gave him. Dante shoved him back down and the others jumped in, and then it was fists and feet and blood and the guy didn’t stand a chance.
He didn’t know when the dude had stopped moving, but at some point Dante was out of breath and his fists hurt. He backed off.
“Stop. He’s done for.” Dante moved away, pulled the others off.
They stood there looking down at the guy who looked nothing like he had when they’d first come on the scene. He was a bloody pulp of a mess. Dante kicked at him, but he didn’t move. He was out cold.
He went to Anna, bent over her.
“Anna.”
She stared at her attacker, didn’t look at Dante.
“Anna.” Dante touched her and she flinched. He reached for her shoulders. “It’s Dante. Look at me.”
She turned to him, then her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, God. Oh, Dante.” She fell into his arms and he lifted her, pulled her against him while she sobbed.
He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her. “Come on, let’s take you inside.”
They took Anna back to the shop and sat her on one of the stools. Dante grabbed some paper towels and wet them so he could wipe her face.
“Is she okay?” Roman asked.
“Don’t know.” Dante focused on Anna.
She was crying hard now, shook her head, trying to talk even though he knew she had to be hysterical. “He grabbed me from behind, dragged me behind the Dumpster. He ripped my blouse and my bra.”
Dante sucked in a breath.
“He cut me, here,” she said, unbuttoning his shirt enough to show them all the heart-shaped cut.
“Jesus,” Gabe said. “I’m going to kill him.”
“Not if I do it first,” Roman said.
“You got there before he…” She bent her head down and wept, her fingers clutching Dante’s shirt together.
Shit. “Let me help you.” Dante rebuttoned the shirt, felt her body shaking, then looked up at Gabe. “Go grab that scum and bring him in here. We need to call the cops.”
Gabe nodded and motioned to the others. “Come on.”
Gabe and the others left Dante and Anna alone.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you go out there alone.”
“Not your fault.”
She could say that, but it didn’t matter. “We’ll call the cops and your dad. They’ll take care of this.” Because Dante had failed to.
Chin resting on her chest, she gave a short nod. “Okay.”
Gabe burst through the back door, out of breath. “Dante. I think he’s dead.”
Dante whipped around. “What?”
“He ain’t movin’,” Gabe said. “I tried to wake him up and he didn’t move. We tried to pull him to his feet, but he just went down again like…dead weight. When I went to feel for a pulse I got nothin’.”
“It’s true,” Jeff nodded, his face ghost-white. “He’s dead. Oh, man, he’s dead, Dante.”
Dante turned back to Anna, whose eyes widened. This wasn’t good. “I’ll go check it out.”
She scooted off the bar stool. “I’m going with you.”
“No. You stay here.”
She shook her head and gripped his hand. “Don’t leave me in here by myself. Please.”
He blew out a breath, torn between wanting her to stay put, calling the cops and wishing none of this had happened. He should have just taken the goddamn trash out for her. Then it wouldn’t have happened at all. “I’ll have one of the guys stay with you.”
“I’ll hang in here with you, Anna,” Gabe said, moving next to her.
She shook her head, that stubborn chin of hers lifting as she squeezed Dante’s hand. “No. I need to see him.”
He sighed. “Okay. Stay right next to me.”
They walked outside. He tried to keep her away from the guy, who was still lying there right where they’d left him. Roman and Jeff were standing over him. They stepped aside when he and Gabe got there.
Dante turned to Gabe. “Stay with Anna while I check this out.”
Anna resisted, but Dante turned to her. “This is as close as I’m letting you get to him. Understand?”
She nodded, still shaking.
Gabe pulled Anna to his side. Dante went over to the guy and nudged him in the side with his shoe.
“Get up, asshole.”
Nothing. He kicked him harder this time.
“Come on, get up.”
He kneeled and put his fingers on the man’s neck, searching for a pulse. He couldn’t find one there, or on his wrist. God, he was a bloody mess and Dante didn’t want to do it, but he leaned down and laid his hand over the guy’s chest.
The body was warm. He was still warm. But there was no heartbeat, no pulse.
Dante looked up at his brothers. “He’s dead.”
“Shit. Sonofamotherfuckingbitch.” Jeff tore at his hair and started pacing back and forth. “Now what do we do, Dante? We killed him.”
Dante stood. “We go back into the shop and we call the cops.”
“No.”
Dante turned to Anna. “What?”
Anna shook her head, tears streaking down her face. The hysteria had gone, replaced by a calm awareness of exactly what to do. “You have to get out of here. All of you. Now.”
Dante went to her, put his hands on her shoulders. “Anna We killed this guy. We were protecting you. Besides, he came at us with a knife. It’s kind of self-defense.”
“I know that and you know that. But you all have juvie records. You know how it’ll look. You still beat him up and now he’s dead. You all have to get out of here. I’ll call my dad and he’ll take care of this.”
Dante shook his head. “No. I can’t let you do that. I’m not leaving you.”
“He’s right, Anna,” Gabe said. “We can stand up for this.”
“No, we can’t,” Jeff said, his hands balling
