LITMIR.BIZ

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just wanna go out there so you can kiss her,” Roman said with a roll of his eyes. “I’m ready to go watch movies.”

       “Yeah, yeah,” Dante said as he opened the back door, and heard the scream.

       He pushed off the door and ran like hell, not even bothering to see if the others followed. He ran so hard his legs burned, his whole body shaking in fear.

       As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw a guy scrambling to his feet near the Dumpster. And he saw feet—tennis shoes. Anna’s.

       Shit. Shit. He skidded to a stop at the Dumpster.

       Anna was on the ground, her clothes undone. It was pitch-black out there, but he could see her, pale and shivering and bleeding.

       Goddammit.

       “Grab him!” He motioned to Gabe and the others as they whizzed by him.

       Dante had dropped to his knees in front of Anna. She was bleeding at her chest. Her blouse was torn, her face swollen. Tears welled in his eyes and emotion he’d never felt before filled him. He wanted to grab her and cry. He hadn’t cried since his parents…

      Hold it together for Anna.

      “You okay?”

       She nodded, jerking the tattered edges of her blouse together.

       “How bad are you hurt?”

       “I’m fine.”

       “You’re bleeding.” He pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket. “Let me see.”

       She squeezed her hands tight over her chest.

       “Anna, baby, let me see how bad it is.”

       She lifted tear-filled eyes to his and it shredded a hole in his heart, especially when she dropped her hands and her blouse fell away. The guy had cut her bra in half. Dante swallowed and patted at the spot where the bastard had cut her, just above her left breast. There, he’d carved the shape of a heart.

       Goddamn. Son of a bitch. Motherfucker.

       Rage blinded him. Dante heard his own breath sawing in and out, felt his blood pounding in his ears. He wanted to tear the guy apart. But right now he had to focus on Anna. He forced himself to smile down at her as he pressed the handkerchief to her chest. He unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off his shoulders, leaving him in only his tank top.

       “It’s okay. It’s going to be all right. Put this on.” He helped her slide her arms into his shirt, then buttoned every single button. “You stay right here and I’ll be back for you, okay?”

       She looked up at him, her bottom lip trembling. Then she gave him a brief nod. She was alive. That’s all that mattered.

       Dante stood and turned to where the guys had cornered the bastard who’d done this. He’d hurt Anna. Dante didn’t even want to think about what else he’d done to her.

       Anger and rage and guilt boiled inside him. The guy stood there with a smart-ass smirk on his face like he didn’t have a care in the world.

       “She okay?” Gabe asked as Dante stepped beside him.

       Dante swallowed. “He hurt her. He cut her.” Dante put his hand on his chest where Anna’s wound was.

       “Fuck,” Gabe whispered.

       They all knew, would all feel the same fury that someone would hurt Anna.

       Sweet Anna, who didn’t have a mean word for anyone, who would never hurt anyone.

       The others stepped away as Dante came toward him. The guy jerked back as if he was going to run.

      Oh, no, you don’t.

      Dante tackled the guy before he could get away, flinging his body on top of him. It was insane after that. Instinct kicked in, all those years of street fights with fists and knives. Of survival, of doing whatever it took to stay alive, of defending those who couldn’t defend themselves.

       Anna hadn’t been able to defend herself. This guy was twice her size.

       Men didn’t hurt women.

       The guy rolled and kicked Dante away, then sprang to his feet, pulling a knife. A bloody knife—Anna’s blood.

       Anger so deep it boiled in his bones raged inside Dante. He saw the blood on the knife and thought of what Anna had gone through. No way was this dude getting out of the alley. The guy waved the knife at Dante, but he was no match for the four of them. They’d gotten into more fights together than Dante could count and they were damn good at working together.

       Dante stared him down, holding his attention as Gabe moved behind the man and grabbed his arm, jerking the knife out of his hands.

       Fury took hold, then. Dante pulled his arm back and let it swing full force at the guy’s face. He staggered as if he was high or something, but Dante didn’t care. His fist connected with the bastard’s nose and Dante felt the impact, satisfied by the crunching sound. The guy didn’t say a word, just pulled to his feet again, ready for more.

       Yeah, he had to be tweaking or something to get up after the punch Dante gave him. Dante shoved him back down and the others jumped in, and then it was fists and feet and blood and the guy didn’t stand a chance.

       He didn’t know when the dude had stopped moving, but at some point Dante was out of breath and his fists hurt. He backed off.

       “Stop. He’s done for.” Dante moved away, pulled the others off.

       They stood there looking down at the guy who looked nothing like he had when they’d first come on the scene. He was a bloody pulp of a mess. Dante kicked at him, but he didn’t move. He was out cold.

       He went to Anna, bent over her.

       “Anna.”

       She stared at her attacker, didn’t look at Dante.

       “Anna.” Dante touched her and she flinched. He reached for her shoulders. “It’s Dante. Look at me.”

       She turned to him, then her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, God. Oh, Dante.” She fell into his arms and he lifted her, pulled her against him while she sobbed.

       He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her. “Come on, let’s take you inside.”

       They took Anna back to the shop and sat her on one of the stools. Dante grabbed some paper towels and wet them so he could wipe her face.

       “Is she okay?” Roman asked.

       “Don’t know.” Dante focused on Anna.

       She was crying hard now, shook her head, trying to talk even though he knew she had to be hysterical. “He grabbed me from behind, dragged me behind the Dumpster. He ripped my blouse and my bra.”

       Dante sucked in a breath.

       “He cut me, here,” she said, unbuttoning his shirt enough to show them all the heart-shaped cut.

       “Jesus,” Gabe said. “I’m going to kill him.”

       “Not if I do it first,” Roman said.

       “You got there before he…” She bent her head down and wept, her fingers clutching Dante’s shirt together.

       Shit. “Let me help you.” Dante rebuttoned the shirt, felt her body shaking, then looked up at Gabe. “Go grab that scum and bring him in here. We need to call the cops.”

       Gabe nodded and motioned to the others. “Come on.”

       Gabe and the others left Dante and Anna alone.

       “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you go out there alone.”

       “Not your fault.”

       She could say that, but it didn’t matter. “We’ll call the cops and your dad. They’ll take

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