Absolution (The Protectors 1)

Eduardo’s fingers eased off my throat just a fraction, enough for me to suck in a tiny bit of air.

“Beg me like that again, Jonas. Beg me not to hurt you…”

I wouldn’t have said the words even if I’d had enough air to speak so I spit in his face instead. Rage mottled his features and his fist slammed against my cheek. Then both of his hands wrapped around my throat and any scraps of air I’d managed to pull into my lungs disintegrated and I began gasping desperately as I clawed at his arms.

And then he fell away from me and I collapsed into a heap on the floor. As I tried to draw in breath, I saw Ronan striding towards us, a gun in his hand. Eduardo was just feet from me, screaming in pain, holding on to his knee which seemed to be gushing blood. It took me a second to realize that Ronan had shot Eduardo there to force him to release me.

I expected Ronan to hold Eduardo there until help came, but he stepped past the moaning man and came to stand in front of me, his legs blocking my view. I closed my eyes when I heard the gun discharge again. I opened my eyes just in time to see Ronan using what looked like a piece fabric to place a knife in Eduardo’s lax hand and then he was flexing Eduardo’s hand around the handle. Then Ronan knelt in front of me and put his hand on my chin as he examined my face.

“It’s over,” he whispered and then he stood and placed his gun on the bathroom counter and held up his hands. My only thought after the chaos that ensued as security guards stormed into the bathroom, was that I needed to get back to Cole.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Mace

I actually stumbled when I walked into the private room that the police officer had pointed me towards. The cops had told me what had happened when I arrived at the hospital, but they hadn’t fully prepared me for the damage that Eduardo had inflicted upon Jonas. A large gash that had already been stitched was just above his left eye and his left cheek was bruised and swollen. Bruises also covered almost his entire neck. When he saw me, he stood on shaky legs and it took every effort not to embrace him too hard because I didn’t know if there were other injuries I couldn’t see.

“Cole?” Jonas asked.

“Still out,” I said quickly. “My parents are with him. His father too.”

“Just a couple more questions, Mr. Davenport, and we’ll be done,” the police officer who’d been questioning Jonas said.

Jonas sat and I wrapped my hand around his as I pulled up a chair next to him. The cop had only agreed to let me in the room with Jonas if I didn’t interfere with the interview.

“When you say Mr. Santero threatened you, did he have the knife out?”

I felt Jonas squeeze my hand hard before he said, “I…I don’t remember. It all happened so fast. I couldn’t breathe. I saw it when he went after Ronan.”

“And Mr. Grisham shot Mr. Santero in the knee first?”

Jonas nodded. “Ronan came up to me to make sure I was okay and that’s when I saw that Eduardo had the knife.”

The police officer nodded. “Thank you,” he said as he stood.

“Officer, Ronan saved my life.”

“The arrest was standard procedure. This was a clear cut case of justification. I’ll talk to the D.A. as soon as I get back to the precinct and I’m sure we’ll have Mr. Grisham out of there in a few hours.”

As soon as the police officer left, I stood and drew Jonas into my arms. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” I asked.

Jonas shook his head. “He saved my life, Mace.”

I forced some air into my lungs. Knowing I’d come so close to losing both of my men today was threatening my ability to stay upright. I’d been going on adrenaline from the time I’d heard Jonas call my name and seen Cole covered in blood and I knew when I did crash, it was going to be mind-numbing.

“Did Eduardo cut you anywhere else?” I asked as I examined the wound over Jonas’s eye.

Jonas stilled. “There was no knife,” he whispered. “Ronan planted one on him afterwards.”

“You told the cops-”

“I get it now,” Jonas interrupted. “Men like Eduardo…they don’t stop. They never stop. He would have kept coming after me. Ronan knew that.”

I leaned down to press my lips against Jonas’s head. “Are you okay with covering for him?”

I felt Jonas nod against my chest. “I need to see Cole,” he said.

I nodded and took his hand and led him out of the room.

“How’s Cole’s dad?”

“Struggling,” I admitted. “I was lucky enough to find him relatively lucid when I got to their house.”