Inferno - Chelle Bliss by Chelle Bliss

Fran moves to my side, looking fiercely protective. “I’ll watch her. You two do your thing.”

Stone gives Fran a small nod of approval before turning his attention back toward me. “Get in, grab your purse and phone, and get out. Let’s make this as quick and clean as possible.”

“That’s the plan,” I assure him, hoping he doesn’t notice the slight tremble in my body.

Stone turns away, and I resist the urge to call the entire thing off.

“It’ll be fine,” Fran whispers to me like she’s reading my mind. “The guys are tough.”

I don’t say anything back to her. I’m too busy watching Stone as he knocks on the door and trying to push down the fear crawling up my throat.

Bear moves around me to have Stone’s back.

I’m barely breathing as the light inside turns on. There’s yelling, but that’s not a surprise when it comes to Jeff. A normal tone of voice isn’t his strong suit.

“What the fuck…” Jeff says as the door swings open. He’s wearing nothing except a pair of boxers.

“Who’s that?” a girl in a T-shirt asks, walking up behind Jeff with bare legs.

Well, he didn’t waste any time.

He lifts a hand to silence her. “Jolene, go back to the bedroom.”

“It’s Joanne,” she corrects him, not even looking mad that he called her the wrong name.

“Whatever. Go back there. This has nothing to do with you,” he tells her, but he’s looking straight at me.

And if looks could kill, I’d be fucking dead and buried. There’s not an ounce of love or caring in his eyes, but that’s not surprising with the way he treated me and how quickly he found another woman to warm his bed.

“Give us her purse and phone, and we’ll go,” Stone tells Jeff, calmer than I ever thought possible.

“This bitch has you out here handling her business.”

Stone takes a step forward. “Watch it.”

“Fuck you, man. And her. She’s trash. If you’re smart, you’ll toss her out on the side of the road and wipe any memory of her from your mind.”

Stone takes another step forward, leaving very little space between himself and Jeff. “Purse. Phone.”

“Fuck this, kid,” Bear says, pushing Stone to the side and going toe-to-toe with Jeff. “My nephew is nicer than me, but I have no problem knocking your ass out and taking her shit. Do you want to be blacked out or fucking in the next ten minutes?”

Jeff looks Bear up and down. “You going to knock me out, old man?” he laughs. “That’s ripe.”

Oh boy. He didn’t call him old man in the nice way Stone did earlier. Jeff was calling into question Bear’s manhood, and I think he is about to find out that age is only a number.

“You made the choice,” Bear says, rearing his arm back and letting it rip.

The sound of Jeff’s face being clocked by Bear’s fist is something I’ll never forget. The crunch of bone, the splattering of blood. Yuck.

But I can’t stop staring at Jeff’s head as it snaps back and then forward before he staggers, trying to find his footing. His hands move to his face, catching the blood that’s streaming out of his nose like a faucet has been turned on.

“What the fuck,” Jeff mumbles against his palm.

“I’m not old, you little-dick asshat. Purse and phone,” Bear demands, not giving Jeff time to recover before making it clear what he wants for the second time.

“Fuck you,” Jeff bites out, cupping the blood as it pours out of his left nostril.

I’ve never been hit that hard and I can’t imagine what it feels like, but it has to be painful. I’d be seeing stars, unable to keep my balance. But somehow, Jeff’s still standing.

“I take that as a no,” Bear says, rearing back his other hand and clocking Jeff so hard in the side of his jaw that he staggers to the other side, crashing into the doorframe.

Jeff’s body falls backward and flattens on the ceramic tile floor. Blood is still pouring from his nose out of both nostrils, but it’s sliding down his face and pooling on the off-white flooring beneath his head.

“Is he okay?” I ask, gawking at Jeff’s motionless body, hoping he isn’t dead. Not because I care about him, but because I don’t want Bear to go to jail.

Bear peers down, staring at Jeff for a few seconds before he answers. “He’s alive. He’s only knocked out. Blood’s still moving.”

“Blood’s still moving?” I ask, gawking at the blood as my stomach turns.

“Blood stops flowing when you’re dead. He’s alive, babe. Pricks like him don’t deserve to be, but I’m too old for hard prison time again.”

My eyes move from Jeff to Bear. Again? Bear said again. The man’s been to prison? He’s not what I think of when I picture a hardened criminal. He’s sweet as pie.

“Go,” Stone demands, touching my arm to get my attention. “We don’t have much time.” He glances around, looking at the windows of the neighbors. “Cops may be on the way already.”

“Shit,” I mumble, stepping over Jeff. “I’ll be quick.”

“You fuckers are going to jail,” Joanne says. “Breaking and entering, along with theft. That’s a heavy sentence too.”