Why?
I thought back to our interview, the way she kept avoiding the question of what brought her to New York City. Something happened to her. I wanted to find out what it was. An overwhelming urge to protect her from everything cruel this world had to offer made it difficult to stay seated.
Logan kissed his sister’s forehead and said something to her that seemed to make her relax a little before he went to the bar, elbowing his way through a few people. I kept my eyes on Lucy for him.
And for me.
Lucy remained alert. Her back was straight, and she glanced around, probably feeling my gaze on her. She locked eyes with me, but I knew she couldn’t tell who I was because she immediately looked away and rubbed a hand over her face. I was scaring her. I should walk up to her and have a conversation, not keep her instincts on high alert. I went to get up, but I paused when I noticed a man with dirty blonde hair go up to her. I watched her face go from paranoid to white as a sheet and fear trembled in her body.
I got my ass in gear and made my way through the crowd, keeping an eye on Lucy. Nothing was going to happen to her, not if I could help it. The man grabbed ahold of her wrist, and she tried to pull away, but he wasn’t letting go. Even from halfway across the room, I saw her eyes swim with tears, and rage, unlike anything I had ever felt before, consumed me.
I wanted to kill this man for putting
his hands on her, and maybe I would. No man should put his hands on a woman like that.
“Logan!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Let go of me! Logan!” Lucy cried out for her brother. She was barely loud enough to hear through the roar of people talking and the music playing, but I heard it because I was tuned into her frequency now.
And so was Logan.
Logan was already running toward her from the bar, the beers still falling through the air as he sprinted to the table. His face morphed into pure anger, a man wanting to kill, and when Logan got to the man holding her wrist, he gripped him by the back of the neck and pulled him from his sister.
“Let go of her,” Logan said, squeezing his hand tighter. “I won’t ask again, Brian.”
When I got to the table, I went straight to Lucy’s side. “Are you okay?” I whispered into her ear, hating the tears that fell down her cheek.
“He won’t let go,” she managed to say through chattering teeth. “It hurts, Godrick. It hurts.” Lucy tried pulling her arm free again, but this Brian character wouldn’t let go.
“I will fucking kill you if you don’t let go of her. You just violated your restraining order. Someone call the police!” Logan shouted.
“Already did,” I said, sliding my phone back into my pocket. I grabbed Brian’s arm, the one that held my Lucy’s and twisted. Something cracked, and Brian shouted in pain. Lucy’s wrist was finally free, and she scooted so close to me, my back hit the window as she buried her face in my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her waist and kept her safe. “You’re okay. I got you, alright?”
Her head moved up and down, but she never looked up at Brian or Logan.
“You have a lot of fucking nerve being here,” Logan pushed Brian away, and the tall, gangly man stumbled. Logan threw the first punch, and Brian’s lip busted open, sending a spray of blood in the air. Brian fell onto his knees, and he dragged his knuckles across the dirty floor. “She wants nothing to do with you, you piece of shit!” Logan’s fist flew again, landing right against Brian’s cheek, and the man fell to the floor again. “We moved to get away from you! We moved!”
Blue lights flickered outside, and when I turned my cheek to the left, I saw two cop cars and four cops get out of them. I knew Logan had to stop. He was getting a glint in his eye that he was not about to come back from. It was dangerous.
A few pieces of Lucy’s puzzle started coming together. I ran my fingers through her hair, something that felt natural, too natural. Her fingers clutched the lapels of my suit as she cried onto my shoulder.
Logan wrenched his arm back again, and I shot up as quickly as I could and grabbed his elbow. “You have to stop before it gets to a point you can’t walk away from,” I said. Logan looked at me like he didn’t know me, the wild was still in his eyes, the rage, the urge to kill the man that obviously hurt his sister.
I wanted to hurt him too, but there was a dumb way to go about things and a smart way. I did things the smart way. “Stop.”
“Mr. Stoneridge.” Logan’s eyes widened when clarity finally hit, and he slowly brought his hand down to his side, the skin of his knuckles broken and bloody. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“Mr. Stoneridge.” Lucy tugged on my arm, and when I looked over my shoulder to see her crying face, I turned my entire body around to give her my attention. “You have to understand; Logan was protecting me. Please, don’t fire him. Please. Brian isn’t a good guy. Please—”
“—You’ll tell me about Brian. I want to know everything. Your brother isn’t going to get fired. I understand why he did what he did.”
“Mr. Stoneridge?” Officer Cortez held out his hand in front of me, and I shook it. I’ve helped his family out a time or two and helped him get into the Academy, so whenever I called the cops, Cortez always came.
I gripped his hand harder, showing him who was boss in this situation even if he did wear the badge. “Officer Cortez, it’s good to see you.” I glanced over his shoulder to see his partner picking Brian up from the floor. Brian’s eyes landed on Lucy, and I stepped in front of him to block his view.
“I’d say it is good to see you, but considering the circumstances…”
“Logan here was protecting his sister. I do not know the details, so you will have to get a statement from him.”
“I’ll have to get a statement from you and the woman—”