My head hits the wall hard, and my bag slips from my hands. I hear Elle scream, and black dots swim before me as I try to get my bearings.
“Orlando?” It’s then I realize the man who has me against the wall is one of the security guards at my old building. He’s so close I can feel his warm breath on my skin. His eyes seem wild as they dart back and forth.
“You had to fuck everything up. I could’ve just planted the bug in your computer and made me a shitload of money. But no, you have to get these other fuckers involved,” he growls at me.
I see Elle trying to pull at him, but it doesn’t seem to be doing any good. He turns around, giving her a shove and sending her sprawling to the floor.
“Who would have thought it would be so hard to get your attention? One would think it would be easy. Give the chubby, geeky girl a little attention and I should’ve been in your place like,” he snaps his fingers, “that. But no. It was like I didn’t even exist.” He leans in a little more, and I stop breathing. I can smell the stench of alcohol on his breath. “But you spread your legs for the other guy, didn’t you? You like them big and all scarred up? Is that what gets you off?” He licks up the side of my face, and I feel my stomach roil.
I push at his chest and he goes flying, hitting the floor a whole lot harder than Elle did.
I look up as Drake peels him from the floor like he’s nothing more than a rag doll, before punching him right in the face. The crunch of cracking bone is sickeningly loud.
This Hulk joke is really starting to become a reality.
“Drake, man, stop. You kill him and your ass will be in jail,” Pink says, coming to stand in front of Drake. He stops him from going to pick Orlando up again, holding his hands out to block him.
Drake’s whole body is tight, his breathing heavy. Pink’s eyes dart to mine, and I can read what he wants.
I walk up behind Drake and wrap my arms around him, resting my head against his back. I can feel some of the tension leave his body at the contact.
Then I hear the sirens.
16
Drake
I rest my hands on top of Zoey’s. I don’t take my eyes off Orlando for a second while the cops come in and get things sorted out.
They wanted to question us separately, but Zoey wouldn’t let me go, and I wasn’t about to take my hands off her while things were still getting settled.
Pink and I were at my office when his sisters came in and got to work. I don’t know how but one of them was able to find the deleted security footage from Zoey’s apartment. At the same time, we found a name we’d come across before. Orlando Davies popped up as working with Green Shore before coming to work in Zoey’s building, and that’s when it all clicked into place.
My phone buzzed just as this all happened, and I checked it to see Zoey’s messages. There was no reason security shouldn’t have been at her door, so I called some of my old partners at the station and had them come to the building for back up.
When I got downstairs and I saw Orlando’s hands on Zoey, red flooded my vision, and I just went into attack mode. It’s all still a little fuzzy from the rage and adrenaline. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before, and I’ve been in a lot of crazy situations when I worked SWAT. But all I remember was needing to get him off of her. I also remember Pink running over to help Elle, and that made me angrier. The thought that someone would hurt her sister, someone Zoey loves, infuriated me.
Thankfully, Pink was able to get between us, and Zoey’s touch calmed me down. I would have very likely killed him for coming near my woman. The cops arrived and arrested Orlando. Now they’re just taking statements.
“We still need to deliver the files,” Elle says, walking over to where we are. She looked at little shaken at first, but now she’s leaning on Pink, and I can see that she’s getting it back together. She’s a tough one, but seeing her holding on to him is definitely a sign in the right direction.
The elevator opens behind us, and a group of cops help out Matt, the security guy we had planted outside my home.
We talk with him and the cops for a bit and find out that Orlando admitted to having slipped something into the guard’s coffee. It took just long enough for Elle to get inside before he was out cold, and Orlando stashed his body in a hall closet.
With that confession, he’s going to be in jail for quite some time. Matt is a decorated veteran, and I know my boys will make sure he’s taken care of. Orlando may have started out as a petty criminal, but money makes people do crazy shit. It was enough to convince Orlando that coming after my woman was a good idea. God knows what he would have done to my Zoey.
The shiver snaking down my spine is stopped when Zoey’s warm hand rubs my back. I squeeze her closer to me, needing the reassurance that she’s still alive and still with me.
“I love you. You’re right. I love you.”
Zoey and I turn around to see Elle standing in front of Pink, admitting what we all knew.
“So you gonna wear my ring now?” he asks, looking into her eyes.
She puts her hands on her hips and glares at him. After a second, she lets out a huff and pushes a strand of hair out of her face. “Yes.”
Pink gets down on one knee and pulls out a box. It’s the one he bought the same day I got Zoey’s. I squeeze her hand a little, feeling the cool band on her finger, and it makes me smile.