Chapter 21
21
Rachel
Iwas blowing off steam in the gym, punching the bag and visualizing Delgado’s face, when I caught movement in my peripheral vision.
I turned and saw Delgado strolling towards me across the dimly lit room.
Well, well, well.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
He wasn’t being shy about it, either. He had a smirk on his face and a swagger in his walk more like a rapper than a soldier.
In my experience, that’s the way most assholes acted: supremely confident and obnoxiously arrogant, whether they could back it up or not.
Unfortunately, this asshole seemed intent on taking it to a whole new level.
Whatever he had planned, I knew it wasn’t good.
I also knew he wouldn’t be here if the gym were full of witnesses. That thought alone kept me on full alert.
“Sergeant Delgado. Come to apologize for your conduct during the briefing p>
He thought that was funny.
“No… I came to get an apology from you p>
“Well, you’re going to be waiting a long fucking time p>
“You really shouldn’t be cursing with a mouth that pretty, Señorita p>
I bet he talked to a lot of women that way.
Reduced them to their looks.
Told them what they should and shouldn’t do.
I’d had a lot of men treat me like that.
Usually I just brushed it off…
But not today.
Today, I wanted to hit back.
Do I go there? I asked myself.
Yeah… let’s go fuckin’ there.
To hell with it.
“And you really shouldn’t be so confident with a dick that small, yet here we are,” I said.
Several emotions flashed over his face in rapid succession.
First, shock – that I would dare insult his manhood –
Second, extreme anger – Who the FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! –
And, finally, disdain – to show me You ain’t shit, bitch.
Not to mention the threat of sexual violence as the cherry on top.
“Since you seem so interested in my dick, puta, maybe I’ll whip it out and you can suck it p>
Of course he went there.
Of course he did.
So unoriginal… so not clever.
Just an asshole who liked to threaten women who made him feel small.
Speaking of ‘feeling small,’ I already knew how to hit back. He’d telegraphed his weak spot, so I just pressed on it a little more.
“I doubt I’d be able to find it, Sergeant,” I said, then held my finger and thumb in the air to suggest how small his penis was.
And just to twist the knife, I silently mouthed, So tiny!
I was provoking him, obviously.
Which was probably not wise.
No, scratch that: definitely not wise.
But… seriously.
FUCK this guy.
I got exactly the reaction I was expecting.
Delgado’s face darkened with rage, and he turned up the sexual threats to 11. “We’ll see if you still think that after I shove it up your ass p>
And then…
Everything changed.
Thirty feet behind Delgado, Henriksson stepped out of the shadows.
At first I was shocked. Henriksson was a jerk, but more of the I’m here to save you, little girl variety.
I hadn’t pegged him as a violent asshole like Delgado. I definitely hadn’t thought they were buddies working in tandem.
Then I saw Henriksson’s pistol.
A bolt of adrenaline surged through me –
Until I realized the gun was aimed at Delgado, not at me.
Everything clicked into place when Henriksson put his finger to his lips to shush me.
Ahhhhhh.
Now it all made sense.
I’m here to save you, little girl.
Exactly the way he’d acted back in the briefing room.
The one man in my life who’d ever truly saved me was John Morris, on that terrible night when I was 14 years old and powerless.
Then he became my Krav Maga sensei… my mentor… and my friend.
John hadn’t condescended to me when he saved me. And he sure as hell didn’t act like he was doing me a favor.
And afterwards, he’d taught me everything he knew – so that no one ever had to save me again –
Except for me.
I was tired of men assuming I was weak. Thinking they had to protect me just because I was a woman.
Just like Henriksson had.
Just like he was doing right now.
Anger welled up inside me and I snarled, “NO p>
I stared at Delgado when I said it, knowing that he wouldn’t realize who the ‘No’ was intended for.
He didn’t. He obviously had no idea what was going on directly behind him.
“‘No’?” he sneered. “Like you have a choice p>
Though I kept my eyes focused on Delgado, I kept my attention on Henriksson.
The Swede stopped in his tracks and lowered his gun slightly.
He’d gotten the message.
Well, at least he wasn’t dumb.
Hot AND reasonably intelligent.
Damn.
Too bad he’s kind of a jerk.
But right now, I had bigger fish to fry.
Time to deal with Delgado.
I figured it either ended here and now – or it would end in a couple of hours on the streets of Kabul.
“Last chance to walk away, Sergeant,” I said.
It sounded like a warning, but I did the one thing I knew would ensure he wouldn’t walk away:
I stepped into a combat stance.
Delgado took it exactly the way I thought he would: as a challenge – and an invitation to do what he’d wanted to do all along.
He laughed. “I ain’t walkin’ away from shit p>
“Let’s settle it, then p>
“Your funeral, bitch,” he growled –
And then he attacked.
As he came at me, I flashed back to that night when I was 14 years old, and those boys attacked me –
Except this time, I knew Krav Maga.
And judo.
And Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
And, unlike back then, I knew I could save myself.
So I did.