“But I didn’t want to dance with any of them.”
The words steal my breath and light a fire in my cheeks. Antonio wants to dance with me?
“Least of all Ned,” he adds. “Now, put your arms around me so that we can dance.”
“You’re crazy,” I tell him, but I obey as he starts moving.
I don’t want to fall and injure myself more.
Antonio starts moving back and forth to the music still blaring from the barn. Then he whirls. I wrap my arms tighter around his neck to keep myself from falling. My face comes within inches of his and I smell his breath.
“Scratch that. You’re not crazy. You’re drunk.”
Come to think of it, he was drinking wine earlier.
“Put me down,” I tell him.
“No.” He gives another whirl.
“Antonio…”
“So it’s true,” a voice interrupts us.
I lift my head and see a man in his twenties wearing a black shirt and ripped jeans walking towards us. There are two more men behind him.
A lump forms in my throat. I have a bad feeling about this.
Antonio stops moving. I can tell from the look on his face that he knows who these guys are and that he’s wary of them as well.
Who are thy?
“Someone told me the good doctor was at Paul’s wedding with some chick,” the man goes on. “What? Just because Maggie isn’t here, you found yourself a new toy to play with?”
Maggie? Who’s Maggie?
Antonio sets me down gently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Otto, and neither do you. What did you take?”
Otto laughs, then runs his finger under his nose. “I’ll tell you what I’m not going to take, Doc. Any more of your crap.” He steps forward. “I was fine with Maggie turning me down because of you. I could tell she was in love with you and I told myself you’d be better for her than me. It turns out I was wrong. You’ve made me suffer for nothing.”
As he speaks, his dark eyes gleam with an intent that sends a chill down my spine. I know that look all too well. This man isn’t here just to cause trouble. He’s here to inflict pain.
I pull Antonio’s sleeve. “Antonio…”
“Go home, Otto,” he says, still calm. “I’ll check on you tomorrow.”
Otto flashes a menacing grin. “That is if you can still stand tomorrow.”
His fist comes flying, straight at Antonio’s jaw. Antonio manages to step back so he doesn’t receive the brunt of the punch but Otto’s knuckles still crash into his face. His cheek turns red. Blood trickles from the corner of his mouth.
I clutch my chest as I freeze where I stand. I can’t breathe.
I’ve seen guys being beaten before, so why does this feel so much more painful to watch?
Antonio wipes the blood off his chin with the back of his hand. When he lifts his head to look at the man who has just punched him, I see no anger in his eyes.
He’s not going to fight back?
He grabs my hand. “Let’s go, Triss.”
“Hey!” Otto shouts. “I’m not done yet.”
He prepares to throw another punch. Without thinking, I propel my body towards him.
“Stop!”
Chapter Eight
Antonio
Triss!
My heart stops as I watch her lose her balance after Otto pushes her aside. I try to run to her so I can catch her before she hits the ground, but Otto stands in my way. His fist crashes into my stomach at the same time I hear a thud. I see Triss on the ground through blurred eyes as I drop to my knees. My chest spasms as I struggle to breathe. The contents of my stomach churn.
“Now, that’s more like it,” Otto says. I hear the twisted pleasure in his voice as he looks down on me. “Now that you’re on your knees, beg me to stop hurting you. If you tell me you’ll give Maggie to me, I might consider it.”
I cough. “Maggie… isn’t… mine to… give.”
Otto grabs my head by the hair and forces me to look into his eyes. Hatred burns in his dilated pupils.
What did he take? Meth? Cocaine?
“Wrong answer,” he growls.
From the corner of my eye, I catch the gleam of a knife.
“Tell me what I want to hear.”
“You don’t… want to do this, Otto,” I try to reason with him. “Put the knife away and we’ll talk.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!”
The cold blade presses against the side of my neck. Just as I thought, there’s no use trying to talk sense into a man who’s already lost his mind.
“Tell me you’ll stay away from Maggie, that you’ll leave her alone. If you do, I’ll let you go. If not, this blade goes into your shoulder.”
He takes the knife away from my neck, shifts the handle between his fingers and points the tip of the blade towards my shoulder.
“Your choice.”
“No!” Triss screams. “Somebody, help! He – ”