Rising (Anderson Special Ops #2) - Melody Anne Page 0,6

in the middle of the restaurant had gone utterly silent as they gaped at the homeless man harassing a patron. They most likely had never seen something like that before while they were eating in their five-star dining locations.

Smoke reached out and tapped Eyes on the shoulder. Eyes barely turned, giving Smoke a dismissive glance. “Don’t bother me. Be on your way.” He then turned forward again and took another bite of food.

Brackish watched the scene unfold just as they’d planned, getting ready to jump into action. The people at Jorge’s table were horrified and fascinated all at the same time, but seemed unafraid with their bodyguard on alert. Another couple in a far corner of the restaurant were pushing themselves against the wall as if they might catch something foul from the dirty man who’d gone to one table far too close to theirs.

Muscleman obviously looked as if he didn’t want to deal with the pest of a man, but was probably weighing his options of whether he’d have to get his hands dirty. If the man approached Jorge’s group, the bodyguard would be left with no choice but to lay his hands on the dirty creature.

Right on cue Smoke grabbed hold of Eyes, pulling him backward, causing Eyes to hit the floor just as Green walked into the room, immediately heading toward Smoke and Eyes with a properly horrified look in his eyes.

“You need to leave here immediately,” Green yelled, getting closer to Smoke.

Brackish was staring at the monitor, slightly bummed he wasn’t in the middle of the brawl. He grinned at how well his team could act. He’d have to keep that in mind when they were throwing pranks at one another. They might be better actors than he was. He kept his eyes glued to the monitors, knowing his part was quickly approaching.

Eyes jumped from the ground and immediately shoved Smoke, giving him the briefest moment of a cocky smile. He was obviously enjoying his role of pushing Smoke around. Though they were acting, they had to make it look real and it would pretty much take a wrecking ball to knock any of these men over so Eyes shoved hard, and Smoke staggered back a couple of steps.

“Enough!” Green yelled as he grabbed Smoke’s arm and tried pulling him toward the front entrance.

“Piss off you little cockroach,” Smoke said, throwing Green off of him with a simple flick of his arm. Green crashed into an empty table, flying across it and tangling himself between two chairs. He let out a cry of pain to really sell it.

The crashing waiter finally made Jorge’s table stand, the women showing fear as they gasped in shock. Two of the men stood, their faces blank, obviously not sure what to do. Two of the other men moved up next to Muscleman. From the look in their eyes, Brackish knew they were the ones who loved violence, thrived on it, in fact. They’d relish crushing a homeless man in the most vicious way possible.

Muscleman looked with disgust at the two men standing with the women. “Get the boss . . . now!” He then moved toward the homeless man, his minions on his heels.

Smoke pushed Eyes hard as the group approached, his demeanor instantly changing, showing the warrior inside the getup. That look caused the trio a momentary hitch in their steps.

“Enough!” Green thundered, as he took his time trying to get to his feet. “I’m calling the cops right now.” He finally rose, strategically placing himself at the heels of the three thugs, his team effectively boxing the opposition in.

Eyes moved between Smoke and the three gang members, doing his best to appear weak and intimidated. “There’s no need to hurt this man. He just needs food.”

“Ha. You were dismissing him seconds ago,” Muscleman said with a scoff. “Now step aside so we can teach this scum a lesson about going somewhere he’s not welcome and interrupting a pleasant evening.”

“Sir, please, we can’t make this situation worse,” Green pleaded.

Smoke now had the look of a feral animal that was trapped. Muscleman obviously knew that look and he smiled, angling for a fight.

“Shut up,” Muscleman said. “We’re going to teach this asshole a lesson.”

“Come and get me,” Smoke taunted, a devious smirk on his lips. Smoke might seem like a homeless idiot, but he saw everything. He noticed Muscleman’s hand slip inside his pocket and come out with brass knuckles. He was over six foot, and probably weighed about 250.