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  “You’re fine,” he said. “Everything’s okay now. You’re safe.”

  “Thank you,” I gasped. “Thank you.”

  I couldn't help it. I started crying again. Blake walked with me until we saw a taxi on the other side of the road. He hailed it. The taxi pulled over and Blake opened the door for me. He handed me a fistful of cash.

  “Get home safe,” he said. “Please don’t walk through these streets alone again.”

  Chapter Three

  Blake

  I was fuming at the guys for treating Emily that way. She had come into the gym to learn some self-defense after what had happened. Good for her! Most women would cower at home and live in fear. It took a lot of guts for her to walk through the door of the Wolf Brothers’ gym. For a little lady, she had a lot of bravery.

  I tried to calm myself down. As I pounded the pavement towards my apartment, I felt a sneer creep up my face. Breathe. I took two deep breaths but it wasn’t enough. Those fucking animals. How dare they say those things. My mind was going crazy. My thoughts were swirling around with no direction. It was taking all my energy to stop my emotions from consuming me. I had to keep breathing otherwise I would have turned around and knocked the shit out of those guys. I reached my apartment and ascended the steps. Just as I turned the key in the lock, I heard a timid voice behind me.

  “Blake?”

  Emily was standing behind me in the street. She hadn’t bothered to wipe away the smudge of mascara from her tears but she still looked beautiful. She was the most petite and stunning thing I had ever seen. If you glanced at her quickly, she wouldn’t stand out much. She had mousy brown hair and dark brown eyes but her features were like intricately carved details on a beautiful sculpture. Her cheekbones were gorgeous and delicate. Her lips were full but pale and her eyebrows were bushy but well-mantained. She had this scared little girl look on her face that was terribly endearing. She clutched a briefcase with one hand and comforted herself by holding her arm across her chest.

  “Yes?”

  I straightened up, pocketed my keys, and made my way down the steps. When I knocked those guys out, my heartbeat barely accelerated. But standing in front of this gorgeous creature made me nervous. I realized that it had been a long time since I had spoken to a woman. It had been weeks. Maybe months. The rare exception was when the person at the grocery store checkout was a woman.

  “I wanted to say thank you,” she breathed. “You saved me.”

  “Don’t mention it,” I forced a smile. “Are you okay?”

  My words were labored. In the gym all I had to do was grunt and cuss to communicate. Other than that, I had been alone with my thoughts for a long time. Speaking felt unnatural.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Still a little shook up though.”

  “Understandable.”

  We stood and stared at each other. She rocked a little on her heels and clutched her arm even tighter. She was nervous and could pick up on the fact that my communication skills were terrible. I nodded, unsure what else there was for me to say. What did she want?

  “Hey,” I broke the silence awkwardly. “What are you doing?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I told you not to walk through the streets alone.”

  “I can’t really help it,” she said. “I work at the courthouse.”

  “There’s no one you can walk with?”

  “Nope,” she bit her lip. “Afraid not.”

  Once again silence took over our conversation. I sighed and wished I knew how to talk to such a beautiful lady. She gave me a forced smile with her lips still quavering from fright. She looked around, saw that it was getting dark, and started to walk away.

  “Anyway,” she said. “Once again, thank you. You have now idea how thankful I am.”

  She started to walk down the street. Her high heels made these pathetic little clicking sounds and made me feel so sorry for her. She should really wear sneakers in these parts, I thought. It would make her less likely to be a victim again if she could actually run. Emily stopped walking and returned quickly to me. Averting her eyes, she pulled a business card out of her pocket and gave it to me.

  “If there’s anything I can ever do for you,” she said. “To repay the favor, please don’t hesitate to ask. If you ever need legal representation, I will give it to you for free.”

  “You’re a lawyer?”

  “Almost.”

  I nodded, looked at the card, and forced another smile. She nodded back and clip-clopped off in those sad heels. My heart beat like crazy and I took a deep breath.

  “Wait,” I said. “Emily?”

  She turned around and opened her big brown eyes even wider beneath a delicately furrowed brow. I just wanted to wrap her up in my arms and protect her.

  “You wanna get a coffee or something?” I said. “I can give you some advice about what to do if someone tries to attack you again.”

  “Yeah,” she smiled. “I’d like that.”

  Chapter Four

  Emily

  I couldn’t figure this guy out. We had walked to the diner, sat down, and ordered, and the whole time he hadn’t said a word. Most people like to fill the void with small talk nonsense but he seemed absolutely incapable of it. It wasn’t as unnerving as silence could be. There was something comforting about it. The waitress came and plonked down a cup of black coffee for Blake and a hot chocolate for me. He nodded a thank you but didn’t look up. He was fidgeting with a napkin, tearing it up into little pieces.

  “How can you drink coffee so late in the evening?” I asked.

  “I don’t sleep much.” He shrugged.

  He took a long sip of coffee. Blake looked out of the diner window, seemingly consumed with thought, absentmindedly stroking and pulling at the skin on his biceps. I looked him over without him noticing. He had a swirl of tribal tattoos and other intricate inkings running up his arms. Due to his v-neck t-shirt, I could see that he had other patterns inked into his skin on his neck and chest. He had a messy tangle of black hair that he kept sweeping off of his forehead. His face was dusted with stubble and he kept rubbing his thick jaw, creating a sound like sandpaper. He had thick, incredibly kissable-looking lips and a far-off gaze in his eyes. He was also very heavily set and boasted a lot of muscle. No wonder he had knocked those guys out so effortlessly. I looked down at his knuckles. They were a red mess. Most of the skin had been scraped off from the fight.

  “How’s your hand?” I gestured down, breaking his thoughts.

  “Hm?” He grunted. “Oh, fine. This is nothing.”

  “Doesn’t look like nothing. Looks pretty painful.”

  “Yeah, nah, it’s fine.”

  “I can dress them up for you if you like. Don’t want them to get infected.”

  “It’s alright,” he growled. “I’ll do it myself.”

  Everything about his outward appearance was gruff and powerful. I had never seen a guy cut such a fine masculine figure. The way that he sat hunched over, with his brow wrinkled, reminded me more of an alpha gorilla than a man. But in his eyes there was a softness. There was something deep in his gaze that told me he was just a child. A child who had seen some awful things. He rubbed his forehead, took another swig of coffee, and cleared his throat with a sexy gravelly noise.

  “Right,” he said. “Fight school. Lesson one: ditch the heels.”

  “My job demands a professional appearance,” I said. “I have to wear these.”

  “Not on these streets you don’t. When you finish in the courthouse, change into some sneakers. You ain’t smart walking through these streets in those heels.”

  “You know, you’re right,” I said. “The other night, the heels made me trip and that’s when the guys got me.”

  “You see?” He cocked an eyebrow. “Lesson two: ignore any scumbag that tries to talk to you.”

  “I did that the other night,” I said. “Those three guys were shouting stuff at me and I did ignore them but then they got angry and s
tarted following me.”

  “Okay, that leads us to lesson three then. If someone tries to follow you, don’t keep ignoring them. It shows weakness and makes you look like you don’t know how to handle the situation.”

  “Well, what do I do then?”

  “You stop walking. Turn around. Look them in the fucking eyes. And scream,” he said. “You scream at the top of your fucking lungs. You’re a tiny girl but I bet you got a set of lungs on you. You scream ‘Fuck off!’ at the top of your lungs. Seriously, the louder the better.”

  For once, Blake was making perfect eye contact with me. His gaze was so serious and smouldering. It was sexy. I found myself getting a little turned on. Blake remained perfectly still and looked me in the eyes so that I knew he was being deadly serious. He rubbed his sandpaper stubble and took another sip of coffee, breaking his gaze.

  “Once you’re finished screaming,” he said. “Stay there and keep staring at them. You stare at them like you’re a crazy woman. They will fuck off. What you’ve done is alerted everyone in the vicinity that something is about to go down. Plus, you look unpredictable. You’re too much hassle if you do that. They will leave. If they don’t leave, scream again. Scream ‘Leave me alone’ and throw your hands up in the air like a crazy bitch. These guys are animals. You need to treat them like it.”

  “What if they don’t leave me alone?”

  “Your best option is to run,” he said. “You run like your life depended on it. You run like you’re trying to win gold at the Olympics. And while you’re running, you’re screaming. You see, you don’t know what these guys have got. But you gotta assume they’ve at least got a knife. And you always run from a knife.”

  “You didn’t,” I said. “The guys you beat up all had knives.”

  “If I had been on my own, I would have ran,” he said. “I know how to disarm a knife from someone but even I would not face a knife if there was any other option. Real life is not like the movies. Jason Bourne and James Bond don’t exist.”

  “Well, you sure did look like James Bond the other night.”

  “Those guys didn’t know what they were doing. And I’m trained.”

  Blake didn’t blink. He didn’t crack a smile. He just looked deep into my eyes, piercing me to the core. My stomach was knotting up. I fidgeted with my suit blazer and averted my gaze from him. He was so raw and rugged but still managed to be a gentleman. This guy made me nervous. I wondered what his lips would feel like against mine.

  “Now let’s talk about what you need to do if someone grabs you,” he said. “If it’s possible, have a set of keys ready. Car keys, house keys, whatever. Put the sharp bit through your fingers like this.”

  He pulled out a set of keys and demonstrated how to do it. Blake’s fist was already a deadly weapon but he made it look even more frightening with a sharp key sticking out.

  “You’re gonna wanna jab these keys into the attacker’s eyes,” he said. “If you don’t have keys, use your fingers.”

  “Oh, God!” I said. “I could blind them!”

  “That’s the point,” he nodded. “If someone corners you, put your hands up in front of your face as if you are saying ‘I don’t wanna fight’ but when they get close, hook your fingers, strike out, and poke their eyes.”

  “Okay,” I said, feeling ill. “Poke eyes. Got it.”

  “And don’t stop there. You want to be the one to hit first. Once you hit them, or poke their eyes, or whatever, keep hitting them. Aim your blows for the pressure spots.”

  “What are the pressure shots?”

  “Here’s one.”

  He scrunched his hand up into a fist and demonstrated a slow-motion punch, pushing the side of my jaw. He was such a gorilla. His hands were big and meaty. I felt a pang of sympathy for him when he drew his hand away, giving me another glimpse of how badly cut they were.

  “Jaw and chin are good,” he said. “Temple is good too. As for the body, the solar plexus will wind you. That’s this bit.”

  He poked a soft spot just under his pecs but above his abdomen. It gave me another opportunity to check him out. I nodded to his words but my eyes were busy drinking in his gorgeous body. His pecs were bigger than my breasts. Luckily they weren’t the same shape. They looked firm and rectangular. His stomach looked yummy too. It was taut and I could see the outline of his abdominal muscles as he pushed his fingers against his t-shirt.

  “And of course,” he said, bringing me back to reality. “Go for the balls.”

  “The balls?”

  “Yeah. A swift kick to the balls can knock most men unconscious with pain. Not just one kick though. Kick them as many times as you can while also punching their head. If they double over, bring your elbow down on the back of their head. Kick their face too.”

  “Wow. This is really violent advice.”

  I took a sip of hot chocolate, enjoying the effect its warmth had on my nerves. I wished I had met Blake before my attack. I would have enjoyed dishing out a good beating on those bastards.

  “Remember this,” he said. “Your attackers don’t care about you. Don’t hold back. Use any and every advantage you can find. If there’s a brick or a pipe or something laying on the floor, use it.”

  “Thank you for your help,” I said. “You’ve done so much for me.”

  “Seriously, don’t mention it.”

  “Like I said, you can have free legal representation whenever you want.”

  “Lady, come on. Does it look like I need a lawyer?”

  For once, Blake let a genuine smile creep up his face. Actually it was more like a smirk. It took up just one side of his mouth and, although it was genuine, it was still quite awkward. I got the feeling that Blake didn’t smile much. Maybe he had forgotten how to do it. It made my stomach wrench with sadness.

  “I have one question.” I asked.

  “Shoot.”

  “This advice is all well and good but haven’t I gotta face the fact that I am a lot smaller than any would-be attacker? I mean, isn’t there a limited amount that a woman of my stature can do? The other night, they overpowered me so easily.”

  “To an extent, that’s true,” Blake said. “But aside from gaining 200 pounds and injecting yourself with testosterone, there isn’t much you can do. But the one thing I would recommend is to get some training.”

  “You mean like karate?”

  “Nah, don’t bother with karate. It’s not the best.”

  “What should I learn then?”

  “Learn MMA. Learn some boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or Muay Thai. Throw in some Krav Maga for extra measure.”

  “I don’t recognize half the words you just said.”

  “Just get your ass in a gym and sign up for classes. They’ll teach you.”

  I looked down at my half-drained hot chocolate and wondered whether I should tell him that I had just tried to join up to a gym. I felt embarrassed. I had run out and broke into tears because some punk kids yelled at me. I looked back up at Blake. His face was hard but his eyes were soft. I knew I could tell him.

  “Actually I did try and sign up just over an hour ago.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yeah, it was at some pokey little gym just around the corner. Looked seedy as hell. I didn’t sign up.”

  “Well you should.”

  “It’s just… When I went in there, a bunch of guys yelled stuff at me. One of them said he wanted to rape me. I kinda started crying and ran out.”

  There was silence between us. Blake nodded his head even though I had finished speaking. He wasn’t looking at me. He just massaged his trap muscles and got that far-off look in his eye again. He looked pissed off.

  “Come on.” He said.

  He pulled some dollar bills out of his pocket and slammed them down on the table. Then he stood up and walked towards the door, gesturing for me to follow him. It was so odd. What the hell was he going to do?

  Chapter Five

  Blake

  I didn’t want to tel
l Emily that I had seen what happened in the gym. I may have lost touch with the fairer sex but I assumed that women, like men, still had pride and hated to show weakness. I guessed that a woman like Emily who, though still feminine, was dressed up in a fancy suit probably didn’t enjoy indulging in her weakness any more than my boys in Afghanistan. Although she had told me what happened, I didn’t need to embarrass her by revealing I had witnessed it.

  I pounded the pavement towards the gym. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, and bubbling with aggression that needed releasing, that I didn’t realize I was walking some distance ahead of Emily. I looked back over my shoulder and saw her huffing and puffing trying to keep up on those unsteady heels of hers. I stopped and smiled. Well, I guess you could call what my mouth was doing a smile. Truth be told, I didn’t think I would ever enjoy a genuine smile ever again.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I’m not that fast.”

  “Sneakers.” I grunted.

  I put my arm out and wrapped it around her shoulders lightly and we walked together. I regretted my decision to touch her. I had forgotten how to touch another person. Sure, I could throw a guy onto a mat or lock someone’s arm until they submitted but intimacy was a skill left in another lifetime. I pulled my arm away from her. It was awkward.

  “Where are we going?” She asked.

  She was looking up at me like a child might look up to a teacher she trusted. I had seen that look before. I had seen it in the faces of my men. I had seen it in the faces of children as I pulled them out of a bombed building. I could never give another person that look. Even when I felt just like they did.

  “You tried to sign up at the Wolf Brothers’ gym right?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I think so. Maybe.”

  “This one here?”

  We had arrived at the sweaty little gym. It was cramped between two shuttered-up shops. Emily stopped in her tracks and looked at the store. She was a small lady. Maybe a bit over five feet. I felt anger rise inside me when I thought about how the dogs inside the gym had treated her that evening.