12. John

12

JOHN

“Who the fuck are you?”

I look at Bear, and he doesn’t even look fazed by the voice behind us. We both turn and come face to face with Baron and three other men. I recognize them as his bodyguards.

“I’m John, and this is Bear. We’re here on Madison’s behalf.”

He laughs, and when he does, the others start to laugh. Suddenly he stops and so do the others. He has them trained well. “Well, that doesn’t work for me. I arranged to meet with Madison, Ethan’s sister, and that’s who I plan to meet with.” He turns to go and says loud enough for us to hear him, “Get rid of them.”

The three goons start walking our way, and I hold my bag up. “I have your money.”

That stops Baron, and he turns swiftly, walking toward us. “You have my money? You have the twenty Gs?”

“I have the fifty grand. That’s what Ethan owes you, right?”

Baron is twitching to get a hold of the money, but there’s no way I’m just going to turn it over.

Baron takes another step toward us, and the other three men move in closer to him as if surrounding him. He shrugs. “I’ll take it all, but that will not make us even.”

I drop my hand with the bag and grit my teeth. I know I don’t want to know the answer, but I ask it anyway. “Why will it not make it even?”

He smirks. “Because he promised his sister. He said she was a good girl and well”—he claps his hands together and runs them back and forth—“I like good girls. So yeah, I’ll happily take the money, but I’m coming for the girl.”

Fuckin’ Ethan. I know he’s messed up on drugs, but I had no idea it was so bad he’d really offer up his sister. He may be in a rehab, but there’s no way I’m letting him around his sister again without me. I start to shake my head. “Over my…” I start toward him, and Bear puts an arm out to stop me. His voice is deep and commands the attention of them all.

“You won’t be getting the girl. The option is the money or nothing. Take it or leave it.”

Baron crosses his arms over his chest, and instantly all three men have their guns drawn, pointing right at us. “No, I don’t have to take it or leave it. It looks like you’re out of options.”

I wait for the signal from Bear. We’ve been in situations way worse than this, and even though it’s not ideal, I know it’s going to happen. Bear lifts his head, and I wait for his chin to drop when I hear Madison’s voice. “I’m here. I’m here. Don’t shoot.”

My heart drops into my stomach, and all eyes turn to Madison, even mine. Bear is the only one that doesn’t lose composure. He drops his chin and pulls his gun out, bringing me back to focus. I pull mine and aim it at one of the men with the guns. We’re outnumbered, and for the first time that bothers me, just because Madison is here.

“Madison, stay where you’re at,” I yell at her.

“I’m not just going to stand here and let you get killed.”

I grit my teeth. Fuck, I swear I’m going to spank her ass later. “Woman, I’m telling you. Stay where you’re at.”

She starts to mumble, and I know I’m going to pay for it later. She’s not going to like being called woman or being told what to do. I stare at the men. “Look, this is about to be over. You can take your money and go or I can shoot you. I’m done with this.”

Baron starts to laugh, and Bear yells ‘now’ at the same time. I have no idea what now means, but when Bear keeps steady, I do the same. In seconds we are completely surrounded by Orlando’s finest. They’re coming in all directions when Bear tells the three men with Baron, “Put your guns down.”

Baron and his men do what he says, and cops come up to cuff them. I put my gun in my waistband and run to Madison. She jumps into my arms and is crying, running her hands up and down my chest, across my shoulders and then my face. Now is not the time, but there’s no way I can just stand here and take her frisking without embarrassing myself. I grab on to her hands and kiss her. She melts into me, and I breathlessly pull away. “We have a lot to talk about.”

She nods, puts her arms around my waist, and holds on tight.

Bear walks up to us. “Everyone okay?”

I nod. “How did you—? I mean...”

He shrugs. “I called in backup.”

“Fuck, man, I’m glad you did.”

Seconds later, Knox is running into the construction site. “She went out the balcony, John.”

The worried look on his face has me holding back. “It’s okay, she’s fine. We’re all fine.” I look over at Bear. “Can we get outta here?”

He looks over at the sergeant in charge, and she gives Bear a nod. Obviously he’s already talked to her about how us being here never happened. We never want the credit. The less people know about us, the better.

Bear looks at us. “Yeah, let’s get outta here.”

Bear and Knox drive his truck to the airport, and I drive our rental car. She’s quiet the whole way, and already I’m wondering what she’s thinking. I should talk to her about it, but I can’t. Not yet. I’m still reeling from the fact that she was almost in the line of fire.

She pops up next to me. “Ethan?”

“Ethan was dropped off at a locked rehab by Knox and Bear this morning. You’ll see him when he gets out,” I tell her, leaving out the part where she’ll see him when I think he deserves to see her.

She mutters “Thank you” and gets out of the car as soon as I park. I drop the keys off at the rental car desk and start walking through the airport.

“This is us,” she says, pointing at the airline sign we rode here on.

I grab her hand and pull her with me. “We have Walker’s jet. Aiden’s flying us home.”

She pulls me to a stop. “You can go with them. I’ll go...”

I laugh and then stop when I see that she’s serious. “No.”

She pulls her hand from mine. “You’re not my boss, John. You can’t tell me what to do.”

I let out a sigh and shove my hand through my hair. People are walking by us, staring. I’m used to it. Usually they’re staring at my body, which is covered in tattoos. But this is different. I know it’s obvious how mad I am. My body is literally buzzing with adrenaline. I take a step toward Madison, and thankfully she doesn’t back away or even remotely look scared. She knows, even if everybody else doesn’t, that I wouldn’t hurt her.

I lean down until we’re face to face. “You’re right. I’m not your boss. But I just had a gun aimed at my face and then probably lost ten years off my life when you showed up like you did. I need you with me. I need to know you’re safe until we’re in Whiskey Run.”

There’s no way I’m going to let her go when we’re in Whiskey Run either, but she doesn’t need to know that. Not yet.

She nods, and I grab her hand again and pull her with me to the opposite end of the airport. We make it through clearance easily, and Aiden has already done flight check. We’re no sooner seated and Knox and Bear come in the door, and we’re taking off.