Page 122 of Ruthless Ambition
“Coop — Onyx!” She was on her feet, and she swayed dangerously, clutching at Cooper as she stumbled. “Shit.”
Cooper steadied her and pushed her hair back, revealing the dark red mark across her face and a cut on her cheek.
“Took a blow?” he asked her.
“Hurts like hell,” she whispered back. “Is he okay?”
“Onyx? He’s fine. He’ll be better when you’ve seen a doctor,” Cooper reassured her.
“No, not Onyx, Ronnie.” Angel swayed, and Cooper caught her.
“She’s got a concussion,” he told me. “Need to get her out of here.”
“Where’s the boy?” I spoke to her for the first time.
“He isn’t here.” Angel tried to steady herself against the chair. “Onyx,” she called, and I grit my teeth as I looked to Cooper, silently communicating what I wanted.
“Fuck, man,” he hissed at me as he reached out for her. “You drink anything, Angel? They inject you?”
She raised her arm, and Cooper growled when he saw the needle mark. “Why won’t he talk?” she asked him.
“He’s trying to keep it together for you, vampire. Need you to be quiet now. We’re going to move you, babe.”
“Babe?” Angel giggled. I moved closer to the door, keeping watch. “I’m not a babe,” she said. “And you hate me, so that’s really fucked up.”
“It is,” he agreed. “I’m going to have to carry her,” he told me.
“Fine. Let’s move.”
We moved quickly through the hallway. I glanced back several times to see if she was okay, and Cooper met my look each time. As we reached the exit, I heard the unmistakable click, and my hand stayed out in front of me as I slowly turned around.
A guy with a bandana across his face and his hoodie pulled up stood with a gun pointed at Cooper’s head. Mimicking a Devil — for that I would make him pay twice over.
“Tell him to let her go, or he dies.”
“Fuck, at least I’d be able to sleep,” Cooper told me as he shrugged, and then he dropped Angel and spun and attacked the guy with the gun. I’d already been moving forward when he moved, and I caught her as she stumbled, her condition making her heavy.
“Steady,” I warned her.
“I’m okay.”
Owen was there, and with a crack of the bat, he took the guy down, and Cooper jumped on top of him.
“Careful,” Angel warned. “He’s not alone,” she said as she fainted.
Charlie came running up, and I handed her to him, “Wake her up, she has a concussion.”
Striding over to the prone body, Cooper ripped the bandana off him. “And who in the fuck are you?” Cooper asked.
“Will Hershman,” I answered. “A pro bono lawyer who fucks over his friends.”
“We know him?” Charlie asked as he tapped at Angel’s other cheek. “She needs a hospital.”
“Take her to the house, call the doc, and tell Jer to keep Chrissy away.”
“You don’t ask much, do you?” Charlie grumbled as he lifted Angel. “And what do I tell her when she wakes up?”
“Tell her I’ll be there soon.”
