toy. He was back on Baby in a second, snarling as his blows rained hard and fast. Baby blocked what he could and took what he couldn’t.
He was pretty evenly matched with this guy who he could now see clearly since the sun was fully up—middle eastern descent of some sort. Cold, hard eyes.
But it didn’t matter how evenly matched they were. The side with the most to lose would always fight the hardest. There was no way Baby was letting some killer get to his family while his brother was off fighting the rest of this war.
Baby had a lot of weaknesses, but fighting wasn’t one of them. It was time to end this.
Those cold eyes rushed him again, but Baby moved to the side, frustrating him. When he turned back around, Baby attacked. He used a three-punch strike that sent the guy reeling, then crouched low and swept his leg out—a Tae Kwon Do move he didn’t use often but was glad to have in his rolodex of maneuvers.
Once the guy was on the ground, Baby finished the fight with a brutal uppercut to the jaw. “That’s for making me miss my date with an amazing woman.”
Baby had no idea if the guy could understand him or not, but it didn’t matter. He was out cold.
Baby sat back on the ground, breathing hard. He looked over at the house and found both Charlie and Anne there, Charlie holding a shotgun, and Anne with a Glock she looked very comfortable with.
“Just in case the party got out of hand,” Charlie said. “You okay?”
He nodded, immediately regretting it as pain rocketed through his skull. “We need to get this guy tied up. There are two others out of play about a quarter mile east.”
Charlie raised an eyebrow. “And a hole in my backyard.”
Baby restrained the guy with zip ties. “Sorry about that.”
Little Thomas’ cry floated outside. No doubt the huge noise had not pleased the newborn.
“Thank you, Baby.” Charlie kissed her fingers and held them out toward him before going inside for her son.
Cade’s voice came in through his earpiece. “It’s over. Zac took the terrorist out. Boy Riley and Girl Riley are both safe and will be on their way home soon.”
“Great.” He looked over at the damage the grenade had caused. “Have Blaze ask my brother how he feels about putting a pool in his backyard.”
Chapter Ten
“I told you not to come in today.” Lexi looked up from her paperwork and scowled at Quinn as she entered the Eagle’s Nest through the back door on Monday.
“I know, but I’m feeling much better. I didn’t want to sit around at home and be bored.”
That was pretty much entirely untrue. Everything still hurt.
The cut on her head had required two stitches, so that wasn’t too bad. The way she had bled like a stuck pig, she would’ve thought half her face had been gouged out. The swelling had gone down so she could finally see out of her left eye, but it had turned impressive shades of purple and blue. But hey, at least it blended in with those dark circles under her eyes.
The emergency room bill would be as painful as her injuries. Her stomach dropped when she thought of the pricey monthly payments that would be necessary to settle the debt. She couldn’t afford it, she knew, but had no other option. She had no choice but to drag herself out of bed for this shift—she needed all the tips she could get.
Lexi came around from behind the bar so she could inspect Quinn’s face more closely. She grabbed Quinn’s chin and tilted it to the side so she could see her eye.
“I guess you don’t look too bad. You did a pretty decent job with the concealer. Most people go too heavy with the dark.” Lexi’s tone make it seem like she knew exactly what she was talking about.
“Uh, thanks, I think. I just used what I had.”
“I’m sure your makeup is as high-end as the rest of you.”
Quinn shrugged. Her cosmetics were definitely on the higher end of the spectrum, but they wouldn’t be for long.
“You sure you want to work?”
“I need to. The accident was an unexpected expense. I’m going to have to get my car towed to the garage and then still need to get it fixed.” God, more money she didn’t have. How much could she borrow before she found herself in a hole she might not be able to dig out from?