Page 86 of Rough Fantasy

He shook himself out of his funk and realized Maura was standing in front of him holding a piece of pretzel out to him.

He forced himself to smile. “Thanks, love.”

She smiled as she sat down. “I got cheese,” she said as she sat down.

“Woman, please, cheese on a pretzel? Did you get mustard?” Zee said.

She tossed a packet his way along with the pretzel she bought for him. “I have no idea what you have against cheese.”

“That’s not cheese, love. That’s processed crap.”

“And it tastes delicious.”

She dipped a piece of pretzel into the cheese and offered it to him. Rory took it without thinking.

“I told you I didn’t need anything, love.”

She grinned. “I don’t mind sharing, but then you know that.”

For a second he couldn’t believe she said that out loud. Then, slowly the humor of the situation hit him and he smiled, and then chuckled. All the worries he had dissolved and he leaned forward and gave her a kiss.

“That you do, love. That you do.”

thirty-eight

Maura walked down the long hall to the bathroom. She hated mall bathrooms. It always felt as if she were walking to the end of the earth just to pee. The mall had been insane, but the hallway was deserted. Then, she heard a scrape of a shoe against the floor. Alarm bells immediately went off in her head. Before she could turn, someone hit her hard against her back, shoving her into the wall. A large male body smashed her against the wall as a large, sweaty hand covered her mouth.

She was trapped.

“Your boyfriends let you walk down the hall by yourself,” he said, the sneer in his voice easy to hear. There was a slight accent, one that sounded almost Irish, but not quite. It sounded as if he were trying to disguise it. Her heart was beating so hard against her ribs. She drew in as much air as she could and then let it out. The stench of his breath, along with cologne and a healthy dose of sweat filled her senses. She felt bile rise in her throat.

He pulled her arm up wrenching it behind her back. It hurt so much tears burned the back of her eyes.

“I think I might like to have a piece of McAllister and O’Brian’s woman before I kill her. An eye for an eye.”

Fear doubled as he pulled her away from the wall. They were near the back exit, the kind that led to the alley behind the mall. IF he had a car out there, he would get her out of there without anyone knowing. She struggled knowing that if he took her anywhere, it could be deadly. He slammed her head against the cement wall. Stars formed in front of her eyes. Warm blood trickled down from her forehead. He pulled her arm tighter behind her. Maura was surprised he didn’t break it. She sucked in a deep breath as pain radiated down from her shoulder. Her fingers were tingling.

“Bitch, you want to live, you might want to start cooperating.”

He was dragging her down the hall and she refused this. She would not let this bastard take her out of there without a fight. She kicked back with her legs, connecting with his shin the third time.

“Bloody bitch,” he said, his accent coming through more. Voices sounded down the hallway and she knew this might be her only chance for escape. She threw her head back smacking it against his forehead.

“Fucking hell.”

He loosened his hold on her as a gaggle of teens came down the hall. Their chatter echoed. She stumbled forward, losing her balance and landing on her knees and hand. She didn’t give the bastard another chance. Ignoring the way her stomach roiled and the blurred vision, she rushed headlong into the group of kids. She didn’t look behind her and ran to the food court.

Maura ignored the strange looks. She knew she must have looked a mess. The moment Rory and Zeke saw her, they were out of their chairs and running through the milling crowd to reach her. She fell into Zeke’s arms.

“What the fuck happened?” Rory yelled.

“Some guy attacked me when I came out of the bathroom.”

Zeke led her to a chair and gently helped her sit. She raised her hand to push her hair out of her face and realized it was shaking. Her stomach quivered.

“Hey, hey,” Zeke said. She looked up at him and realized her vision was still blurred. Shit, she was crying. In public. She drew in a deep breath trying to control the tears, but that seemed to make her cry harder.

He pulled her up out of the seat and into his arms. As his warmth surrounded her, she was comforted by the familiar scent of his cologne.