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Or at least it was Taz’s bike, but the man leaning against it wasn’t very recognizable with two swollen black eyes and some scrapes over his nose and lips.
I put my hand in my purse, gripping my mace and got out of my car to walk in the back kitchen door of the bar.
“Hey, Delilah.” He said as I approached, looking me up and down. “Fancy meeting you here.” He grinned and grimaced as his lips pulled.
“You look like shit.” I said honestly, walking past him to the safety of the building. Except he reached out so quickly I didn’t see it until his hand snaked around my elbow and pulled me to a rough stop in front of him.
“And I wonder who I have to blame for that.” He sneered into my face, and I saw the pure rage in his eyes behind the bruises and broken blood vessels.
“I had nothing to do with it.” I shook my arm trying to dislodge his hand, but he had an iron grip and I whined when it felt like he was trying to snap my bones.
“Right.” He scoffed and shook me a couple of times, “You really expect me to believe you had nothing to do with the Eagles showing up here and dancing on my face?”
“I don’t run with the Eagles.” I spit out and shoved against his chest. He reeked like body odor and I wanted to gag from being so close. “I don’t run with you either, so let me go.”
“Fuck that.” He hissed and pushed me against the car parked next to his bike, slamming my back against the mirror so hard that it snapped and hung off the door uselessly. “You’ve been wanting my dick since the moment you stepped foot in this town. Then suddenly you set me up, like a fucking bitch.”
“I didn’t ask you to wait for me after my shift Taz, you did that all on your own. I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Bullshit.” He spat and pulled me off the car only to slam me against it again. “The big guy with the mask said you were his. And here you were running around flirting with me and every other dick in the bar for tips like you didn’t belong to someone already.”
“I don’t.” I gasped and shoved at him, trying to dislodge him again, the way he had me pinned made my mace inaccessible. I couldn’t even get my hand out of my purse. “Get the fuck off of me, Taz!” I yelled and kicked, but it was useless with my back bent over the rounded door of the car. He had leverage over me and I was on the short end of the stick of karma.
“Fuck you, bitch.” He cursed and landed a fist to my side, sucking the air out of my lungs so fast I didn’t have a chance to take a breath first. I gasped and doubled over against him in agony as stars danced around the edge of my vision. A car pulled into the lot and their headlights scanned over us as they parked on the other side. He leaned against my ear while I desperately fought to move air into my lungs and hissed, “This ain’t over, Delilah. I’ll be seeing you around and when I do, you better have that pussy good and wet for me. I’m taking my cut of it.”
With that he shoved me to the ground before landing a kick to my side. I grunted in agony as my lungs protested the lack of oxygen and tried to crawl to my feet as he threw his leg over his motorcycle and took off. I sat there on my hands and knees working air in and out painfully when Lori ran up the walk.
“Holy shit, D. Are you okay?” She crouched next to me, running her hands through my hair to push it back from my face. “D!” She yelled and I nodded, still unable to talk. “Let’s get you inside.”
She helped me stand up and threw my arm over her shoulders to walk us into the kitchen. I fell into the closest chair, and she ran to get me some water. When she came back, Bones, the front door bouncer, was on her heels and they both stared at me with concern in their eyes.
“Talk to me, tell me what happened.” He spoke.
I shook my head and took the water from Lori’s hands, sipping it slowly. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit.” He hissed. “I saw Taz ride out of here like a bat out of hell and then Lori comes screaming that you’re hurt. Tell me the truth, did he touch you?”
“He thinks I set him up with the Eagles.” I said, taking another small sip of the water. My right side burned with each breath and I was confident at least one rib was bruised if not cracked. I tenderly probed the spot and hissed on contact.
Definitely cracked.
“You’re talking about the beat down he got last weekend out back?”
I nodded. “They pulled up while I was walking to my car after work, he was harassing me and they told me to get lost and then,” I shrugged, “I guess settled some beef with him. But he blames me.”
“You don’t run with the Eagles,” Lori droned on, “You avoid bikers like the plague even.”
“Well,” I groaned and stood up, “There’s one rider,” I lifted my arm up to see how far I could go before I wanted to throw up from the pain, “With the Eagles, we have… history.” She raised her eyebrows and Bones scowled, “I didn’t even know he was with them now, but he was part of the beef settling group last weekend and I guess he said something to Taz about me. That’s what got him started on it.”
“Men,” Lori groaned and put her hands on her hips, “There’s no way you can work tonight.” She sighed and tried to figure out what to do.
“Yes, I can.” I countered, “I’ll be slow for a while, but I got this.” I grabbed my purse from the ground where she’d set it down and smiled my best fake and cheery grin at her. “Even my slow body is better than no body backing you up behind the bar tonight and you know it.”
“Ugh,” She groaned and flipped her hands up in the air because she knew I was right. She turned on Bones and pointed at him, “She gets an escort to and from the building from now on and Taz doesn’t get in.”
“Duh.” He grumbled at her and eyed me closely, “You going to be alright?”
“I’ll rally.” I sighed and pushed my hair back. “I always do.”
