Fearless (Broken Love, #5)(52)

“That was Laurie,” I announced, entering the kitchen where Lake was studying and cleaning.

“Oh yeah? How are she and the girls?”

“Not sure. She says Cassie was suspended from school today.”

“Oh no,” she exclaimed, but it sounded forced. “What happened?” I watched her casually spray and wipe the same spot on the counter with narrowed eyes.

“She punched Ryan Holder in the nose and kicked him between the legs. Do you know anything about that?”

“You asked me to talk to her and I did. What’s the big deal? She stood up for herself.”

“Or made it worse. We don’t know this kid or what he’s capable of.”

“Should I have told her to just accept the hell he’ll make of her childhood like I let you do to me? Would that have been smart?”

“It would have been safe.”

“Listen to me, Keiran. Ryan Holder is not you, and Cassie Finch is not me. It may seem like it, but our history is not being repeated. He’s a bully with a bad kid complex, nothing more.”

“You don’t know that.”

“But I know fear. I lived in it for ten years. It’s not always the same. She’s telling herself she’s too afraid to fight, but her eyes didn’t lie, Keiran. She wanted to. She just didn’t know how. I just wanted to survive you.”

“He’ll retaliate,” I gritted.

“And she’ll fight harder.”

“You better hope you’re right. Laurie is pissed. This might not end well for us.”

“If it helps, I didn’t tell her to hit him. I told her to trust her instincts. I guess her instinct was to punch him.” I shrugged as if it were inconsequential but the ten-year-old me who was too afraid to fight back jumped with joy.

“You better hope this doesn’t backfire on you.”

“It won’t. Do you know how much I regret never fighting back when I had the chance? A part of me wishes I could go back in time and punch you in the nose.”

I pulled her close and peered into her eyes. “But you were right, Ryan Holder isn’t me. He’s not a killer. I am. If you had fought back, I would never have been able to fall in love with you.”

“That’s the most romantic threat I’ve ever heard,” she cried. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”



*



We managed to find normality once again, and it only took us two weeks to do it. Lake was busy with classes, and Jesse and I had finally secured the two clients we’d been working on for months now. It was Jesse’s idea to celebrate, but since Lake had a test to study for, we decided to throw an office happy hour celebration.

I stayed in my office until the last possible moment before taking a deep breath and entering the festivities. It wasn’t long before Jesse’s assistant, Samantha, was there to greet me. “Mr. Masters, are you staying for the party?”

“It looks like it,” I offered with warmth. I’d been hoping in the months since she’d been hired that she would catch the hint that I wasn’t interested, but she believed her looks and fake tits could get her anything she wanted.

Before Lake, it would have gotten her one night in my bed…or at least bent over the trunk of my car.

“Hey, man,” Jesse interrupted whatever else she had been about to say. He dismissed her with a look that managed to impress me, and she stomped away. “Good call on Roxboro earlier. You made us a shit ton of money.”

“He was an easier sell than he likes to think,” I remarked with a dry tone.

“Nevertheless, two clients in twenty-fours is a record for us. Couldn’t do it without you.”

“Are you always this emotional?” I snarled.

“Are you always this cold?” he countered and chuckled.

“Depends. Do you still want Lake?” We’d had this conversation many times before, but for some reason, I always needed the reassurance that he wouldn’t ever be after Lake.

“Ah, man, come on. I knew I shouldn’t have told you. It was one harmless crush for like two weeks. Then I discovered Mindy Jacobs. Remember her?”

“I vaguely remember a blow job or two.”

“Yeah, she did like blowing. Anyway, my crush on Lake passed when I discovered how easy high school girls were.”

“Lake was in high school.”

“Yeah, but she wasn’t easy and to be frank, man, she wasn’t easy for many reasons. It was hard to stay attracted to her when she was afraid of her own shadow. She’d jump at the sound of my voice. I felt like some kind of pervert.”

“Maybe you are.”

“You have nothing to worry about. Lake wants you, and I want—” He frowned and looked away. “I don’t know what I want.”

“I’m not worried.”

“Then what’s with all the hostility?”

“It’s fun when you sweat.”

“You’re an ass, you know that?”

“I know.” I clapped him on the back and changed the subject. Samantha eventually snaked her way back over, and that’s when I started drinking. I flirted around the edges of the legal driving limits, and when I reached my cap, I decided to call it a night. Without the option to drink, I couldn’t tolerate her nauseous flirting for another hour, so I called it a night.