Until We Crash - Michele G Miller Page 0,94

landing.

Every ounce of air in my lungs whooshes out at the collision, and I'm rocking from side to side, gasping in agony. I can't breathe. It hurts.

Sonny's form looms over mine, curses falling from his mouth, when the shrill sound of someone laying on a car horn reverberates through the garage, followed by shouting and door slamming.

"Chase!" Carter's voice is loaded with retribution. The Irish curses of Finn and Frey are right behind him.

I'm army crawling on my backside, trying to get away when Sonny straightens and kicks at me, my thigh taking the full brunt as I shield myself. "We'll finish this later," he promises.

"Yeah, I don't think so, man." My head snaps to the stairwell's opening in time to see Owen coming to a halt. "What the fuck are you doing? Assaulting women?" He shoves at Sonny, and Sonny deflects and shoves back.

"Stay out of this, Henry. This is between Cooper and me."

"Really?" Owen works his way between us, providing a buffer as I catch my breath and attempt standing. My spine protests the movement, making me moan. Owen doesn't spare me a glance.

"You've got issues with Cooper, so you corner his girl? Dick move, buddy."

"Well, you know, I figured his whore could work off what he owes me." His leer rakes across my body. "How many rides has she given you? Is she worth all this hassle?"

Whore. Whore. Whore.

Isn't the double standard sad? Men sleep around and they're players, sexy, can't be tied down, but let a woman make the same choices, and she's a whore, easy, a gold-digger. She's the target for a prick whose own father couldn't resist a whore of his own.

No. Not today. Not anymore. "Asshole!" I boot my leg straight out, my heel striking Sonny's shin. The crack of something important sends shivers up my spine as he howls and collapses to the ground. But that's not enough. I throw myself at him, my elbow landing across his cheek before I pummel at anything I connect with like a madwoman unleashed. "You touched me." Punch. "You got me fired." Knee. "You supplied alcohol to my father and told him lies." Elbow.

"Jess." Arms pull, and hands and fists fight me, but I'm a loaded gun, and I'm not stopping until my barrel of rage empties.

"You are the reason he abandoned me. You—"

"Jess!" Owen whisper-shouts in my ear, and fingers tighten around my biceps.

Sweat beads along my hairline as Owen drags me off Sonny and sets me on my feet.

And that's when my gaze falls on a twenty-something couple standing stock still in the stairwell a few steps down, to-go boxes in their hands, their mouths hanging.

The guy rises one step. "Are you all right?" he asks his eyes holding mine as behind him, his companion flashes a phone.

Owen tenses, preparing to answer, but I cut in, sensing the bystander's wariness with the entire scene. "I'm okay, yes. This guy assaulted me," I say, motioning toward the ground where Sonny inches away and settles on the bottom step, clutching his lower leg. "This one is helping. My friend, though..." I jerk in Owen's arms. "Chase?"

Carter and the twins? Their shouting reaches me, and I grip Owen's shirt in my fist. The garage emergency light swirls, casting the car deck in blue as we step out of the stairwell to the sight of security patrol on the scene and the music of police sirens in the distance. Owen is all but holding me up with his arm around my back—the assistance is unnecessary, but the comfort is appreciated.

"Jess!" Chase breaks free from Frey's hold and runs across the parking deck, crashing into Owen and me. She looks past us to where Sonny still sits inside the stairwell, the good Samaritan couple standing watch while keeping their distance. Her eyes narrow with disgust.

"You're okay?" I draw her attention to me, my hands running over her arms and cupping her face. This girl has become someone I care deeply about. If she'd been hurt. "Did he touch you."

"I'm okay. Really." She swats my hands away and fights to do her own inspection of my damage. "You're a mess. What did he—"

"Where's Carter?" I look around, not seeing him or Finn anywhere. Warren leans up against the patrol car for the complex. A middle-aged security officer standing cross-armed in front of him.

"He's around on the ramp." She takes my hand, and Owen says something about staying by Sonny until the cops arrive. "Warren jumped out at me, and