Diesel grabbed her arm, but she continued kicking and screaming. He tugged her into his arms again, holding her tight and safe, but she couldn’t stop the anger from spewing out. “I hate them! I know how to fight! I should have been able to fight them off!” Sirens blared in the distance, and she was vaguely aware of Diesel’s phone ringing, but she was bleary-eyed and shaking, years of anger erupting from someplace deep inside her. She didn’t even know what she was shouting, but she couldn’t stop the hatred from coming out. Furious tears spilled down her cheeks.

Two police cars flew into the lot, followed by an ambulance, and within seconds Moon was running across the field that separated the bar from his property, shouting to Diesel, who held Tracey in a vise grip. A motorcycle roared into the lot, followed by Biggs’s car. Bullet flew off the bike, running toward them, fists at the ready. It took a minute for Tracey to process why they were there. Then she remembered Booker was not just a cop, but he was also a Dark Knight, and any time police were called to the bar, he notified Bullet and Biggs.

Suddenly there were people everywhere, lights flashing, and Diesel was leading her inside. He got her a shirt from behind the bar, and then time became a blur of relaying what had happened to the police as she filed a report, insisting she was okay and didn’t need to go to the hospital. She was furious with herself for not being able to fend off those men, and she was even angrier at her attackers for seeing her as someone they could attack. She struggled against tears, refusing to let any more fall, and looked at Diesel’s hard features. How many times had she asked him to back off? If he hadn’t been there…

Diesel stuck to her like glue, even as the EMT checked her out, cleaning up the gash on her forehead and tending to her other cuts and abrasions. Every time she flinched, Diesel growled, stopping the EMT with a dark stare until Tracey said, “I’m fine. Just let him finish.” But when Diesel looked at her, those cold eyes changed to tortured. That was the only way to explain what she saw in them. It was as if he felt her pain as his own, and she didn’t know what to make of that.