Shit.
Donny carried me across the room like I weighed no more than a feather, then slammed me up against the bookcase beneath the stairs. The impact was hard enough to knock several paperbacks to the ground. Every molecule of air was expelled from my lungs in a single gust. Pain radiated through my spine, fiery hot. It was a miracle he hadn’t cracked me in two. I gasped as tears sprang to my eyes.
“Donny, drop her!” Gigi was shouting from somewhere nearby. “Drop her right now!”
I couldn’t see her. Donny’s scarred face filled my entire visual field as he leaned close — so close, I could see the crumbs caught in his beard, the red-rimmed aftereffects of alcohol in his eyes. He was terrifying. Terrifying in a way Adrian, even in his darkest moods, had never managed to be. His anticipatory expression told me he was more than just comfortable with violence; he actually enjoyed it. Got off on it. Fed from it. And I’d offered myself up on a silver platter.
Not smart, Imogen. Not smart at all,my inner voice chided.What happened to your survival instincts? You know, the ones that keep you from getting involved in scenarios like this? The ones that keep you alive?
I didn’t know — and didn’t have time to ponder it. Donny’s grip on my arms was iron-clad. I struggled against it anyway, thrashing for all I was worth, kicking and hissing as soon as I summoned the breath.
“Let me go!”
He didn’t. He just shook me again, a bone-rattling move that made my head collide with the wooden shelf. Stars burst inside my eyes on impact.
God, that hurt.
“How’s that feel?” Donny snarled, his sour beer breath fanning across my face. “Huh?”
“Feels like—” I managed to gasp, fighting the starbursts with several hard blinks. “—an assault charge.”
“Big words from a little bitch,” he taunted, his tone dripping with malice. “Not so tough now, are you?”
“Donny, I mean it! Drop her!” Gigi screamed, her voice cracking. I could tell she was crying hysterically. “Drop her!”
His hands tightened to the point of agony as he shook me violently, jostling more books.
“I don’t know you, but I’m glad I get to be the one to teach you this lesson,” he said, grinning as tears slid down my cheeks. “You don’t tell me what to do. You don’t tell me where to go. You definitely don’t stick your snobby nose into O’Banion family business. Get me?”
I glared at him through my tears. I hoped he could read thefuck youI was blasting from my eyeballs.
“I said,” he roared. “Do you get me?”
I managed a nod.
“Good.”
Gigi’s sharp yell cracked through the air like a whip. “I’m calling the cops! You’re out of control!”
Donny dropped me with without warning. My socks slammed against the floor and I nearly face-planted by his beat-up construction boots. I managed to catch myself on the shelf at the last moment. I tried to scramble away, but a beefy arm snaked around my midsection before I made it three feet. I promptly found myself hauled backward against a broad chest in a hold so tight, it was difficult to breathe.
“You call the cops on me, you’ll regret it,” Donny rumbled at his wife. I felt each word vibrate through his body into mine, low with wrath. “For once in your fuckin’ life, be smart. Think it through, G. It’ll take the boys in blue ten minutes to get here. You know how much damage I can do in ten minutes.”
I swallowed hard against the lump of fear clogging my throat. My eyes moved to Gigi. She looked like she was barely holding it together. Her face was pale and she was leaning against the reception desk like it was the only thing holding her upright. I had no doubt she was remembering, with vivid clarity, exactly how much damage her husband could deliver in that timeframe. Even from across the room, I could see her trembling as her watery eyes shifted from me to Donny and back. The phone in her hand was clutched in white-knuckled fingers, but she didn’t move to dial.
“Donny… please.” Her voice was a whimper. “Just let her go, then we’ll talk.”
“Too late forplease, G. Way too late.” His arm tightened as he spoke, spurring a gasp from me. “I’ll wait here with your new friend. You go into the back and get my boys.”
“Can’t we just talk about this before?—”
“This ain’t up for discussion.Go! Get movin’!”
She started moving.
“Gigi, don’t,” I yelled, stopping her in her tracks. My words came out hoarse. “Don’t drag the boys into this.”
The arm tightened even more, intensifying the ache in my ribs. “Shut up, bitch!”