“Bitch,” the guy huffed to himself.
“Whatdid I just hear you say?” Sal stormed, hauling the guy around to face him.
“Nothing, I didn’t say anything,” the guy said as he shook his head profusely. I almost felt bad for him as he visibly gulped looking up at Sal.
“Really? Because I thought you just called my woman a bitch,” Sal growled. Axel, Wes, and Mack had all gathered behind him, and I was fairly certain the guy was close to pissing himself.
“It’s fine, babe,” I told Sal calmly. “Let it go.”
Sal glared at me, clearly not happy about me telling him how to handle the situation. He hauled the guy toward the exit and shoved him out the door.
“Oh my god,” I heard Sophie mumble under her breath.
“Get used to it, honey,” Connie said and laughed as she raised her glass in salute.
“Sal and the guys, well, they’re a bit overprotective,” I began tentatively. Ettie snorted loudly at my understatement. I shot her a glare to shut her pie hole before continuing, “It comes from a good place, but your brother is already under a lot of stress with all this shit going on. He probably won’t react well to strange men approaching you. Well, any man actually,” I amended.
“And, Axel seems like he’s more than willing to take on the role as your protector,” Ettie added, grinning.
Sophie blushed profusely.
“You like him,” I commented quietly.
She scoffed delicately. “He’s terrifying. Yet handsome,” she allowed.
“Handsome? Axel is smoldering hot with a capital H,” Connie amended.
“That, too,” Sophie agreed with a shy smile.
“Another round?” I asked, wanting to take the attention off Sophie. She seemed ready to crawl in a hole and hide away.
I got nods from all the ladies and headed back to the bar to get another round.
An hour later, Sophie looked ready to put her head down on the table and fall asleep. Between taking the red-eye, being introduced to the world of the Knights, and whatever had forced her here to begin with, I was sure she was at the far end of her rope.
I was just about to tell Sal we needed to take her home when Axel stalked over. “I’ll take you home, come on,” he told Sophie gruffly.
She looked up at him in surprise before looking to me for guidance. I nodded. “You look ready to crawl under the table and fall asleep, honey,” I said as I smiled. “Axel’s got it covered.”
Sal leaned on his pool cue watching intently as Sophie stood and gathered her purse. She turned to wave goodnight to her brother and he gave her a chin lift, watching as Axel guided her out of the bar.
I looked over at him with a slight grin and a shrug as though to say those two might be inevitable. If Axel was anything like Cole and Sal, if he wanted her, he’d figure out a way to have her. But, maybe he only felt protective of her. She had that effect on me as well. I wanted to wrap her up and hug her until she looked less overwhelmed by life in general.
I walked over to my man, wrapping my arms around him. “You about ready to head out?” I asked, tilting my head back to look up at his gorgeous face.
“Yeah, babe,” he said with a nod, giving me a quick squeeze. His eyes were still gazing at the door his sister had left through.
“She’ll be okay,” I reassured him.
“I hope so,” he muttered, clearly troubled.
“Let’s go, you look tired,” I commented softly.
His demeanor changed as I raked my fingers through his hair.
“You gonna help me fall asleep, baby?” he asked, his tone low as his lips swept my ear.
A shiver ran down my spine as he pulled me closer. “I think I can do that,” I replied with a slow smile.