We didn’t have to hold him down, Indy was there and had gotten hold of the gun and was pointing it at him, looking seriously badass and like she knew her way around a gun.

“Don’t f**king move,” Indy clipped.

I turned from Indy to the guy.

“What the f**k!” I shouted in his face.

He spat at me. Luckily, this too missed and the spittle just went up in the air and then landed right on his cheek.

“Talk or I swear to God I’l strangle you to death. What’s this al about?” I snapped.

I was not a woman on the edge, I was a woman who’d been pushed off the edge and was in free fal .

I moved my hands in order to wrap them around his neck when I was hauled off him. I fought it, kicking and growling as Richie and another couple of bouncers picked him up and shoved him with a thud, face first against the wal , kicking his legs out wide and patting him down.

“Cool it,” Smithie said in my ear, his arm around my bel y, pul ing me out the door.

I saw Al y, Daisy, Tod and Stevie. They were al standing close to the door and staring at me. Tod and Stevie with world-weary but concerned expressions. Daisy and Al y looked nearly as pissed off as me.

Smithie firmly but gently pushed me against the wal in the dancers’ hal way and got up close. I was stil struggling to get back to the bad guy.

“Settle, child, it’s over,” he said in a gentle voice.

His gentle voice hit me and I stopped struggling, the fight just left me.

“Smithie! What the hel was that? I thought your girls had protection,” Daisy was there, hands on hips, attitude crackling, Indy and Al y flanking her like honor guards.

I saw a bartender escorting two police officers down the hal , one of them Al y’s boyfriend Carl and al of them were moving at a jog. They went into the dressing room.

Smithie ignored Daisy and turned to me, “You’re official y on vacation.”

“What’s goin’ on here? Do I need to cal Marcus?” Daisy, not used to being ignored, threatened.

“Fuck no,” Smithie said. “It’s taken care of. Tonight, Jet’s goin’ on vacation.”

“What kind of trouble do you have?” Daisy asked me.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wal .

When I opened them, I looked at Indy, “He said Dad stole from him.”

Indy’s eyes flared.

Daisy was on a rol and when she started speaking, my eyes went to her.

“No one f**ks with a Smithie’s Girl. No one. This is outrageous. Sugar, I’m talkin’ to Marcus. We’re just goin’ to see about this.”

“Please, no…” I said to her, “don’t talk to Marcus.” Marcus meant Vince. I didn’t want anything to do with either one of them and I certainly didn’t want to owe one a favor while the other one was planning to rape me.

Something changed in the air, something stronger and even scarier than Daisy’s attitude. I looked to my left and saw Eddie coming toward us.

Serious uh-oh.

He held his body in a way that was control ed but clearly hostile. His eyes were glittery and he’d gone so passed pissed off that he had rocketed straight into fury. Before he could open his mouth to say a word, though, Smithie moved. For a big man, he was lightning-quick.

Richie had walked into the hal . In the blink of an eye, Smithie had Richie by the arm and he slammed him against the wal , his hand leaving Richie’s arm and he planted it at his throat.

“I thought I f**kin’ told you, not five feet away from her!” he shouted in Richie’s face.

Richie stared up at Smithie and opened his mouth to Richie stared up at Smithie and opened his mouth to speak. Smithie didn’t let him.

“You pay more attention to what’s happenin’ on the f**kin’ stage and not to their protection. The girls on the floor ain’t job satisfaction eye-candy, motherfucker. You’re there to keep ‘em safe. You’re f**kin’ fired. I don’t want to see your sorry ass anywhere near my place again. You got me?” Smithie warned.

Richie looked at me, eyes ful of angry blame. Then he nodded to Smithie.

Wonderful. Another enemy.

I opened my mouth to protest and defend, not because Richie was a good bouncer, he wasn’t. Smithie was right, he was there for the jol ies, being a big man bouncer at a titty bar and ogling the girls. But I didn’t want someone else after me.

I didn’t get to say anything because Eddie stepped in.

“Look at me,” he demanded to Richie, forcing Smithie out and getting smack into Richie’s space. Eddie didn’t need to hold him where he was physical y, his wrath was enough to keep Richie pinned to the wal .

When Richie’s eyes turned to him, Eddie said, “Don’t even f**kin’ think about it.”

Richie stared at Eddie, his face changed and if he’d wet his pants, I wouldn’t have been surprised. Then again, Richie had been there the night Eddie took care of Bachelor Number One and Eddie wasn’t nearly as furious then as he was now.

Eddie turned to me as I noticed Lee and Carl materialize behind Indy and Al y. I didn’t have a chance to react as Eddie’s hand curled around my arm.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“No way.” Smithie stepped in our way. “Jet’s takin’ a vacation. She ain’t safe and you ain’t keepin’ her safe so she’s gonna disappear until this shit blows over.” Eddie, already tense, froze rock solid.

“I’m sorry?” he said in his quiet voice, “I thought she got shot at on your watch.”

An uncomfortable look passed Smithie’s face.

Eddie kept talking.

“Find another waitress. This was Jet’s last night.” It was my turn to freeze rock solid.

“What?” I said to Eddie.

Eddie didn’t answer me.

“Let’s go,” he repeated.

“I don’t think so,” I yel ed, “I need this job.”

“You’l be taken care of,” Eddie said, like it was as easy as that, and began to pul me away.

I yanked my arm out of his hold.

“Yeah? Is that so? You gonna pay for Mom’s therapy?

The rent on a disabled-accessible apartment? Her fol ow-up MRI? You don’t have any f**king clue, do you? This isn’t as easy as a couple bags of groceries and fixing a stupid car. This shit is relentless, this shit is my life,” I shouted.

Everyone was staring at me and I didn’t care. I turned to Smithie.

“Am I fired?” I asked for the mil ionth time.