Ed saw red.
Normally, he gave Loki some leeway. The huge man might be insane, but he also had a big heart. Logically, Ed knew that Loki would never harm Georgina. But this was Georgina. Nobody touched her but Ed.
Jesus.
“Put her down, now,” he demanded.
“She’s mine!”
Georgina was trying to free herself. He could have told her not to bother. Loki was an ex-Marine and her tiny hands wouldn’t be able to inflict damage against the muscular man.
“Stay still, wench!” Loki slapped his hand down on Georgina’s ass.
“Oh shit!” Kiesha cried. “Loki, put her down. She’s not a local. She doesn’t get it.”
Ed could feel a headache starting again in his temples. Why him? Why did he have to attempt to tame this crazy town filled with wild people?
“Put her down now!” Crap! He was going to have to arrest the bastard. Which wasn’t going to go down well.
“No!”
Loki disappeared out the back. Fuck! Ed turned and headed towards the front door. It would be quicker to go out that way and then head around to the back.
“O’Ryan, help keep the peace. Jace, Jimmy, start questioning people. I’ll be back.”
“We’ll help you, Ed!” Kiesha called out.
“You’ll stay right where you are,” he roared back, hoping that she listened to him for once.
Fuck. Who was he kidding?
Turning, he left the bar and raced around the side of the building. He was getting too old for this shit. He needed to consider retiring. Buying a small house by a lake, doing some fishing.
This wasn’t happening.
She was safe. This wasn’t the past.
Strong. Be strong, Georgina.
“You put me down right now!” Georgina demanded. Her voice came out a bit shaky. A whole bar full of people had seen him kidnap her. Ed was there. He’d come for her.
Even though he didn’t like her, he’d still do his job. Right?
She attempted to move, but the giant was as strong as he looked. Damn it. This was not an easy position to get out of. He had a tight hold of her thighs which meant she couldn’t kick him and when she tried to throw herself off his shoulder, he just tightened his hold.
That left only her hands free and he didn’t seem to feel her hits or scratches.
This was really humiliating. She should be able to free herself. But as well as the panicky feeling that was growing in her gut, she was also full of pink flamingos. And having his shoulder pressed into her gut wasn’t a great feeling.
“Let me go. Let me go!”
“Easy, girl, we are nearly there. Loki will take you home with him, set you up as his princess. You will want for nothing.”
Okay, so this guy was obviously drunk. He kept referring to himself in the third person and he seemed to think she was a spoil of war. But if anything, that made things worse because there didn’t seem to be any reasoning with him.
Crazy. He was crazy.
Help was coming. And she wasn’t helpless.