“Is she okay?” Jax. She heard his voice and cringed at the tone and intensity.
“Did he?”
“No. We got to her in time. Thank God you realized she was gone and went looking,” Jameson said.
“Thank God she hit that button. Fuck,” Jax stated, and she slowly pulled away from Jameson’s chest to look at both men. Their eyes widened and they were upset.
“I think we need some ice,” Theo said from behind Jameson. Jameson reached to her jaw and gently turned her face.
“Does it hurt rea
lly badly?”
She nodded her head. The stinging in her jaw wasn’t from pressing her face so hard against Jameson’s chest. It was from the grip that Ellington had on her face.
She was totally embarrassed as the police arrived and Theo cleared the room of any nosey onlookers. She assumed that Ellington was arrested on the spot and pulled from the room. He was nowhere to be found. Nothing like this ever happened to her before. As she realized she still clung to Jameson, she got ahold of her emotions and started to move out of his embrace. He didn’t look happy about it at all.
* * * *
Jameson was trying his hardest to rein in his anger at the situation. Thank God they had gotten to Mariana in time and Jax stopped Ellington James from hurting her further. Now, with Mariana in his arms, it seemed to calm his temper, but he couldn’t say the same for his brother Jax. Jax was pacing after Theo and three other men helped to pull him off of Ellington. He was giving the piece of crap a good ass kicking as he deserved. How dare Ellington think he could touch Mariana, or any woman for that matter. Jameson had no tolerance whatsoever for abusive behavior against women.
He felt Mariana begin to ease off of his lap and out of his arms. Her dress was ripped, and he immediately pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
She shook her head and pulled the jacket tightly against her chest. He kept an arm around her waist, but she was stepping back and away from him. He couldn’t help the feeling of insult and upset at her move. Did she think that he would hurt her? Was she just frightened still after what happened?
“Mariana, we need to look you over. The police have arrived,” Theo interrupted, and Jameson held her gaze. Those large hazel eyes were glossy with tears. Her beautiful face was red and would probably bruise where that asshole hurt her. The fury must have reached his eyes, because Mariana’s hazel ones widened and she quickly moved with Theo toward the officers.
“Is she okay?” Jax asked in rushed words.
“I think so. We got to her quickly enough.”
“What took her so long to hit the fucking button?” Jax asked, and he sounded annoyed at Mariana.
“Hey, she was in a bad situation. Maybe the opportunity wasn’t immediately there.”
“Or she thinks she can take care of herself, knew that we were her security tonight, and hesitated,” Jax said, and Jameson knew that Jax would confront Mariana on this. He just hoped he waited long enough for them to be alone.
They stood side by side and watched as the two officers spoke with her. One looked seasoned and the other kind of young, and both seemed overly interested and sensitive to Mariana. Jameson looked at Jax, and he appeared to be thinking the same thing. Jax rolled his eyes as the older officer patted her hand and gave it a squeeze. Both Jameson and Jax clenched their teeth when the young cop placed his fingers under her chin and looked at the red, almost bruised appearance of her cheek. Jameson was about to demand that they stop touching her. She was their woman, their responsibility. When the two cops finally finished up taking down her information and ensuring that a trip to the hospital wasn’t necessary, everyone else began to clear the room. It was now just Theo, Mariana, Jameson, and Jax.
“I’ll escort you home, Mariana,” Theo said, and Jax, Jameson, and Mariana all replied in synch with a “no.”
Theo widened his eyes.
“She is after all, my date this evening. I was supposed to drive her back to Freda’s place.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Jax said firmly and with a bit of attitude.
Theo raised his eyes, looked Jax and him over before turning to Mariana, who still clung to Jameson’s jacket.
“Are you certain about this? I feel responsible for leaving you and allowing you out of my sight,” Theo said as he stepped closer to Mariana. She lowered her eyes as Theo cupped her chin and tilted it up toward him.
“Is it okay that Jax and Jameson bring you to Freda’s?”
She glanced at Jameson and Jax, and she looked like she got the message that she’d better say yes. They were her security among other things, and she needed to trust them to keep her safe.
“Yes,” she whispered.