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As emboldened as I was mortified by having witnesses, I let my own temper off its leash, just a little. “No right to a life of my own? That’s where you’re wrong, old man. I have every right. All three of us are legal adults. You have no hold over any of us anymore, and we choose to live on our own. There’s nothing you can do about it.”
He took a hard step closer, and everything in me wanted to recoil, to hide from the blow I was certain was coming. But he had enough control not to let loose that much in public. No, he saved the punches and slaps for private. With plenty of threats about what would happen if we didn’t hide the resulting injuries. And they’d come much fewer and farther between since Rios got big enough to fight him. But I could see the promise of retribution in his eyes.
I dimly registered the sound of fast footsteps. Then multiple bodies were sliding between me and my father.
“I’m gonna need you to step back.”
Hoyt. I almost sagged in relief. Did I broadcast some kind of alert every time I panicked that he could read as easily as the Bat Signal?
He’d brought friends this time. At least three other guys in navy SFFD T-shirts stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a human wall.
“This is none of your concern.”
“As you’re up in Caroline’s grill, I’d say it is.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Her boyfriend. The one who’s not going to hesitate to step between you and her.”
I closed my eyes. Dad had probably already heard. Maybe. But somehow I felt it would be worse that he hear it from Hoyt directly.
“Now, do we have a problem, Mr. Carrera?”
For a long, tense moment, nobody spoke.
“No. No problem. Just a disagreement with my daughter.” I couldn’t see my father over all the shoulders, but I could hear him reining in the temper in the face of a greater implied threat.
“Maybe circle back to it later, when you’re calmer,” Hoyt suggested in an even tone. “And not in her place of work.”
For a long humming beat, I waited, expecting my father to tell Hoyt exactly where he could shove that idea. Instead, he cleared his throat. “You’re probably right. Apologies.” The last word came out flat and entirely insincere.
He turned on heel and left without another word.
Then arms were sliding around me as Hoyt pulled me in, wrapping me up in his bigger body. “Hey, you okay?”
My throat went thick, because no, I definitely wasn’t okay. I was shaking. This whole nightmare scenario had combined two things I hated: dealing with my father at all and being a public spectacle. I’d spent so much time being a public spectacle.
Hoyt stroked a hand down my back. He felt warm and solid, and I wanted so desperately to lean on him because I hadn’t had anyone to do that with basically ever. It wasn’t the same with my siblings. Rios did his best to take off whatever pressure he could, but there was no escaping the weight of being the oldest, of watching out for both my younger siblings in a volatile household. Of being the one who looked like Mama.
“What are you even doing here?”
“We were doing a training exercise. Bree texted to say there was trouble, so we came down.”
I’d never been so glad that the firehouse was only two blocks down the street or that Hatterwick was the epitome of a small town. Someone had let him know, and he’d come for me. Did he have any idea how appealing that was? The fact that he was continually willing to step up for me made it feel like maybe this was the start of something real between us. Because it did, I let myself burrow in, holding on to him as an anchor in the storm that was my life.
“Saint Hoyt the Savior, coming down for your hero fix for the day.”
Hoyt’s body went stiff at Troy’s mocking tone. “I don’t recall asking for your opinion, Lincoln. I believe I made my position clear the last time I saw you. Stay the hell away from Caroline.”
“I’m not doing a damned thing to her. Just came in for a late lunch. It’s not like there are that many options.”
“Maybe consider embracing the concept of brown bagging it.”
“Whatever. I’m sick of your shit, McNamara.”
“Likewise.”
Not wanting the situation to escalate, I squeezed Hoyt’s waist. “It’s fine. He’s not causing trouble.”
