Bratva Beast: A Dark Romance

Outside, Fiona chattered about Bitcoin mining and computer hacking, which apparently, she knew about from some other documentary she watched, and I listened patiently even though I didn’t understand a word she said, until she trailed off and came to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, turning back to her.

“Fiona.” A voice from halfway down the block.

I frowned at her, then turned.

Three young men stood together not far off. I recognized them right away: Doyle cousins.

Ah, shit.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked, walking forward a few steps, her normally pale skin suddenly devoid of all color entirely.

“There’s a fence near here, we’ve got some stolen watches we wanted to drop off.” The middle one shook a big, black bag and stuff inside jingled. “What are you doing?”

“I was, uh—”

“You guys going to see Jimmy Schmidt? That guy’s a fucking rip-off.” I gave them my best smile.

“Who the hell are you?” the big guy asked.

“Donal, don’t,” Fiona said.

Donal glared at her. “Are you with this guy?”

“Just trying to give you some friendly advice.”

“Leave her be,” one of the redhaired guys said, grabbing Donal’s arm. He looked like he was the youngest, a little baby face with a flop of messy hair. “She made her choice already.”

“Fuck off, Tully,” Donal said.

“You two are idiots,” the third one said, shaking his head, hands shoved into his pockets.

“And fuck you too, Ferris.” Donal glared back at him then over at Fiona. “Who is this guy?”

“My name’s Mack,” I said, stepping in front of Fiona. I didn’t like the way the leader looked at her, and I definitely didn’t like the way the one named Ferris was slowly reaching for something behind his back.

“Yeah, Mack? And who the fuck do you work for? ‘Cos you’re definitely not a Doyle.”

“I’m definitely not,” I agreed.

“It’s not what you think,” Fiona said, waving her hands in the air. “He’s just a business associate.”

“That’s almost worse,” Tully said.

“You’re working with some asshole from another crew?” Donal stepped forward, staring at me with cold, dead eyes.

I suppressed a sigh.

“We don’t have to make this hard, boys. Fiona’s a grown woman, she can—”

“Fuck you, asshole,” Donal said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife, thumbing the flip tab. “Give me a reason not to end you right now for going anywhere near a Doyle girl.”

I rubbed the back of my head. “Well, for starters, you’re holding that knife like you’ve never used it before.”

“There are three of us and one of you,” Donal said, stepping forward. He flipped the knife open. The blade was long and slightly curved and looked pretty sharp.

What a pain in the ass.

“Donal, stop it,” Fiona said. “This is so stupid. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Stay out of this.” Donal stared at me, not taking his eyes away. Apparently, he wasn’t stupid, even if he was impulsive.

“I wouldn’t come closer if I were you,” I warned. “The only reason I haven’t killed you yet is on account of Fiona. I have a feeling she’d be unhappy.”

“Donal,” Fiona said, walking forward. “Put that down and go away. I’m on business.”

“My ass you are.” Donal shifted forward, and I grabbed Fiona’s wrist before she could throw herself into the middle of this. I yanked her backwards, knocking her off balance, pulling her from harm’s way as Donal sprinted forward.

I faced him as he threw the bag of watches at my face. I caught it and used it to bat away the knife as he tried to jam it into my ribs. Fucker was going for a kill, the little bastard, but he was weak and untrained, and the bag of watches was a pretty good weight.

I knocked his wrist to the side, and his momentum carried him forward.

Right into my elbow.

I jammed it into his mouth. I heard a nice grunt and a crack. His jaw probably broke on impact, or maybe I knocked out a tooth.

I didn’t stop to investigate. I grabbed his knife hand and wrenched his fingers open, forcing him to drop the knife as I whipped his arm around and shoved it up behind his back.

Seconds later, Ferris ripped a gun from his waistband.

Two things happened too fast for me to stop them.

First, I got Donal in front of me, his arm pinned up behind him. I planned on beating his ass and making sure the other two didn’t try anything stupid.

But second, Ferris pulled the trigger.

Bullets blasted into Donal’s chest. He gasped in shock and I felt his body stiffen in pain. Ferris got off two good shots before he stopped and realized what he was doing.

Donal was in the perfect position to act as a human shield.

Not that I planned it. Just sort of worked out that way.

Donal coughed blood. I stared at the wounds in his chest as he slumped forward. Ferris let out a strangled cry and dropped the gun.