Page 41 of Craving Demons

“Out of the way,” she said brushing past me. I stepped back, out of view, as she opened the door. But instantly I felt something was wrong. She’d gone from lax and mildly perturbed to stiff and on guard.

“Hey there, lady,” came a true New York drawl from the other side of the door. “We just dropped by to remind you and your uncle of what you owe us. Two hundred and fifty mil. You better have it all ready for us in five days or else we might break a few of old Donny’s fingers.”

Another voice piped up, higher pitched but with the same drawl. “Yeah, and we’d hate to do anything to that pretty face of yours.”

Fuck this.

I made to move around the door and give these fuckers a piece of my fist, but Ana wildly waved her one hand, hidden behind the door, gesturing me to stop as if she knew I’d be on a rampage, even though she wasn’t looking at me.

I got up close behind her, wanting her to know I was there, supporting her, ready to do anything — and I meant anything — to protect her.

I reached out and put a reassuring hand on her back, feeling the heat radiating from her body. With her aspect storming around me, it was all I could do to keep from grabbing her hips and grinding my hard cock between those high, round ass cheeks. Still, I kept close.

“I know,” Ana said, voice strained. “Just leave me alone, and I’ll do what I can.”

Who were these guys? And why were they extorting her for way too much money?

“Maybe we’ll just steal us that pretty Lambo as a down payment,” the high-pitched one said.

“That’s mine,” I said, ignoring Ana’s wave-off and rounding the door to come into view.

And gods, how I loved the look of bullies when they saw me. There was a big bruiser, mostly run to fat now, and a skinny dude. Both of their eyes went wide at the sight of me.

Ana sighed heavily.

“Allow me to take care of this, darling,” I said, faking that our relationship was much more advanced than it was.

She put a hand on my chest to stop me before turning back to the men at her door. “Sorry guys, can you give me and my…darling… a moment?” She shut the door and rounded on me. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she hissed, clearly furious.

“Helping you.”

“No, you’re not. Because now that they’ve seen you, the next time they come it won’t be just the two of them. They’ll bring a small army. And you’re not going to be here when that happens, given I don’t really want or need you around.”

Ouch. Even us brutes had feelings. But she had a point. “They were going to steal my car! And if they’re extorting you, I can have them arrested and prosecute them. Did I mention I’m a state prosecutor?”

She blinked at me. She hadn’t been expecting that. Most people didn’t. They thought of me as just a lump of muscle, nothing more.

“You can’t arrest them, because—” She snapped her mouth shut, clearly realizing she’d said too much.

“Ah.” I nodded. “So, you and your uncle are in deep with these guys, aren’t you?”

“Not me!” she hissed. “And I have no clue what Donny did. It was twenty years ago and given who these guys work for, he may not have had much choice. He hid some money for someone named Tommy Two-Toes, and now Tommy wants it back. But Donny doesn’t remember anything these days. You met him. Do you think he could remember where he hid fifty million dollars?”

“I thought they said two hundred and fifty million?”

“They expect interest.”

“Oh.”

“I heard my name,” Donny said walking in from the back room. “Do you need… something?” he asked.

“Yes, Donny where did you hide Tommy Two-Toes’ fifty million dollars?” she asked directly.

He blinked at her for a long moment. “Who wants chocolate cosmos?” he asked.

“What?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Ana whispered to me. “Exactly.”

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