Page 60 of Bruised MC Bear
27
Angel
One smooth inhaleof library air at the front entrance was all it took for Angel to ground herself in her old reality. The combined scent of old paper, ink, and glue welcomed her nose, reminding her this was one of the few places she could call her home away from home. So why did she have to use all her willpower to blink back the sting of tears threatening to fall as the rumbling, throttling sound of Axe’s bike faded in the distance? Since when did leaving anyone’s side feel this awful?
Sucking in a breath, she let the library entrance doors close behind her. She was being foolish. It was time to wake up and get settled back into curating information, sorting books according to good old Dewey Decimal classifications, stacking shelves, and spending time in that swivel chair behind the circulation desk. In all honesty, she didn’t need to be here right away. Sure, she could check her emails and drum up a few things to keep her busy. She mostly preferred the comfort of the library rather than having Axe take her home, and then dealing with the uncomfortable ordeal of saying goodbye. The library was a lot less personal.
Taking a seat at the main desk, she logged into the shared computer. She was replying to the first message when a sound from the back of the library echoed down the hallway.
“Pattie-Jean?” she called out, hoping it was her friend from Archives. The woman also had a tendency to come in after hours to keep this place going.
No one answered. Angel went quiet and listened again. A scratchy sound came from the stacks near the back entrance. With a frown, she took a walk back there to make sure. The distinct rustling of clothing came from behind her and she swiveled around to look back at the main desk. No one was there either. Nothing about this was funny or entertaining, and now, her heart was stuck in her throat. She took a glance in either direction. Maybe it was just the air conditioning. There had to be a simple explanation for all of this—or maybe Axe was right that her nerves were on high alert because of the past few days. She had to acknowledge that it was right outside the library that those men hat tried to grab her.
Wishing she had just agreed to let Axe wait outside for her, Angel swallowed hard and headed back to the circulation desk. He probably wasn’t too far away yet. She picked up the desk phone and reached into her purse for his number.
“You do not want to dial that number, Blondie,” a smarmy voice breathed above her left shoulder.
Angel didn’t have time to move an inch. A pair of heavy hands rested on her shoulders and she lifted her hands skyward in compliance.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“You don’t have to worry about an answer to the question for much longer,” the male voice said.
The man reached his forearm around her neck and tightened his grip in a life-ending chokehold.
Angel flailed backward, caught off guard by the oxygen flooding out of her body. Small black spots danced in front of her vision as she scrambled and clawed at the arm around her throat. She couldn’t break his hold. There was barely enough room to get a wheeze through her throat, let alone a scream. Every second, her eyes grew heavier and her brain struggled to stay alert.
With what little cognitive function she had left in her brain, she bent forward slightly, then reared back into the chair as hard as she could, hoping the chair would topple over. That didn’t work, so she tried jamming her shoe heel into the top of her attacker’s foot and grinding it down with all her weight. The man grunted and swore, but he didn’t release her. In fact, he squeezed harder. She scrambled around, bashing into things. The man was caught off balance for a split second, but once he stabilized himself again, he slammed her shoulders into the top of the desk.
Angel barely registered any pain, now that a primal, adrenaline-packed panic gripped her limbs. Her attacker kicked the chair out from under her and pushed her against the counter, pressing his body up against her. His hands loosened just enough for her to get a small breath of air in through her bruised windpipe. She used every bit of strength to fight back, and had just clenched her fingers around the letter opener in the pen holder when a loud crashing sound came from the front entrance.
Both she and her attacker were quickly lifted off the ground. Soon, the grip around her neck loosened, and she dropped to the floor while the man was pelted over the counter. He crashed against a glass magazine display case, taking the entire thing down with him in an ear-splitting, glass-breaking heap.
Angel’s fingers gripped protectively around her neck as she collapsed to her knees. She coughed and sputtered, gasping for air to refill her lungs. Axe dropped to her side, offering her a bottle of water. She grasped it quickly and gulped it down. Every drop burned, but she was grateful for the help to open her airway. Her head still spun, and the bright spots behind her eyes played tricks on her vision.
“Christ, I should never have left,” Axe muttered, rubbing her back soothingly.
“No. I could have listened to you and let you stay,” she croaked, barely able to speak through the pain pulsing in her throat right now.
“No. This is my fault,” he barked. “I should have followed my gut.”
She was about to reach her hand up to the counter to pull herself up, but Axe covered her hand. With no effort at all, he slid his arms around her back and behind her knees. Scooping her up into his arms, he got to his feet and headed to the door.
Angel pointed back to the desk. “My purse,” she rasped.
“Don’t worry about that…or the crumpled piece of exiled mafia trash in the corner.” Axe motioned to the door. A man with a blue Mohawk stood there, wearing a leather cut just like Axe’s. “That’s Tate. Silas and Cole are outside. My biker fam will have the place all better by morning.”
“Who did this to me?”
“Giovanni.”
“He was waiting in here before we even arrived. Why would he think I’d come here today?”
“Crazy has no logic. The bottom line is he won’t ever get another chance to hurt you or anyone again.”
“What are they going to do with him?”
He shook his head, and said nothing else on the matter. Angel shuddered. It probably was better for her not to know.
