Page 44 of Silent Damage

One tries to pull me off, but I jerk my head back and slam it right against his nose. He falls back, blood gushing, and howling in pain. The other one dives on top of me and grips my throat.

There’s a bit of a struggle before I knee him in the nuts, sending him tumbling sideways.

“Choking me?” I ask. “Are you trying to turn me on, big boy?”

My foot connects with his ribs, but Blowjob spins me and punches me right in the eye. I stumble back, landing on my ass, and he leaps on top of me, swinging like a maniac. I use my arms to protect my ribs, and my fists to cover my face. I let him get good and tired, and then I hit him hard in the ribs. He rolls off, and I get on top, reeling my fist back to unleash hell.

Three slugs to the face.

One.

Two.

Three

And he’s out.

I look at his friends. They’re both writhing on the ground, groaning as they try to nurse their wounds.

My eyes pan over the crowd that’s formed—the whole bar is watching, and they just gawk at me.

I smile at Angie, knowing my teeth are covered in blood, and say, “Told you I’d put on a show.”

Then I lean down and tell my new best friend, Blowjob, that he owes me fifty bucks.

Chapter 12

Gabe

My heart leaps into my throat when a pounding on the door wakes me up. I take a glance at my phone and see it’s 3 A.M.

Oh, I wonder who that could be?

I stumble out of bed and open the front door, and, sure enough, Jason is standing there with—

“Baby Gabe! What are you doing here?”

Angelique?

My eyes trail over to Jason. His face is bloody, and his eyes look glassy. He sways on his feet as he slurs, “Go back to bed, Gabe. I’ve got company.”

Jason doesn’t even look at me. Because he can’t look at anything.

He can barely focus, and his lids flutter with how drunk he is.

I take a step back, and Jason stumbles into the trailer, making a beeline for the bathroom. Angelique saunters in after him, looking around the trailer with her one eye.

I’ve only met Angelique a handful of times with Torren, but she’s always been nice to me.

She takes a seat on the sofa and says, “Jason was just telling me about his stepbrother, but I had no idea it was you, baby boy.”

My stomach clenches just thinking about why she’s here. Jason’s a mess; he clearly got into a fight, and Angelique—

Well, let’s just say Angelique looks like she has an agenda for the evening.

There’s a crash in the bathroom, and I rush over to find half of the medicine cabinet on the floor and Jason washing the blood off his face. He’s had a black eye since the day he arrived, so I have no idea how hurt he really is, but there’s definitely a fresh cut above his brow.

He glances at me sheepishly, almost like he’s embarrassed.