Dr. Good by Flora Ferrari
Chapter Twenty
Miller
I leap from the car the second Macie does, a siren of war blaring in my head. It’s the same feeling I get when I’m down at the gym, sparring with some of the younger men who want to make a name for themselves by taking out a man with a reputation.
I assess the situation quickly, glancing up and down the street.
We’re in the narrow side road, the one that leads to my private penthouse entrance. At the end of the road traffic moves by on the main street, a few pedestrians walking by, but in a big city like this nobody’s about to involve themselves.
Derrick stands at the head of a gang of men, six of them including him.
The bastard has a steroid look about him, a swollen physique I recognize well from my years spent training in martial arts.
All his men look the same, the lazy bastards.
Derrick is over six feet and would probably intimidate any other man, but all I feel is liquid fire in my veins when I see his hand on my mother’s wrist, bending her arm behind her back.
I move around the limo as Macie steps forward, quickly looping my arm around her and pulling her back. I have no idea what she thinks she’s going to do against six men.
“You fucking loser,” Macie screams, her voice cracking with absolute outrage. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? She’s done nothing to you.”
“Quiet, slut,” Derrick snarls.
His men chuckle behind him. They vary in age, from Derrick’s twenty-something to around my age, and all of them have the glassy eyes of junkies.
When I hear him call my woman a slut, I take several steps forward, intent on ending his rat life, only stopping when Mom lets out a whimper of pain.
I step back, my fists clenched tightly, ready to stomp this bastard’s face into the concrete.
“Let’s not be stupid here, Miller,” Derrick says, with a sick smile on his face. He even licks his lips, the sick fuck. “All I want is a fair trade. I’ll give you dear Mommy if you hand over my property.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Macie yells, directing her question at the men now rather than Miller. “Why would you go along with this?”
She pauses, tilting her head, and then lets out a vicious laugh.
“Oh, I see. Your inheritance. Jesus, Derrick. You’re using your inheritance to try and kidnap me?”
“Who the fuck has the hostage here?”Derrick roars, losing his temper like all steroid junkies do. “Or do you want me to rape this fucking old cunt right here in front of you? Is that it?”
That’s twice he’s insulted the women I love. I make a silent promise to bust his goddamn face open when I get my hands on him.
Mom holds herself with her regular dignity, despite the circumstances. She straightens her shoulders as much as she is able with his hand on her wrist, stiffening her lip.
“Don’t do what he says, dear,” she says, staring at Macie with so much affection in her eyes it makes me want to pound my chest in victory despite the circumstances.
Whatever else this proves, it’s that my mother and the love of my life have bonded already.
“Quiet,” Derrick snaps. “I’ve told you once. What’s it going to be, Miller? Some bitch you barely know, or your dear old ma?”
“I’m sorry,” Mom says, her eyes widening in fear and pain. “He said his dog was hurt and his cell phone had run out of charge. I followed him down here. I’m an idiot.”
“Yes, you are,” Derrick snarls. “But I’m pretty sure I told you to shut your bitch mouth.”
“You stupid fucking boy,” I growl, taking a step forward and leveling my gaze at him. He flinches as I stare hard at him, revealing his deep-set fear even if he’s trying to act tough. “You’ve insulted my mother. You’ve insulted the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. Do you really think I’m going to let you get away with this?”
Derrick tosses his head, causing his lank black hair to shift around his face. “Are you people stupid or do you just act like it? I’m the one holding all the cards here, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Okay,” Macie says, walking up beside me and placing her hand on my shoulder.
She gives me a short squeeze, full of meaning.
“We’ll do the switch.”
“No, dear, no,” Mom cries. “I won’t allow that.”
“It’s not your choice, you old hag,” Derrick snarls.
Macie must be able to sense the rebellion happening inside of me, because she squeezes my shoulder again, silently screaming at me to go along with this. I know she’s planning something, but the protective impulse inside of me roars out to stop her…
But then that means leaving Mom in the hands of this lunatic.
This is a mess.
“See.” Derrick smiles, his eyes glimmering like he’s going to burst into tears as he stares at my woman. “That’s all I ever wanted, Macie. For you to see sense. We’re meant to be together. I hate that you drove me to this, that I had to go to these lengths to make you see something that should’ve been so obvious.”
“I know,” Macie murmurs, letting go of my shoulder and walking forward.
I prime my body, stalking subtly after her, my eyes scanning the way the men move. They’re low-rent thugs, and none of them are carrying weapons if their bearing is anything to go by.
But what if I’m wrong?
What if one of them has a gun and they pull it the second Derrick gets his hands on my woman?
I move after her, relieved Derrick is keeping his gaze on Macie. The sick fuck is captivated by her, a caricature of the way I feel about her.
I can read the evil glint in his eyes.
I can see that he’s going to do unspeakable things to her if I ever let him get his hands on her…
Not that I ever will.
My mind is filled with primal efficiency, with a song of pure war, as I get ready to take this man and his goons out.
Six against one are bad odds for anybody, but I’m driven by something far more potent than this bastard could ever understand.
I’m driven by love.
“Nice and easy,” he says, creeping forward with my Mom walking in front of him. “We’ll make the switch and be on our way. I knew you’d come round, Macie. I knew you’d see things my way.”
“Of course,” Macie says, doing a decent job of hiding her disgust. “It’s always been you, Derrick. I just needed you to make me see that.”
How insanely deranged must this bastard be to believe this?
The answer is very because he shoves my mother forward and then darts out to grab Macie.
At the last second, Macie spins, darting back toward us.
Derrick swears and leaps for my mother, intent to get his hostage back, but Kayla Marshall is a fierce woman and she follows after Macie.
And then I leap forward, putting myself between my woman, my mother, and these bastards.
“Fuck,”Derrick roars, as I spin around and aim a high kick at his head.
The idiot doesn’t expect a man of my size to be able to move with such fluidity, and my shoe catches him under the chin. He gasps and his head snaps back, his body deflating as all the energy goes out of him.
He collapses like a sack of shit on the concrete and then his men charge at me, yelling as they clumsily swing their fists.
I slide out of the way and let out short breaths.
“Tsk-tsk,” I hiss between my teeth as I aim three stiff jabs at three onrushing men, none of them trained if their amateur movements are anything to go by.
The momentum of their charge meets with my fist and they jolt backward.
The remaining two men charge at me, and I spin to the side and land a vicious elbow just behind the ear of one, disorienting him as I loop my arm around the neck of the other and haul him off his feet.
I spin him around as the other men come at me, made even clumsier by their injuries.
Using him like a battering ram, I fling him around and catch his friends in the face with his kicking legs, and then I toss him to the ground and step back, hands raised in a boxing stance.
The men nurse their injuries, groaning and looking at me like I’ve done the impossible.
“It’s called training, you dumb motherfuckers,” I growl. “Brawn can only get you so far. So are we going to go for round two? Because I can do this shit all day.”
They exchange glances, looks of defeat on their faces, and I know this is more than they ever expected to deal with.
I make a feint toward them, confirming my suspicion.
They overreact and leap back, and then I sprint at them, making it look like I’m about to unleash a fury of fists.
At the last second, I haul Derrick to his feet, grabbing him by his dirty black hair and dragging him backward.
I spin him around, keeping my gaze on his men just in case they rediscover their courage.
“Say sorry to my woman and my mother or I swear to God, you rat fuck, I’ll snap your neck.”
Derrick emerges from his unconsciousness, his voice cracking. “I’m sorry. Oh, God. Please. Please. I’m sorry. Macie. I’m sorry. Lady, I’m sorry… alright? I shouldn’t have… please, it hurts so damn much.”
I glance at my mother and Macie, who stand near the limo with their arms around each other.
“It’s okay,” Macie says, meeting my eye. “Look at him. He’s pathetic. He’s not worth it.”
The air comes alive with the sound of sirens, getting closer each second, so the limo driver must’ve called the cops.
I nod and toss Derrick to the floor, leaning down and driving my knee into his back.
“If you try to move, I’ll crush your fucking ribcage,” I snarl. “And if any of you bastards try to get past me, I’ll end you. Do you understand? I’ll fucking end you.”
The men back up toward the other end of the alleyway, looking around for an escape, but the only way out is past me and there’s no damn way I’m going to let them anywhere near Macie or my Mom.
