaming of his serrated knife in his hand caused me to step to the side. The second man ambushed me, clocking me square in my ribs with his fucking fist. And as I let out a groan, I prayed to any god listening that Dani did as I asked.
Stay where you are, gorgeous. Let me handle this.
I saw the knife coming straight for my face. I grabbed the man’s wrist and pulled him to me before knocking the two men’s heads together. I slipped out from against the wall they tried to use to corner me and picked up a metal pipe I’d stumbled over. With my back hunched and my nostrils flaring, I held my own in the middle of the alley. Ready to fight for the small amount of space I could give Dani as a safety threshold.
“What? That’s all you got?” I asked.
And as the first man charged me again, I held the metal pipe over my head.
15
Dani
I scooted further between the dumpster and the wall as I held the phone to my ear. I heard the engine of a bike roaring on the other end of the phone. But I didn’t know how much time had passed. I couldn't hear anything that was going on. I didn’t know if Max had run. Or dipped back into the club. Or lured the guys in another direction.
“Rupert. Where are you?” I hissed.
“I’m less than five minutes out! If that!”
I winced at his yelling. “We don’t have five minutes. I can’t hear anything that’s going on.”
“Stay where you are. Do as Max asked. I’m serious. I’m not far away now.”
“Hurry up!”
My heart thundered in my chest. The shadows cloaked me as I continued to grow more curious. I needed to know what was going on with Max. I needed to at least know that he was still standing.
“I’m going to try and see if--”
“Bambi, no. Just do as Max is asking you. He’s trying to keep you out of trouble.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s just a peek. Calm down.”
“ETA two minutes!”
I slowly crept away from the dumpster and peered around the corner. With his phone held to my ear and Rupert rattling off some nonsense, I watched as one of the guys charged Max. My jaw fell open as the fight began, unraveling within the confines of the alley as I knelt there. Being useless.
“Rupert, they’re ganging up on him.”
“Stay where you are. I’m fucking serious. I’m about to--”
I watched as Max reached for something. I watched him hold it over his head. And as one of those guys charged him, he ducked as Max swung. Another guy came out of seemingly nowhere and slammed straight into his gut. I saw the man’s knee connect before Max crumbled to his knees. And the sound of something metallic clanged off in the distance.
“Rupert. He’s down. What do I do? Tell me what the fuck to do!”
“What the hell do you mean, down?”
“Rupert!” I hissed.
“Stay where you fucking are. Don’t get involved. Guys like them don’t have a moral code. I’m turning onto the club’s street now. They’ll hurt you in a heartbeat. They don’t care. Trust me, just stay down.”
“I can’t just crouch here while he needs help,” I insisted.