Page 27 of Daddy’s Fortitude

“What? Why?” she asked, gaping at him.

“Because you started all this.” He winced. “Man, that guy with you has got a punch on him, huh? Fuck, he’s got arms bigger than my thighs. How the hell do you get muscles like that? Probably steroids or some of those illegal drugs.”

Or maybe he didn’t sit on his ass most of the day and drink himself stupid like Danny did.

“I didn’t start this. Randy put his hand on my ass, and Ammo didn’t like it.”

Danny shrugged. “What are you going to do? It’s just the way Randy is.”

“Your attitude sucks, you suck, and this job sucks!” She reached under the bar to grab the baseball bat that Danny kept there, pulling it out.

Danny let out a laugh. “What are you going to do with that?”

“I’m going to go whack some heads,” she threatened.

“No way you can do that,” he scoffed. “You’re all hot air.”

“If anyone around here is hot air, it’s you, Danny,” she told him.

She’d heard all the stories about what a great fighter he’d been back in the day, and how he’d beat guys twice as big as him.

“You can’t talk to me like that.”

They both turned as there was a crashing noise, and a chair was smashed to pieces against a wall.

“That’s coming out of your pay.”

“Fuck you, Danny,” she said as she stormed off toward the pile of men fighting against Ammo. Only it wasn’t a pile anymore as just two guys were left standing.

The rest were on the floor, either unconscious or pretending to be.

When she caught a glimpse of Ammo, she paused. Was he smiling? Did he actually find this funny?

He was having a good time. Was he insane?

She was having a heart attack, and he was there smiling.

Finally, the only person standing was Randy, and he glanced around nervously before swallowing heavily. “Look, man, it was just a bit of fun.”

“You think grabbing someone’s ass without their consent is fun? Because I don’t find it very fun. Did you find it very fun, Aimee?” Ammo looked over at where Aimee was standing, holding the bat against her shoulder. “And shouldn’t you be standing behind the bar where it’s safe?”

“I came to help you,” she told him.

“What would help me is if you stayed where it was safe, so I didn’t have to worry about you.”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” she told him, holding up the bat. “I’ve got this.”

He just gave her a look. Yeah. She was probably too chicken to use the bat. Maybe she could if she really had to.

“And no, I didn’t find any of this funny. None of it.” She glared at Randy.

Suddenly, Randy turned and took off toward the door. Ammo just stared after him, so she did the only thing she could think of, and she swung the bat out toward the floor, so it tripped him up. He went flying, landing with a thump and a groan.

Huh, that was actually kind of fun. She glanced down at Randy with a sneer. “Don’t ever put your hands on me again, you dickhead. Or any woman without her consent.”

He rolled onto his back and gaped up at her.

Ammo walked over to stand next to her, staring down at Randy. “Now run.”