Edward by Marcus LaGrone Read Free Book Online

behind him sending the unsuspecting Taik's head crashing to the table. 
Edward caught Gigi in motion out of the corner of his eye; the big guy was on
the floor, probably unconscious, and Gigi had already plucked his sidearm from
its holster and tossed it to Kadu who had been lurking far in the back. 
Charta let go of Tatiana's wrist almost immediately as Edward increased the
torque on his arm and shoulder joint.  Edward pushed him clear of the
table and quickly circled behind to Tatiana, “Shall we go now, miss?”
    She nodded quickly and got up from the table.  Gillian
quickly aborted her lunch and joined her charge, “Are you okay dear?”
    “Yes, just kind of frightened.”
    Charta glared at Edward.  Edward smiled back, “When
your friend wakes up, you might wish to point out that he was floored by a girl
half his weight and easily three heads shorter.  He can reclaim his
sidearm at the police station tonight, providing he had a license for it in the
first place.  A 15mm Warwickshire Automatic, a little overkill don't you
think?”
    “He was probably overcompensating for something,” murmured
Gillian.  “Come on, let's go.”
    Edward turned his back on Charta as the three headed for
the door.  Three steps into the egress, his senses went wild and he deftly
dodged a roundhouse kick from the still furious Charta.  Edward turned and
faced his would-be attacker, “Please try that again!”
    Charta instead fired a left hand jab square at Edward's
face.  Edward held his ground and rather than blocking or dodging the
shot, waited until the last minute and the summoned his Live Steel armor in a
flash of blue sparks.  Charta's shot hit square
on the steel helmet.  A shocked look on his face was quickly replaced by
one of pain.   Edward winked out the armor in another blue flourish and
rejoined his charges.
    “So the little girl by the bar was one of yours. 
Excellent,” complimented Gillian.  “Tatiana, girl, what set Charta off
this time?”
    “Pardon me, ma’... Gillian, ‘this time’? 
There has been a history of problems with the man?” asked a confused Edward.
    Gillian nodded, “Charta has been a little over zealous
about several things in the past.  The tabloids love him for it. 
This is the first time he has done anything toward my client.”
    Edward nodded, oh the joy of celebrities.
    “I just started talking about how cool and polite Edward
was,” offered a still confused Tatiana.
    “And you didn't think that might set off a little jealousy
on his end?”
    “As opposed to listening to him recount his exploits in front of me?  No, I thought I had done nothing wrong in
comparison.” 
      Ouch!  Edward was curious why the pair had even
met in the first place.  He snickered to himself as Gillian echoed his
thoughts.
    “I'm not sure why you agreed to lunch with him in the first
place!  He is a horrible man with a checkered past.  Moth to the
flame is it?”  lectured Gillian.
    “No, I just figured that all that was a façade.  I
thought all that stuff in the news was him just living up to fan's
expectations.  I didn't consider he was going to be that tactless to me in
person.”
    Edward held the door while Gillian quickly shepherded
Tatiana into their waiting car.  As Edward closed the door, the vehicle
launched forward at a speed normally reserved for emergency vehicles.
    “Back to the flat, please.  We'll just eat lunch there.” 
Gillian looked at Tatiana with a motherly frown, “Girl, please stop trying to
pick characters out of the limelight.  Try to find people a bit more
grounded.”
    “But most guys think I'm too exotic and won't even ask me
to lunch, much less anything else.”
    “You are shopping in the wrong place.  Oh my sweet
girl, there are so many good men out there, please try choosing a bit more
carefully.  You just need a man who isn't intimidated by your success, and
not a complete jerk.  Any well standing, self-confident man would do well
for