Page 35 of Allegiance
Cougar gripped her waist and yanked her back against him. “I bet you taste as sweet as those cookies.”
The thug by the case stood silent, his intense stare fixed on her.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Please what? Please fuck me?” Cougar chuckled.
The other biker licked his lips.
Lena’s heart pounded in her chest. She swallowed back the bile in her throat and tried to quell the mounting panic threatening to suffocate her.Think. This can’t happen.Blinking rapidly, she said in a soft voice,“I have a meeting with a wedding party to go over their reception details. That’s the reason I was still in the restaurant. They’ll be here soon.”
Cougar squeezed her butt and shoved her away. Slamming into the case, Lena lost her balance, and the cookies dropped to the floor. The steel corner of the display hit her hip. Pain shot through her, but she didn’t cry out. She wasn’t about to give the bastards the satisfaction.
“Give us the fuckin’ money,” Cougar demanded.
“It’s in the office.”
“One of us will go with you.”
“I’ll go with her.”
Cougar looked at his accomplice.
“What? You think you get to have all the fun?”
“Just get the money and that’s it. We got shit to do,” Cougar growled.
The thug nodded and shoved Lena. “Get your ass movin’, sweet piece. Show me what’s in the back, give us our cash, and we’ll be gone until the next time.”
Without saying a word, she pushed past Cougar and walked down the hallway with the other goon close on her heels.
In the office, she opened a cabinet and bent down in front of the safe. Lena turned the old-fashioned dial a couple of times until the lock clicked into place. Not wanting to spend another second with the bastards, she pulled out the white envelope and slapped into the jerk’s waiting palm.
“It’s all there. You can leave now.” The words constricted in her throat.
After counting the bills, a big grin spread across his face.
He stood aside. “Let’s go.”
Lena scurried past him and pushed through the swinging doors.
“Next time we come, make sure to have the chocolate chip cookies ready,” the goon said.
Cougar strolled over and stopped in front of her, his dark eyes glaring. Before she could react, he raised his right hand and slapped her hard across the face. Tears stung her eyes and her cheek throbbed. Grabbing her wrist, he jerked her body forward and pivoted, wrenching her arm behind her back before slamming her against the wall. All the airwhooshedout of her lungs in a tight hiss of pain. Agony shot up from her elbow to her shoulder as the asshole jerked her arm upward even harder.
“Fuck! Stop,” she cried.
Cougar laughed low. “That’s for bullshitting about why you didn’t answer the door. You’re lucky I don’t break your fuckin’ arm,” he said against her ear. Letting go of her, she quickly shifted away from him. “Don’t ever pull that fuckin’ stunt again. Next time we come, you fuckin’ better break your sweet ass to open the door. You won’t like the consequences if you don’t.”
Cougar lifted his chin at the other biker, and the two of them walked out of the restaurant, the chains hanging down from their back pockets jangling with each step.
The door shut with a bang that nearly made her jump out of her skin. She ran over and fumbled with the locks until they finally clicked into place. She stumbled back, her body shaking.
“Fuck! What am I going to do?” she whispered out loud as she sank to the floor then curled her knees to her chest. Tears streamed down her face. She reached up to wipe them away and grimaced at the pain in her cheek.
Where the fuck are the cops?There was no way she could go through this nightmare every two weeks. She would have to close down everything, move again, start over—
The idea alone made her stomach clench in anger. After all the hard work, energy, effort, and time put into making a go of her business, she was going to throw it all away because a bunch of greedy, lazy fucking bullies were threatening her. Lena swallowed past the fear hollowing out the pit of her stomach and wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
