Dare To Run (The Sons of Steel Row #1)(39)

Lucas rubbed his jaw, staring Chris down with stony silence. “So you tackled her to the floor and straddled her? Get the hell off her, man.”

Chris loosened his grip on me. “But who is she, and why is she in your apartment alone? She claimed to be your girlfriend, which we both know can’t be true.”

“Shit.” Lucas kicked the door shut but didn’t lower his gun. “Get off her, or I’ll kill you. Now.”

Chris blinked. “But—”

Lucas crossed the room, his lip curled in anger. Every step he took vibrated with fury and frustration. “I said, get. The. Fuck. Off her.”

“All right, man. Easy.” Chris got off me instantly, lurching to his feet easily. I rolled over onto my back so I could keep an eye on him, cradling my wrist in my uninjured hand. When he caught sight of me, he froze. “Well, shit. If I’d gotten a real look at her, I wouldn’t have questioned why you let her stay with you.”

I was about to tell him that that her was right here, and he needed to stop talking about me as if I wasn’t, but Lucas shoved him backward. His face was red and his movements were jerkier than usual. I’d never seen him look so pissed before. “Don’t even think about her like that. She’s mine. Understood?”

“Dude, I wasn’t trying to take her or anything. I was just saying she’s—”

“Mine,” Lucas repeated, shoving him against the light blue wall. “And if you touch her again, I’ll f*cking gut you like a fish.”

Chris held his hands up, a skeptical look taking over his expression. “Seriously, man?”

“Seriously.” He let go of his friend and backed off but gripped the butt of his gun. “Understood, man?”

Chris stared back at Lucas for a few seconds, and I held my breath. Finally, Chris let out a breath and nodded. “Okay. I get it. She’s yours.”

A muscle ticked in Lucas’s jaw, and he held his hand down to me. When he glanced at me, I could still see the anger seething in the green depths of his eyes, but they gradually softened to the mist green hue I was so familiar with. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“Yeah.” I slid my hand into his, shooting Chris a nervous look. Lucas trusted this man—obviously, since he’d turned his back on him—but he’d been holding me to the floor moments ago. I didn’t trust him at all. Cradling my injured wrist to my chest, I rubbed it absentmindedly. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” He skimmed his fingers over my wrist, his jaw flexing. “Damn it. It’s going to bruise.”

Chris cleared his throat. “Uh, sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” I said. When Lucas merely glowered at Chris, I wiggled my fingers in his. “Hey. I said I’m fine. He was just trying to protect you.”

Lucas didn’t answer me. Just went on looking pissed as hell. A muscle in his jaw ticked, and I swore I could literally see him plotting Chris’s murder.

And it was ugly.

Chris cleared his throat. “Look, man, I’m sorry, okay? I thought she was trespassing—or worse, working for Scotty.”

“She’s not,” Lucas said quickly, dragging his hand through his wavy hair and shooting a quick glance at me. “She’s not in the life at all, so shut up.”

“Well . . .” Chris tipped his head toward me. “She kinda is now.”

That muscle in Lucas’s jaw ticked again.

“Who is this Scotty guy, anyway?” I asked, studying them both.

Neither one answered me.

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot. “Lucas.”

“Heidi,” he said back, using the same threatening tone I’d used with him. The smirk I was all too familiar with slipped into place. At least he no longer looked murderous. “He’s no one you need to worry about, darlin’.”

Chris shifted his weight. “We need to talk.” He paused. “Alone.”

“Of course.” Lucas tipped my face up with his fingers under my chin. His touch was tender. “Hey, dinner smells delicious, but I didn’t get those things you asked for, so I’m gonna run down the street and get them with Chris. I’ll be home in five minutes.”

Chris made a choking sound.

Lucas glowered at him.

“Okay,” I finally said.

He let go of me and motioned for Chris to follow him. They walked out the door, and I was left there alone, with my arms wrapped around myself, wondering what the hell was going on, who this Scotty guy was . . .

And why Lucas looked so upset at the mere mention of his name.





CHAPTER 13





LUCAS




I shut the door behind me, stepped outside, and leaned against the brick wall. The freezing night air seeped through my veins almost instantly, and I huffed out a breath. Impact wrenches buzzed behind me, and something clanged on the concrete floor of the shop. Across the way, I could make out the lights of the stadium, and I could smell the stench of the docks if I tried hard enough. Snow fell from the sky again, the kind that fluttered down majestically in big white tufts.

It looked so pure and fresh until it hit the ground . . .

And everything got muddled together in a big f*cking mess. Just like life. It all looked good till the shit hit the fan, like it inevitably did.