Page 84 of Easy Steal

He stopped in his tracks and I let out a sigh of relief when we both heard the sound of squealing tyres pulling up next to us. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know that it was Sammy.

I heard the sound of the car door open and shut, and then the sound of Evan hitting the floor.

When I opened my eyes again, Sam was dragging Evan back to his feet by his shirt, and slammed him against the brick alleyway wall.

“Look mate,” Sam said, only millimetres away from Evan’s face. “This is your only warning. You come near this woman again, I fucking promise you, that your death will be slow and painful. You hear me?”

Evan nodded frantically, desperately trying to pull from Sammy’s hold.

“You hear me!?” Sam repeated.

“Yes! Yes!” Evan shouted.

Sam landed one more punch to Evan’s sternum, and I heard the breath gush from his lungs as he dropped to the floor. Sam watched him writhe on the ground, panting and out of breath.

He looked at me for a split second, and then behind me, to the older man who had seen the whole thing.

Sam straightened, and tucked his hair behind his ears, and nodded once to the old man.

The gentleman returned the nod, and kept walking without another glance.

Sammy grabbed me by the arm, dragging me towards the passenger door of Jolene, opened it, and all but threw me inside, slamming the door closed again.

He landed another kick to Evan’s side as he passed him on his way to the driver’s seat. He was still breathless as he spun the tyres, reversing back onto the busy street and cutting off a long line of traffic as he did.

“How did you know where we were?” I asked after a while of silence.

He only rolled his eyes at me.

There was more silence, more unease.

“Thank you,” I said quietly.

“I told you not to go with him,” he said softly.

“I know.”

“So why did you?”

I sighed, and looked out the window.

“I can’t answer that.”

It was true.

I had no idea.

Usually, I wouldn’t be so stupid.

Maybe it had something to do with the whole situation with Sam and Larissa. Maybe it was my childish way of trying to make him jealous. Maybe it was some sort of hopefulness, that maybe he had changed. Maybe it was a weird need for some closure.

I couldn’t explain it, even to myself.

After a while, Sam sighed.

He reached out and for a moment, rested his hand on my thigh.

It was strangely comforting, and I even watched him calm a little as his shoulders dropped and relaxed. I put my hand over his, and we drove like that in silence back to the workshop.

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