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Tria dropped her head and looked off to the side. At the same time, it looked like she practically shrunk into herself as she backed down from his look. Her lips smashed together, and I knew she was holding back something she wanted to say. She reminded me of a dog that had been kicked one too many times when trying to gain the affections of an abusive master.
In that moment, she stopped being the woman I knew. She wasn’t the confident and vital woman who demanded more from me than I wanted to give, or the one who called me out on my bullshit, or the one who demanded I explain my apologies. Instead, she had become a frightened little girl cringing from something terrifying.
It fucking pissed me off.
“What the fuck have you done to her?” I yelled as I took a step forward. Conner appeared out of nowhere, stepped in between us, and held out his arms a bit. I knew he was going to make me go through him if I was going to make a move against Keith. Even if he agreed with me, he wouldn’t go against Leo’s son.
I turned to Tria instead, reached out, and put my hands on either side of her face. I tilted her head up to look at me.
“No one tells you what to do,” I said through clenched teeth. “No one. Not him. Not me. You do or say whatever the fuck you want!”
Her gaze darted over to him and then back again.
“It’s not that easy,” she said quietly.
“I’m not going to let him touch you,” I said emphatically.
“I know,” she whispered as she gripped my forearms.
“Demmy, you know you belong here,” the douchebag said, unwilling to end his rant. “We’re the only ones who took you in and gave you a home when your own mother didn’t want you. This is where you grew up, and these are the people and the ways you know. We both know it’s just a matter of time before you are back—with me—where you belong.”
“Over my dead body,” I snarled.
“Arrangeable,” he snapped back.
I started to release her, the rage boiling up inside of me demanding to feel the rough strike of knuckles against yielding flesh. I clenched my hands as I stepped forward, ready to down Conner in one swing to get to my real target.
“Please don’t,” Tria cried out as she stepped in front of me, and wrapped her arms around my waist again. She turned her head up, and her gaze captured mine. “Please don’t do anything, Liam. Please!”
Those eyes would be the death of me—I would have sworn to it.
“Why not?”
“I’ll tell you more later,” she promised. “Just don’t do this here, and don’t do this now.”
Keith had taken a step back, and his body was tight and ready. He knew what I wanted, and he was perfectly willing to take me on. The little shit had no idea what he was walking into—I was going to pulverize him. Except…
Except she was in the way.
A long, slow breath did very little to calm me. Tria’s hands running over the sleeves of my jacket worked a little better but not that much. Conner was at Keith’s side and was beginning to pull him away, mumbling something I couldn’t hear.
I looked at Tria’s pleading eyes.
“One of these days,” I said softly to her, “I am going to kick his ass.”
“Not today,” she begged.
Conner was having trouble getting Keith to go, so I turned back to him.
“You’re done,” I said. “Don’t you fucking come near her again, you hear me?”
Tria’s fingers tightened around mine, and I turned to take her away from him.
“How long before he shows you what he’s really like?” Keith called out at us. “Did you see how much he wanted to hit me? Did you see how close he came to hitting an elderly man with one leg? You really think he’ll stop at hitting guys in a cage? He’s violent, Demmy! It’s only a matter of time before he starts hitting you! Is that what you want?”
I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face him.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” I said in a slow, quiet voice. My gut tightened up at the very idea of what he was suggesting I might do. I couldn’t even voice any words from the disgust I felt at the thought.
