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“She’s the one who saved your dog’s fucking life.” Logan finally spoke up.
I watched as Nicole shrank back, guilt sliding over her features. “Is Butch okay?” she finally asked, twisting the rings on her small, cold fingers.
“His name’s Mac and yes, he’s fine. Thanks to Juliette.”
“Thank you,” she finally said, not meeting my eye. “But I still don’t understand why she’s here.”
“I don’t know, Nic. Maybe she’s here to keep me in check so I don’t lose my fucking cool in the middle of Quincy fucking Market.”
“I’m sorry, okay?” Nicole finally burst out, her eyes watering. She looked mousey and scared, and I couldn’t help but feel bad that she had to deal with the wrath of an Ashford. I had a feeling that all of them were filled with bad tempers.
“No. Not okay. Not even close to okay. Do you know what strings I had to pull to get you out of town? Do you know what the fuck I’ve had to deal with since then? Nicole, he almost killed you, or did you happen to forget that little fact on your flight back to Hell?”
I put a hand on his arm to signal that he needed to calm down. He was drawing attention with his raised, angry voice, and I didn’t want to risk something going south in the middle of a crowded place. Logan looked down at me, his features softening just a bit as his nostrils flared, and he inhaled softly.
“Maybe we should take this somewhere with a little more privacy?” I suggested and looked around, spotting a small alcove that looked almost empty. We congregated there, the three of grouped close together with Nicole taking a step back when she saw the fiery look in his eyes.
“You know he sent someone to my house, right? And you know he showed up at her work?” Logan jerked his chin toward me.
“He was just worried about me, Logan. I fell off the face of the planet and disappeared. He was scared, he didn’t know what to do without me. I’m the love of his life, you know? I shouldn’t have left the way I did.”
Nicole was showing classic signs of emotional abuse and it hurt to watch. When I was in college and reading everything I could get my hands on, I read a book about abusers and read that they always try to act like they’re right and you’re wrong. They chastise your behavior. They’re intolerant of any seeming lack of respect. They try to play the victim and deflect blame on anyone else, and here was Nicole, blaming herself for leaving. For not giving him another chance. She was holding herself accountable for his shortcomings as a man and it broke my heart. I couldn’t imagine the emotional manipulation Conlon must have been putting her through since she returned.
“I honestly can’t tell if you’re fucking with me or not. Do you forget what he did to you? The way he hurt you? Nic, he broke your ribs. He nearly broke your nose.”
“It’s not like that anymore! He’s different. When I came home he started crying because he was so happy to see me. He’s never cried to me like that before. He even helped me clean the house and ordered from my favorite place for dinner. He’s making good money at his new… job. I don’t even have to work anymore.”
I noticed her slight hesitation at the mention of the word job and I had a feeling Logan did, too. But neither one of us would say anything because we needed more out of her. I could tell that he didn’t want to manipulate Nicole and the more time I spent with him the more I realized force and manipulation weren’t his MO.
“Nic,” he spoke much softer now, fis features not as hard as before. “I need you to listen to me. You know that Greg Conlon isn’t a good person. He’s a violent, abusive drug dealer who likes to spend his time playing the victim so that girls like you feel sorry for him. It’s how he lures you in.”
“Girls like me? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Whoa, hey, I didn’t mean-”
“Weak girls? Poor girls who come from a shitty part of town? Girls who grow up with no daddy and a drunk for a mom? Well, sorry, Logan. I’m so sorry that we all couldn’t be born with a silver spoon up our asses like you.”
“Listen, I’m sorry, alright? I didn’t mean it like that. People like him target girls they think are easily manipulated, and that is exactly what he’s doing to you. You can’t honestly stand here, look me in the fucking eye and say that you believe he’s never going to hurt you again. Nicole, I can help you. I did before and I’ll do it again, but I can only help if you’re serious about leaving. You can’t come home every time you miss him.”
When Nicole looked up from the ground, I hated the emptiness I found in her eyes. It was as though she completely shut down and tuned him out. She wasn’t listening, wasn’t willing to. Conlon had clearly done a number on her and there was no way she was going to leave with us today. She was stuck in her ways, or maybe stuck in his manipulation and, in her eyes, the bad guy wasn’t Greg Conlon.
It was Logan.
“I am home,” she said finally, her voice small. She sounded like a smoker. “I’m not leaving again. I just… I came to ask you for a favor.”
I couldn’t exactly say how I knew, but I did. I knew exactly what she was going to ask and wanted to get Logan away from her as fast as humanly possible. I put a hand on his arm and took a step back. “Lo, maybe we should-”
>
“I want Butch back.”
Logan jerked back as though she’d slapped him and maybe, in a way, it had been a verbal slap across the face. He was the reason the dog was alive, living a happy life filled with toys and affection, and Nicole wanted to drag Mac back to the hell that he’d been put through when she abandoned him the first time.
“Are you kidding me?”
Logan looked down at me while Nicole glared, and that was when I realized the words had come from my mouth. My heart pounded in my chest as my blood pressure rose, but I was just. So. Angry. If Nicole wanted to go back to her abuser then so be it, no one could stop her. But I’d be damned if she wanted to bring an innocent animal with her.
“Was I fucking talking to you?”
