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I heard the door open, creaking on the hinges, but that was the last thing I was able to make out. Their voices lowered to a mumble, distorting their words. After a couple of minutes, I heard the sound of footsteps coming back down the hall toward me. Only one pair of footsteps, I noted.
Mrs. Roberts looked at me and shook her head, “She's busy tonight, Bennett,” she said. “I'm really sorry you drove all this way and dressed up for nothing.”
Most men might give up after hearing that – but I wasn't most men. It was going to take a little more than that to throw me off. I was a man on a mission.
“Do you think I could speak with her?” I asked. “Just for a moment?”
“I'm afraid –” she'd started to stay, but then the doorbell rang, cutting us off. She shook her head and grinned, “I swear, if this is one of your other brothers...”
She was laughing all the way to the door, and for a moment, I feared it might actually be Quinn or Cason, trying to get in the way of my night with Hailey. I wouldn't put that level of cockblocking past either of them. I cleared my throat and clenched my jaw as I readied myself for competition, just in case.
I followed Hailey's mother to the doorway, staying a couple of steps behind, but when she opened the door, it wasn't one of my brother's standing there. Instead of one of the brothers McCormick, it was a large, well-dressed man with jet black hair and steely gray eyes.
Definitely not someone from around here, and not someone Mrs. Roberts recognized either. Judging by the look on her face, I could tell she was as confused as I was about the stranger on her doorstep. The larger man, without a word, pushed his way into the house, running a hand through his hair as he looked around.
“Where's Hailey? I know she's here, I need to speak to her,” he said.
He paced the living room, talking really fast. And as he walked back and forth in front of me, I gave the guy a once-over - leather jacket, tattoos, but an expensive Rolex on his wrist and hair that was well-styled. He was, by most standards, a fairly attractive, well-built guy. Someone I should probably be jealous of. Competition for Hailey's attention.
“Who are you?” I asked.
He stopped and gave me the same once over I'd just given to him – likely coming to the same conclusion I had.
“I'm Leo,” he said. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Well, Leo, who do you think you are coming in here like that?” I asked. “I think you owe Mrs. Roberts here an explanation and an apology for your poor manners.”
Without a word, the man lunged at me, trying to grab me by the shirt, but I ducked just in time. As I straightened up though, I caught his balled-up fist in the side of my face. The man could hit hard. I almos
t literally saw stars when he clocked me. I shook my head and quickly recovered, a predatory grin crossing my face as I turned to face him.
“That the best you got, Leo?”
Mrs. Roberts, a stricken look on her face, was screaming, her tone harried and frantic.
“Frank! Frank!” she called out for her husband.
The sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs filled my ears, followed by Hailey's voice.
“Mom? What's going on –” she stopped speaking as Leo turned toward her and a look of near panic crossed her face. “Shit.”
But Hailey wasn't alone – Quinn was with her, standing protectively in front of her. He put himself between her and Leo, preventing him from rushing toward her. It wasn't anything close to the right time for it, but my first question was – what in the hell was Quinn doing there?
“Shit indeed, sweetheart,” Leo said, a cocky grin on his face. “Now tell me, who the fuck is he and why was he in your bedroom? And who is this other asshole waitin' downstairs for you? What the fuck are you doin' out here?”
Quinn walked toward Leo and I approached him from behind. He was outnumbered. He might have gotten a shot on me earlier, but this time, between me and Quinn, this prick was looking at a real beatdown.
“Leo, please, get out,” Hailey said.
Her voice cracked as she spoke, and I saw her standing there, shaking uncontrollably, with tears welling in her eyes. She backed up against the wall and seemed to collapse against it, sliding down until she sat down on the landing.
“Please, just leave,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Please, leave me alone.”
As she slid to the ground, her shirt rode up on her body, showing on her stomach. A large bruise on her right side caught my eye, and I had to wonder – was this douchebag responsible for it? While maybe the bruise on her wrist could have been explained away, this one couldn't. It was roughly the size and shape of a fist.
Leo ignored us and walked toward Hailey, pure menace in his eyes. Seeing that bruise on her body, and feeling the pain radiating in my cheek from his cheap shot, made the anger within me boil over. There was no way in hell I was letting him get close to her.
I rushed toward the man, knocking him to the ground before he could get to her. Mrs. Roberts was standing with her back to the wall, her hand clamped over her mouth, a look of absolute terror in her eyes. As I moved on Leo, Quinn fell in beside me, helping me take the asshole down. I jumped on him and threw a few quick punches to the face, smacking him right in the side of his head.
