Page 100 of Under His Protection
He chuckles. “You can just wave or call my name, if you prefer. I’ll have my eyes on you the whole time.”
Class is about to start, and it looks like everyone’s in their seats. When the instructor begins to speak, I force myself to walk into the room. I skirt around Mark and Christian, passing on Christian’s side of the desk to avoid Mark as much as possible.
“Hey,” Christian says quietly as he gives me a friendly wave.
Mark just scowls.
I set my backpack on the floor beside my chair and take a seat.
“Here.” Andrea smiles at me as she slides a handout my way. “It’s instructions for today’s lab.”
“Thanks.” It’s nice to have at least one friendly face in here.
I glance back at the doorway to see Philip standing in the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest. His gaze is locked on Mark’s table, but he happens to glance my way and smile. Knowing he’s here helps a lot.
Before I can turn back to face the front of the room, I notice Mark scowling at me. He’s clearly still angry from earlier today, when I brushed him off. Christian notices Mark’s demeanor and bites back a grin as he winks at me.
I do my best to focus on Ms. Davis as she explains today’s assignment. The experiments are easy, and I did them before in high school, so I don’t have to put much thought into what I’m doing.
I guess I’m visibly distracted because Andrea asks, “Haley, what’s wrong?”
I shrug, not wanting to discuss it here. “It’s complicated.”
When class is over, I gather up my things and head for the door, where Philip is waiting.
As I pass Christian and Mark’s table, Mark lunges forward and grabs my wrist. “Haley, why won’t you—”
I recall the self-defense maneuver Charlie showed me and perform the steps just like she taught me. It works!
Mark cries out, grimacing as he drops to one knee and cradles the hand he grabbed me with. “You bitch!”
I’m about to tell Mark to keep his hands to himself when Philip charges past me, grabs Mark by his shirt, and hauls him to his feet.
Philip backs Mark up against a wall and tightens his grasp. “Don’t you dare touch her!”
Mark tries to speak, but instead he coughs. Philip has the neckline of Mark’s shirt twisted in his grasp, and it’s pressing against Mark’s throat.
The instructor comes forward and says, “What are you doing? Let him go right now.”
Philip releases Mark. “You don’t touch her, ever!” he says, pointing his finger in Mark’s face. “You don’t even talk to her.” Then he takes my hand and leads me to the door.
Once we’re in Philip’s truck and heading back to the safehouse, Philip glances over at me. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Did you see what I did? I can’t wait to tell Charlie.”
“You were on it. You didn’t even hesitate.”
When we arrive back at the townhouse and come inside through the back door, Charlie greets us.
“How’d it go?” she asks.
Philip tells her all about my self-defense move.
Charlie gives me a high-five followed by a hug. “That’s my girl, Haley! Now channel all that ass-kicking mojo tonight at the restaurant, okay?”
When my phone pings with a notification, everyone pauses to watch me. I check the screen, and what I see there makes my stomach plummet.
UNKNOWN: THAT WAS QUITE A SHOW THE BIG LUG PUT ON. HE THINKS HE OWNS YOU, BUT I’VE GOT NEWS FOR HIM. I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU TONIGHT. COME ALONE.
