The Six: Complete Series by E.C. Richard Read Free Book Online Page A

out by the bar. "Move!" As he turned the corner, he saw the man's fingers creep under Brianna's skirt. She pulled away and slapped his hand.
    Simon moved closer as Brianna stepped back with a look of disgust. She pushed the man away, but he moved in even closer. His hand fiddled at the end of her shirt before disappearing upwards. Her eyes grew wide as she turned her body away from him. Simon moved in.
    “Hey!” he said.
    The man looked up with a smile. “Yeah?” His hand had found their way back to his own pockets, but he was still too close to her. “What do you want?”
    “It’s okay.” Her voice was barely audible over the music. With her shoulders slumped, she looked like a little girl lost in the mall.
    Simon tore off his suit jacket and handed it to her. “Here. You look cold.” She grabbed the jet black jacket that Rick had been tailoring all week while he had been unconscious in some lab recovering from surgery. She draped it over her shoulders.
    “Thank you,” she said with a smile.
    The man hadn’t left. He stood with a clenched jaw and his arms crossed. “Thanks, bud. I think I’ve got it covered here, though.”
    Simon looked back at Brianna. “You know this guy?”
    She shook her head.
    “That’s what I thought,” he said. Simon straightened his back and used all of his six foot height to tower over the pampered college boy who didn’t know any better. In another world, he would have left without his jacket or his pride. Today, he had to win this fight.
    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man sorely out of place. He was easily in his late-thirties, and his shirt was rumpled and had been buttoned off-kilter. He maneuvered around the table and behind the college boy. The red blinking light above his camera gave him away immediately.
    “Hey,” Simon said. “There’s a camera guy behind ya’. How about you just go away and stop embarrassing yourself, all right?”
    “Bullshit,” he said. “I don’t give a crap. Move.” He barreled forward and made sure his heavy shoe made contact with Simon’s shin. Even momentarily incapacitated, Simon was able to grab hold of the man’s sleeve and yank him back.
    “I don’t think so.” He brought his arm back and readied himself for the second punch of his life. Hopefully, he thought, this goes better than the last one. His knuckles made contact with the man’s jaw. The force of impact ran through his body, and he felt at least one of his fingers break. The man fell onto a chair and brought the two to the ground.
    There wasn’t time to nurse his hand. He turned to Brianna and pointed towards the back of the club. “Run! I’ll meet you!”
    He genuinely didn’t think it would work, but there she was. Brianna had his jacket perched on her shoulders and followed his directions. Instantly, she merged with the rest of the crowd, indistinguishable amongst the other gleaming dancers.
    Simon felt his pants pocket to make sure the pills were still there. He patted them down and grabbed his bottle of beer. She was waiting for him.
     
    He bought her three drinks and didn’t so much as mention her father the entire time. Simon asked her about everything but him. They talked about her hobbies, her dog, what she was studying in school. More than once she gushed that he was the first person who wasn’t trying to become a lobbyist or an intern by getting into her pants.
    “I have no interest in politics. At all,” he said. She was beautiful and smiled at everything he said. He put his hand out to touch hers, and she didn’t pull away from him. Her long, beautiful fingers gently raked over his and, just for a moment, he forgot what he’d have to do next.
    “Where’d you come from? You don’t sound like you’re from California,” she said.
    “My mom’s from Texas. I grew up there, ’till I was in high school.”
    “Texas,” she said. “I helped my dad out down there for some fundraiser. I fell off a horse!” She laughed until she