“Lucy Green. Her name is Lucy,” I corrected him, annoyed that he would call her ‘the woman.’
“I’ll have to have you and Lucy give a statement.”
“I have a restraining order against him,” Lucy’s delicate voice cut through the air from behind my shoulder.
Officer Cortez leaned to the side to see her behind me, hiding her face behind my shoulder. “He has bothered you before then?”
Her hands tightened on my coat, and she nodded. “We just moved here. He followed me. We moved to get away from him.”
“You won’t have to worry about him. We will take him into custody, and you can rest easy, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered, still clutching onto me as if I were her savior.
Brian locked eyes with me, and the further away he got, the more he tried to get a look at Lucy, but I continued to block him. He’s never violating her like that again. I didn’t care what I had to do, I’d protect her, and it seemed like Logan would too.
“What the hell was that man? I left for like ten minutes.” Haden glanced between me and Lucy, holding a pitcher in each hand. “Everyone okay?”
I knew Lucy wasn’t.
I knew Logan was still shaking with rage.
I wasn’t okay either.
Because Lucy had invaded my heart like no woman ever had. What was I doing coming to her rescue? I was no one’s knight, but I found myself really wanting to be hers.
It went against everything I believed in.
Was Lucy Green love? Or was she lust?
I never questioned it before, but now, now I felt like I knew nothing about either emotion.
Chapter Seven
Lucy
It had been a few hours since the cops had carted Brian away, and the bar was closing now. I didn’t even get a drink. Brian always found a way to ruin everything. I hated him. I held no more love for that man. I had no idea how I was with him for so many years and missed the signs of him being a complete psychopath. It made me wonder about my inability to see the bad in people. Would I ever be able to trust someone again?
“Lucy? Are you ready?” my brother asked. He looked beat. He had bags under his eyes, and his usually perfectly parted hair, now hung in front of his face.
“If you don’t mind, Logan, I’d like to take Lucy home.” Godrick took the space next to me, away from his friend, the guy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He reminded me of a surfer, with his golden-brown skin and easy going personality. He was so laid back, drinking at the bar with a smile on his face like Brian didn’t just ruin everyone’s night.
Well, he did ruin everyone’s night, just not Godrick’s friends.
Logan’s eyes darted to me, a silent question coming from his gaze. Logan was protective, but I wouldn’t think our boss would hurt me. He protected me. Godrick had been there for me. That said something about the man that made me trust him. I never listened to my instincts before, but I was going to now.
“It’s fine, Logan. I’ll go with Mr. Stoneridge.”
“Rick, please,” he corrected. “We aren’t at work.”
“You’re still my boss,” Logan said, rubbing his eyes with his fingers to stay awake. It was almost two in the morning. I got to Poppies at ten, and the only thing I had done the entire night was give my statement a hundred times and hate myself for being so afraid of Brian. I was starting back at square one. I wouldn’t be able to sleep, knowing Brian was in the same city as me.
“You have to call me Mr. Stoneridge. Your sister doesn’t.” Godrick stared Logan right in the eye, not caring if he insulted Logan’s ego. Why would I be
allowed to call him by his first name, but Logan couldn’t? It made no sense.
Logan smirked, something that he did when he knew something I didn’t. “Right. Thanks for the help, Mr. Stoneridge. I appreciate it. That guy is a real piece of work.”
“Anytime I can help, just let me know.”