Fighting for Flight by JB Salsbury (easy readers TXT) 📕

trading me for a pussy-ass, country-club boy, Eve?” Vince’s body trembles with rage.

Terror works behind Eve’s eyes as she shakes her head.

“Vince, she didn’t do anything wrong. Those guys wouldn’t leave and—”

He rakes his eyes over me, and my mouth slams shut.

“Mind your own fucking business!” All pleasantries from our first two meetings are gone.

“Vince, please, look at her. You’re scaring her,” I whisper, trying to control my voice. She’s not the only one who’s scared.

“Look, you little slut.”

I flinch as his insult cuts deep.

“I told you this is none of your business. You wanna make it your business, I can do that. You two are coming with me, and I’ll be happy to make it your business . . . all night long.”

“You wouldn’t . . . I mean . . . Dominick . . .” The vicious smile that breaks his angry expression tells me everything. Dominick doesn’t care about me. As long as I’m able to solicit myself for him, he could give a rip about what Vince does to me.

Tears burn my eyes as the reality sinks in. I’m breathing rapidly. The hurried beat of my heart pounds in my ears. I should run, but I can’t leave Eve.

He eyeballs me from my boobs to my shoes and licks his lower lip. He wraps his arm around Eve’s waist, pulling her from her seat. Her eyes are unfocused as he tugs her close to his side. His free arm shoots to me. The impact of his grip throws my body forward. He drags us through the club. I stumble to keep upright. The crowd of gyrating bodies part as he storms through the dance floor to the club’s exit.

With a firm kick, the double doors fly open, and we’re in the secluded alley behind the building. I take a sobering breath of fresh air to clear my head. I need to get us free so we can run. But how? Looking around frantically, I search for a way out, knowing I have only seconds before we’re locked in his car.

My mind surges with questions. What would Guy tell me to do? What would Jonah tell me to do? And with that comes my answer, loud and clear.

Fight.

Adrenaline floods my veins. Energy strengthens my muscles as I struggle in his grip. I pull against his hold, digging my heels into the pavement. His eyes shoot towards mine and narrow. His grip gets tighter and Eve whimpers.

I twist my arm as hard as I can, and his hold begins to slip. Twisting and pulling, a sharp pain shoots through my shoulder. Desperate to free myself, I push through the ache. Vince stops walking and I yank down. My arm slips from his hand. He grabs hold with his other hand. He let Eve go.

“Eve, run! Run!”

Blinking wildly as if she woke up from a trance, she takes off. Vince has my back, his arm locked around my waist, hand gripped on my throat. Screaming is out of the question as his crushing embrace robs me of breath. I struggle to get free and my vision starts to recede. The sound of heavy footfalls pounding the pavement behind us has me jerking in his hold.

My vision goes black as two words scream in my head.

Help me!

Twenty-one

Raven

One minute I’m choking, desperate for air, and the next I’m on all fours sucking precious oxygen into my lungs. Hearing a scuffle, I turn to see what freed me.

Shock freezes my body. Vince is on his back and Jonah is straddling him. His fists are pounding Vince’s face. His colorful arms are blurry with the speed of each blow. The sickening thud of each blow is a drastic contrast to the beauty and fluidity of his movements. Jonah’s arms swing with deadly accuracy. But Vince is out, his body flopping from side to side with the power of each punch.

“Jonah, stop. You’ll kill him.” My burning throat makes my voice a little more than a whisper, not enough to penetrate Jonah’s rage.

I crawl to him with trepidation and place myself by Vince’s bloody face.

“Jonah, stop. I’m okay. I’m right here. You have to stop now.” My voice is gentle, and it’s then that his arms slow their gory punishment.

Jonah’s body stills, but his chest swells and deflates with deep breaths. Reaching forward, I place my hand on his forearm. His head jerks, and his eyes connect with mine, wild and distant. He blinks a couple times and I see my Jonah return.

“God, baby, are you okay?” His words falter with the power of each breath.

Jumping off Vince, he pulls me to my feet. His eyes move over my body along with his hands.

“I was out front. I saw Eve run from behind the club. I ran as fast as I could. He had you . . . Shit, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just a little scared. Where’s Eve?”

“I told her to go to the truck and sit tight.” He looks back at an unconscious Vince. “Who the fuck is that piece of shit?”

I drop my eyes to the ground, wanting to slap myself. I never told Jonah about Vince. “That’s Vince, Eve’s boyfriend,” I take a deep breath, “and Dominick’s right hand.”

His eyes grow narrow and his muscles tense. “That motherfucker!”

An echo of Jonah’s curse rings off the walls of the alley. The H2 I saw at Eve’s the other night is parked there, hidden in a service entrance of the warehouse next to the club. Without a soul around, I’m thankful no one was a witness to what Jonah did to Vince. But I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Jonah hadn’t shown up when he did.

“We need to get out of here.” I rub my neck and wince as my shoulder protests the movement.

Jonah looks undecided as to whether he should finish the job he started on Vince or get us to the truck. Moaning drifts from the bloodied piece of meat beside us, and that seems to