d that’s all you can have.’
Juliet turned to look at him, to make sure he was going.
‘I’ll be calling my lawyer as soon as I’m home,’ Thomas told her. ‘I’ll be fighting for full custody of Poppy.’ He stood there, looking at her for a moment. ‘Unless you want to reconsider my offer, that is.’
‘What offer?’ Ryan asked, his voice strained. She could feel the tension in his body as he stood next to her. He was like a bow pulled back, just waiting to launch the arrow.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Juliet said.
‘Of course it matters.’ Thomas moved his gaze to Ryan. ‘If you want to know I’ve asked Juliet to come home. To stop this nonsense and come back to where she and Poppy belong.’
‘Is that true?’ Ryan asked her. His voice was dangerously low.
‘Yes he asked, but I didn’t agree.’ She shot a look at Thomas who was standing halfway down the steps, willing him to get the hell out of there.
‘She will though,’ Thomas said, sounding more confident than she’d heard him in a while. ‘She’ll realise that you’re just a weak asshole who can’t even stand up for himself.’ His lips rolled up into a grimace. ‘I hope you enjoyed having sex with my wife, Sutherland. But just remember who had her first.’
Ryan was down those steps before the words even sunk into her brain, his fist flying through the air in a blur of flesh. There was a crack as it made contact with Thomas’s jaw, and she covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming out.
What the hell had Ryan done?
24
My heart is turned to
Stone; I strike it, and it hurts my hand
– Othello
Punching Thomas Marshall in the jaw was a mistake. Ryan knew it before his fist had even slammed into the smug asshole’s face. He was playing right into his hands, making him a martyr in front of his wife. But damn, it had felt good for a minute.
Thomas backed away, his hand covering his jaw where Ryan had punched him. Juliet was standing next to him, her eyes wide, her gaze shooting from one man to the other. The look of horror on her face was a kick in the gut. She felt so removed from him, as though his lapse of judgement had built a wall up between them.
His hand was throbbing like a bitch, too. He cradled it as he backed away, his eyes seeking out Juliet’s even though she was trying to avoid catching his gaze.
‘You bastard.’ Thomas rubbed his jaw. ‘You’re gonna pay for that. Did you see that, Juliet? You’re a witness, right? He hit me. Jesus Christ.’ He let go of his jaw, and scrambled for his phone. ‘I’m calling the cops. Nobody move.’ Blood was running from the corner of his mouth, where his teeth must have jolted into the soft skin inside his cheek.
‘Please don’t … ’ Juliet reached for Thomas, but he stepped away. Ryan stood on the spot, watching the two of them, trying to work out what the hell he could say to put things right.
He’d promised her he wouldn’t get involved. She always said she could stick up for herself. The last time he’d tried to stand up for a woman – his mother – she’d turned on him. The thought of Juliet doing the same made him feel sick.
‘Send them over to my place when they get here,’ Ryan said. ‘They’ve probably got a whole list of real crimes to solve, I don’t think they’ll be blue lighting their way out here.’
‘I’ve got friends on the force. I’m sure they’ll make it here fast.’
Of course he did. Men like Thomas Marshall had friends everywhere. The sort you paid for with money or favours. The kind of friends Ryan had spent his life avoiding – though they’d have come in pretty handy right about now.
‘Thomas, put the phone down. Surely we can sort this out.’ Juliet reached for him.
He ignored her completely, turning until his back was towards them as he spoke rapidly down the phone. Ryan couldn’t make out the words above the sound of blood rushing through his ears, but from Juliet’s expression it wasn’t good.
She caught his eye again, and it made him want to run over and take her in his arms. She looked shocked and angry. As if she couldn’t quite believe what he’d done.
He couldn’t quite believe it either.
‘I’m sorry,’ he mouthed at her.
She shook her head. When she looked away he could see the tears glinting in her eyes.