Standing By (Road House) Read Online Free Page A

couldn’t figure out what.
    He turned and looked at her with such longing her heart broke a little.
    “Have a good night with the girls.” And just like that, he was gone.
     
    Emilio cursed as the door shut behind him. He hadn’t meant to get so close. Hadn’t meant to say anything really, but when he saw her in those low-slung jeans and tank, his mind hadn’t really been doing much of the thinking.
    He kicked some gravel. Just thinking of her with Tyler pissed him off. The two were buds, but every time he pictured them, standing on the porch laughing, he wanted to go over and beat the shit out of him.
    This was a new one for him. It hadn’t been so bad running from her the past year. Sure he had wanted to do something about it, but the dangers involved had made it easy to keep her at arm’s length.
    His lip curled at the thought of the dangers. The next time he saw his father, he planned on ripping off his fucking balls. Leaving him to deal with his mess was one thing, but now his whole family was feeling the strain of his father’s connections. Nicoli was only inches away from getting into some serious shit. He really didn’t know how he’d keep his just barely teen brother out of this. As it was, his sister was fielding most of the police’s questions. Detective Connor Maxwell had been a particularly large thorn in his side, not that Maria seemed to mind. He had seriously started to wonder if Maxwell came by to check on leads or check out his sister. Either way, he didn’t like it.
    Emilio hopped on his bike and headed back to the shop. Maybe if he threw himself elbow deep in grease, it would help him work out some of his anger.
     
    Pan stumbled back to the table. She felt like she’d been shot. The shock of it would have been less surprising than some of the things Emilio had said. She was important? They would use that? The more she thought on it, the less sense it made.
    “Hey, what took so long?” Iris pinned her with a hard stare.
    Pan shook her head. “I’m just not feeling so great. Think I’ll cut tonight short.”
    She knew Iris wasn’t buying it, but let it slide. Wasn’t often she skipped out on a girls’ night.
    “All right, but call me tomorrow. Don’t forget I have a doctor’s appointment and won’t be in all day.”
    Pan nodded and headed for the door.
    Once outside, the cool air wakened her senses a little. Since talking to Emilio, everything felt slightly muted and a little out of focus.
    She mounted her bike and started driving back to the bookshop. When she passed the spot where she’d seen Max, she slowed down. With that prick, she couldn’t be too certain what would come.
    What she didn’t expect to see was the teen from before. Blood dripped down his face. Max and his goon towered over him. The thugs beat on the poor boy, menacing smiles plastered to their faces.
    Pan snapped. It was one thing to mess with adults, but kids crossed the line. She whipped the bike around and roared back to the alley front. There would be just enough room if everything worked out right.
    The bike rumbled toward the two men. They didn’t even seem to notice until she was right on them. Pan slipped a machete out from a holster on the side. She’s upgraded since her last run-in with these pricks.
    The men jumped back at the sheer size of the weapon. Pan screeched to halt, flipped the boy on the back of the bike and tore off through the alley. Unsteady hands gripped her stomach as they raced through the darkness. Shots rang out just as they turned the corner.
    “Bitch!” Max screamed at her. “You think I don’t know your bike?”
    Yeah, he knew it was her. This was going to be fun later.
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    Pan weaved in and out of traffic. She wasn’t certain they would be able to follow her, but Max had eyes and ears around town. They would need to head to some place quiet. A place that they wouldn’t think to look. Pan grinned. Only one place would work.
    The city slowly