Reno Gabrini - Mallory Monroe Page 0,5

ass back down.

Until he heard her laugh such a whimsical, booming laugh. He looked at her again. And he was mesmerized again.

The way she leaned her head back and rubbed the front of her neck as she laughed, and how her thick, long hair draped down her straight back in waves of curls. She had a sophisticated air about her, probably from being around her mother and other members of that gangster royal family, which elevated her from kid status. She was no kid. Being Reno’s daughter, she’d probably seen it all. And maybe, like him, she’d seen too much.

But as he continued his surveillance, and as Sophia and Dana continued to laugh together, Dana seemed to notice something and leaned against Sophia, whispering in her ear. “Before the boys notice us,” Dana said, “and you know they will, you might want to go to the ladies’ room and take care of that.”

Sophia looked at her, confused. “Take care of what?”

“Your hair.”

Sophie touched her hair. “What do you mean?”

“It’s gone for itself, girl. Girl it’s gone!”

“For real?”

“For real real,” said Dana. “It’s spiking all over the place.”

Sophia grinned at her friend’s phrasing, but she didn’t hesitate. “I’ll be back,” she said, grabbed her small clutch purse, and hurried to the restrooms.

But when she made it into the restroom, and looked at herself in the mirror above the long row of sinks, she was surprised. Her hair looked perfectly fine to her! It was wavy and brown and thick as thick could get. It was exactly the way she liked it, except for the few strands of hair that was loose along the edges. And she smiled at her reflection in the mirror as somebody walked in. Leave it to beauty-conscience Dana, she thought, to view a few strands as a hair disaster!

Sophia didn’t even bother to pull out her brush. She began rubbing the strands back into place and checking her beautiful white teeth to make sure no lipstick was on them, and then she turned to leave. But as soon as she turned, she realized it wasn’t a woman who had come into the restroom, but a man! And a man who was unbuckling his pants!

“Hey, beautiful lady,” he said with a stupid grin on his face. “How you doing tonight?”

Sophia didn’t panic though. She coolly reached into her purse to pull out her taser to tase his ass, but the man was upon her, grabbing her wrists and throwing her purse from her hands.

“You think I’m gonna let you harm me?” he asked her, twisting her wrists. “Not a black beauty like you! Cause you gonna give me exactly what I want this night.”

But Sophia started screaming and fighting back as the man kept wrestling to gain full control of her.

“Scream all you want,” he said as they wrestled. “The band just took the stage. All anybody can hear is cheering. Nobody can hear your screams back here. Nobody!” And he tried to kiss her as a way of muzzling her.

But Sophia leaned back as far as she could from his nasty mouth and was able to kick him in the groin. But that only angered him more and he took his fist and wallowed her right in the eye.

“Oh, you gonna get it now!” he yelled as Sophia’s knees buckled from the impact of his punch. “You gonna get it now!” And he sat Sophia’s small body onto the sink and angrily tried to lift her skirt. She was still screaming, despite the fact that she knew he was right. Loud as that crowd was, nobody would hear her.

But somebody did.

And that somebody hurried into that restroom just as her attacker was about to snatch down her panties, and he grabbed the man from behind so easily that Sophia was astonished by his strength. And he didn’t just pull him off of her. He pulled him off, thew him to the floor, and got down dirty with him and began beating him with a rage Sophia knew that man deserved. And then he began kicking the man with his Timberland’s.

To Sophia’s shock, she didn’t immediately run out. She was too enthralled with her rescuer. It wasn’t until he yelled to her attack, “now get the fuck out of here!” did she realize that was exactly what she should have done by now instead of staring at some stranger. But she still didn’t budge!

When her attacker quickly got up from the floor, his face now bleeding and his