Finger extended, her friend jabbed Arbor's chest, but the asshole easily pushed him aside. The blonde squirmed in her seat, trying to shrug out of Jason's grip. With the background noise, Nik was at a loss to eavesdrop on their heated exchange.
Jason's lips moved. No doubt spewing some lewd suggestion. The blonde gasped and Nik's mouth dropped open as she drove her chair back with both legs.
Arbor stumbled, caught off guard by the move. And the best part was, it allowed plenty of room for her wind up and drive her fist into Jason's stomach.
Nik sputtered. Go on with your bad self, girl.
Quickly recovering, Arbor straightened from his hunch, snarled and seized her face.
Oh, fuck no. Nik dodged the few patrons standing in his way and jabbed the blade of his hand into Jason's throat.
The asshole staggered. Clawing at his neck. His other arm flailed as he teetered and tripped over the vacant chair on his left.
Rolling his eyes, Nik turned to the blonde and looked her up and down. Her long bangs angled past the curve of her cheek, and his first impulse was to reach up to brush them away from her pretty face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, thanks. I think I'm all right." She tugged on her blouse to straighten the buttons and shot a death glare at Jason. "What a jerk."
"Eh? You showed him who was boss." Nik smirked. "If I ever get lucky enough to run into you again, remind me to never piss you off."
Biting her lip, she lowered her chin, but he still picked up on her smile.
Wood screeched against the floor, and Nik pivoted to Arbor as he coughed and climbed to his feet.
Great, here they went again. He advanced on Nik, his bloodshot eyes laced with murder. Gradually retreating, Nik raised his hands in an obvious show of surrender. "Chill out, dude. Pretty sure it's time for you to take it somewhere else."
And if that didn't do the trick then Nik was primed to defend or strike.
"Mind your own fuckin' buz'ness." Swiping at his nose, Arbor wavered unsteadily. Several customers picked up their drinks and hightailed it out of their seats.
But it wasn't as if Nik could blame them. Even three feet away, the guy reeked worse than rotting garbage that had baked in the sun for a week. "You made it my business the second you put your hands where they don't belong."
Nik glanced toward the door. And while he was at it, where was the bouncer? Any time now, he could do his job and help to bust this up.
Jason's Adam's apple bobbed as his head fell back and he aimed a grating cackle at the ceiling. "Oh, that's hilar'ous. You think yer some kinna white knight?" His laughter faded and he finally faced Nik, his blown pupils hardening with anger. "Nice try when everyone knows yer the freakish offspring of a killer."
Grief took a sledgehammer to Nik's midsection. Fraying tendon and pulverizing bone. Leaving him half-blind with the unresolved rage he'd been fighting to erase from his memory for years.
A tense hush descended. Nearby conversations ebbed until they were gone.
Blood pumped in his ears over the beat of classic rock grinding from the jukebox in the corner.
Nik darted a dark scowl around the room and one of the Sierra Miwok Tribe stood from his booth on the far wall.
Nice. Nik sighed. He wasn't any more interested in taking on that warrior than glancing at the blonde beauty behind him. There was too much of a chance he'd find the same judgment filling everyone else's eyes.
Yes, his wound was old, but he'd become goddamned practiced at nursing it. His pride, however, had never fully healed, and under the strain of such caustic stares, those stitches were threatening to snap. "You're high as a kite, Arbor. As usual, you got nothing but lies and your rancid breath to throw back in my face."
Nik withdrew a few steps toward the bar before turning on his heel.
"Aw-w-w, you ready to run home to mommy? Oh wait, you can't do that anymore. She went and threw herself off a ladder."
Enough! Nik spun and pain exploded through his arm, his knuckles cracking against Jason's jaw.
The room erupted into chaos. Shouts drowned out the music and thrashing bodies closed in on all sides.
Grabbing the front of Arbor's flannel shirt, Nik hauled him up on his toes. "Don't you ever mention my mother again."
Hands grappled with his shoulders. Arbor clung to his wrists as Nik shook him like a ragdoll. "You so much as walk past her headstone and I swear to Christ, I will clean your clock into next week."
A hard yank wrenched the collar of Nik's t-shirt like a clothesline cutting into his throat. Arbor wrestled from his hold, regrouped and charged. Nik dodged, but wasn't fast enough to avoid the incoming swing.
Stars lit up his vision, cheek bursting into flames. His teeth cut the inner flesh of his lip, and coppery blood flooded his tongue as he hailed a volley of jabs at Arbor's nose.
Jason gurgled and a red wave gushed from his nostrils, staining his shirt and chin. The bartender pounced and dragged him out of Nik's reach. A pair of solid arms lifted him off the ground.
In a series of tugs through the roiling confusion, Dion jostled him out the back door into the alley.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Raking his fingers through his curly black hair, his brother punched Nik's shoulder once then twice. "A fight, Nik? Jesus, come on."
But it was the disappointment on Dion's face that cut deeper than any wound. A reminder of how often Nik had gone off the rails only to let his brother down once again. "Jason grabbed a woman by the face, D. What was I supposed to do? Just sit there an—"
"Leave it to the bouncer? Yes!"
Sirens bleeped along the street, and Nik rubbed his sore jaw as a squad rolled to a stop at the corner. "Yeah, good idea. Too bad he wasn't anywhere to be found."
"Then you should've gone to Randy and pointed out the trouble. For God's sake, Nik. We've already got enough problems without you going all Rottweiler and adding more bullshit to our name."
Nik grimaced, but kept his big mouth shut. His kid brother was right, of course.
He should have stayed where he was. Pretended not to notice or said something then. Or even better, as soon as Jason had made an appearance, Nik should've packed from the bar and left.
But still…
Shifting his weight, he tongued the split in his lip.
It was anyone's guess what Arbor would've done if Nik hadn't protected that girl.
The door swung open and Chief Karl Dixon stepped through, a big dose of disappointment crimping his brows, as well.
"Hey, Uncle Karl." Dion moved to the side, giving the Chief a full view of the most worthless piece of shit in their lives.
"Okay, look. Before you say anything—"
"How much did you drink?" Uncle Karl planted his hands on his hips. His gun belt creaked from the added weight framing his protruding belly.
Dropping his chin, Nik scrubbed at his lids and his chest heaved with a sigh. "Four beers and a shot of JD."
Dion's grunt landed halfway between resigned and extremely pissed off.
"Listen, son." The Chief removed his cowboy hat and shined the Woodward Hill PD badge along the length of his sleeve. "If you're looking to blow off some steam, then you know this isn't the way to do it."
"It was Arbor. He—"