Page 36 of Nasty
“I’m fine. I’ve got this covered.”
“That’s my girl.”
Wide-eyed, the doorman glowered at Fix. “You’re seriously going to stand there and let your girl get knocked out?”
Fix just shrugged. “We both know you’re not going to knock her out.”
“Oh? And how’s that?”
“Because. She just winded your buddy there. Made him look like a grade-A dick. Embarrassed the fuck out of him. Now you’re wondering if she’s capable of doing the same to you. You’re waiting on me to intervene. Getting your ass kicked by me isn’t embarrassing. Getting your ass kicked by me is a badge of honor. It’s expected. Getting your ass kicked by a woman is something else entirely. No offense, Angel,” he said quickly, gracing me with a devastating grin that made his whole face shine with pleasure. “I know you’re a badass.”
“Oh, none taken.”
The guy I’d struck in the throat had recovered himself now and was loosening the collar of his black shirt. His hate-filled glare was aimed directly at Fix. “I’m not going to knock her out. I’m gonna take your whore around back and hold her down while I show her how a woman should behave in front of a real man. When she’s bleeding out of her mouth, and her ass, and her cunt, you’re only gonna have yourself to blame.”
The playful light dancing in Fix’s eyes guttered and went out in a heartbeat. Again, something about him changed. His smirk was still there, and his head was still cocked at a jaunty angle, but a darkness lit him up from the inside. He was done playing around. He was ready to murder this guy, and he was going to fucking enjoy it. The door to the church swung open just as the doorman I’d throat punched reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out a knife.
“CRUISE!” A tall, gangly man emerged, holding a can of beer in his hand. Brown, shaggy hair, jeans, a t-shirt, a worn bomber jacket with a red collar, and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. Hewasa man, but barely. Maybe twenty-three years old. And he looked like he was about to go nuclear.
“Cruise, what thefuckdo you think you’re doing with that knife in your hand? Did I just hear you threaten to ass-rape someone?”
A flash of silver and Cruise’s knife disappeared back into his jacket pocket. “We told this guy he couldn’t bring the girl inside. He was being a dick about it. And she… She…”
The guy, who must have been Rabbit, cast me a throwaway glance. I doubted he even registered my existence. “She what?” he demanded.
Cruise’s cheeks colored. “She was causing trouble. Sometimes you need to school people, boss. That’s what we’re here for, right?”
“No.” Rabbit took a swig out of his beer can, shaking his head from side to side as he did so. He peered down into the can once he’d lowered it, as if hoping to find more beer there, even though he’d just drained it. “You’re here to make sure everyone who shows up has an invitation. Does Fix have an invitation?”
“Fix?” Cruise stiffened. He looked back over his shoulder at us.“The invitation said Felix.”
“Fix. Felix. What the fuck does it matter. He had an invitation. Did it say ‘plus guest’ on the back of the invitation, Gary?” he said, firing the question at the other doorman.
“All of them say ‘plus guest’ on the back,” Gary replied sullenly.
“Well then, why are you threatening to stab people, Cruise? More importantly, why are you threatening to stab people with your cock? In the ass?”
Cruise was glowing red by this point. “You told us not to let anyone suspicious—”
“Suspicious? That beautiful woman, wearing the sexiest dress I have ever seen?Shelooks suspicious to you?” Rabbit crushed the beer can, tossing it over his shoulder with complete disregard. “This isn’t a James Bond movie. She isn’t a Russian spy, come to murder us all with the garrote she has stuffed down her cleavage. This isn’t the cold war, Gary. She’s a fuckingguest. Have some manners.” He paused, then said, “It’s not as if she’s going toattackeither of you.”
Cruise opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Nothing came out.
Rabbit gave Fix a curt nod of his head, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. “Come on. I need another beer, and it’s getting cold out here. Plus I’m dying to meet your lovely friend.”
He headed back inside the church. We followed him inside, and my heart was beating out of my chest. Not because I was nervous. Not because Cruise had threatened me in a very violent way. But because Felix Marcosa was standing beside me, the most attractive man I’d ever seen, and he had quietly, easily, taken hold of my hand.
SIXTEEN
THE CRYPT
FIX
The inside of the church was a tomb. Leaves were gathered in burned orange piles against the rotten pews, and the wind groaned through the gaps in the stonework. Sera looked around, examining the interior of the building with confusion.
“I thought there was a party here,” she hissed under her breath.
“There is a party,” Rabbit called back to us. “Downstairs. Not enough room up here. Besides, the basement’s far more exciting. Fun stuff always happens in the crypt, right, Fix?”
