Los Angeles was a shit hole in whichever universe you were in, but this neighborhood was particularly bad. Trash littered the street, the alleys reeked of piss, and weirdos eyed me.
Tina led me to a small, run-down diner where Moses and the Santos camped.
I had two options.
Walk straight in, demand my shit, and hope we don't wreck the restaurant too badly. Or wait until Moses was alone and run his pockets.
You could probably guess which way I was leaning.
I was about to tell Tina we'd be waiting for the big lug when he saw us.
And wow, was he a big guy?
I had to remind myself that I had professional training, and my muscles were amped with angel and demon juice when he sauntered up to us in the parking lot.
"S'up, Tina," Moses nodded, then fixed me with a scowl. "You're a dead man walking; you don't just know it yet. I'd have kicked in your teeth if it weren't for Tina's begging."
"I'd like to see you try, humpty dumpty," I snorted. I wanted no trouble, but I wasn't about to roll over for this asshole, either.
"That's it, you're dead!" Moses growled, stepping up to me, but Tina came between us.
"Dante! What did I say about starting a fight?"
I folded my arms. "Far as I'm concerned, I kept my promise. Didn't even have to throw a single punch, and his ass is salty."
"Come on!" Tina protested.
"I'm done with your shit, Dante. You're out of your damn mind if you think you're walking away from this without a fucking lesson in humility. You don't touch a man's girl. That crossed the fucking line," Moses fumed.
He was right, of course. The Santos were already looking my way. As much as I loathed bending over for this asshole, I swallowed my pride and made Tina happy. Dante would've probably told the asshole to shove it. But I wasn't him. I needed to make like an absent father and split. And starting shit up with a gang was not going to make that any easier.
"I, uh, shouldn't have… uh, been with your girl like that. She was feeling down and super vulnerable, and I let my dick do the thinking for me."
Moses's eyes widened, his anger briefly deflating before it flared again. "You think a half-hearted apology will make up for forcing yourself on her!" he shrieked, and the truth hit me like a truck.
That bitch.
I looked at Tina, who looked equal parts horrified and surprised.
"Now, wait a minute. She came onto me. I didn't do shit."
God, even my excuse sounded made up.
"Like I haven't heard that before! I've about had enough of your shit!" Moses finally shoved Tina out of the way and slugged me.
Or at least he tried to. I weaved under the swipe like second nature and planted two lightning-fast jabs into his kidney and face.
He reeled back in pain as I stared at my hands in shock. I couldn't tell if that was muscle memory from my old or new body, but I was fucking fast.
Moses growled, shaking off the hits, and rushed in to grapple me, but I stepped to the side and weaved too quickly for him to react. Three more jabs followed. Two to his kidney and one to the back of his head.
He grunted and swung around, but I dodged again and laid into him faster this time, chaining punch after punch until my strength reached a crescendo and lashed out with an uppercut. It broke the hasty guard he'd raised to protect himself and dug into his sternum. It raised the heavy man off his feet briefly before he crumbled to the floor, broken.
"Oh my god, Dante!" Tina shrieked.
"Stay out of this!" I snapped.
"I'm only going to say this once, Moses. You don't want to fuck with me," I said. "Where's my shit?"
His words came out a garbled mess, and I kicked him over, turning him on his back. "Unless you want to go round two, start talking."
"I…don't have it," Moses gasped. "The guys took your keys when they saw the wad of cash. The boss sent some people over. They're probably emptying your place right now."
Fucking fuck.
I kicked Moses hard, not even bothering to reign in my strength. I heard a crack and a whimper, but I was beyond caring.
"Fuck you and your lying bitch girlfriend."
I turned around to find Tina staring at me, shocked. "What was that, Dante? You told me you could care for yourself, but I didn't… that was something else."
"Yeah," I muttered. "I suppose I was a bit light on the details." In the corner of my eyes, I saw the Santos stirring.
It won't be long before shit started getting out of hand. And I needed to get to my apartment.
I grabbed Tina by the shoulder. "Thanks a million. I mean it. I really owe you one, but now I need to go before things spiral further out of control. Also, you should probably run; I don't want the Santos messing with you."
I liked Tina, but I wasn't sure I'd put myself in the crossfire and risk the police coming after my ass because she got caught.
"You're leaving town?" Tina asked. It was more of a statement than a question.
"Yup. Have no idea where I'm going, but it's certainly not here."
"Will I ever see you again?"
"With any luck, no."