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It was warm in the December sun, but the shade was cool. Lyssa wore a fluffy sweatshirt.
Noah turned a pleading face to Ari as if he could get the answer he wanted from her. “What do you say, Mom?”
She ruffled his hair. “I say you should listen to your dad. That pool probably isn’t even fifty-five degrees.”
Lyssa was just wondering where Daniel was when the back door slammed open, banging on its hinges, and her brother barreled out.
He ran full tilt at Cal, shouting something Lyssa couldn’t understand. Until Daniel’s fist connected with Cal’s face, and blood spurted from his nose.
“You got my little sister pregnant!” Daniel yelled.
He smashed his fist into Cal’s shoulder, pushing him back. “Deny it, you asshole.”
He landed another punch, this time to Cal’s jaw, though Cal turned slightly, lessening the force of the blow.
“You can’t deny it, can you, asshole? I heard what you said in the kitchen, and I saw you kiss her. Now you’re going to pay for what you’ve done.”
It all happened so fast no one had time to react. Especially when it was clear that no one could believe what Daniel was saying.
No one except Lyssa, who realized too late that Daniel must have been in the house and overheard their conversation. And as predicted, he’d gone crazy.
Then Cal was defending himself in any way he could. He’d let Daniel get in those first three punches, until he clearly couldn’t take it anymore.
They went at it like two fighters in a ring, smashing their fists into each other, crushing, cracking, excruciating blows, punching each other onto the new grass, tearing out tufts of sod.
Good God. This was her brother. This was her lover. They’d been friends and co-workers for years. And now they were trying to kill each other. At least, Daniel was mauling Cal as if he wanted to destroy him.
Daniel dragged Cal up by his shirt and hit him full in the face again, but this time Cal hit back just as hard, splitting Daniel’s lip, blood gushing. Pow! Bam! Smash!
With a huge splash, they stumbled into the pool, arms and legs flailing, both of them coming up spluttering and still throwing punches again and again.
“Somebody stop them!”
Even if it didn’t feel like her mouth was moving, it was her voice. Lyssa was beyond scared, coming unhinged just like Cal and Daniel had.
Her father shouted, “Get the boys inside. Now!”
Will and Sebastian dived into the pool, each of them grabbing one of Daniel’s arms. Gideon jumped in on the other side, getting his hands on Cal, keeping them apart.
“Sebastian and Will have them.” Charlie folded Lyssa and Tasha into her arms.
She was surrounded by her family, her best friends, her loved ones, but terror clogged her throat. Her eyes seemed to bleed tears. The water in the pool was pink with fresh blood, floating out like a red sea.
Gideon hauled Cal to the other side of the pool, clearly trying to calm him down, while Cal’s eyes searched the horrified crowd. Searching for her.
When he looked into her eyes, there was such pain and remorse in his gaze that it tore her apart. Blood dripped from his nose, his broken lip, the cuts on his face, and one eye was swelling shut.
On the other side of the pool, even with Will and Sebastian pinning him down, Daniel was still growling and shouting and struggling.
An arm slipped around her, and her mother’s floral scent enveloped her. “Come with me, honey. You don’t need to be here while they finish this. We need to talk.”
Lyssa let herself be led away. The look in Cal’s eyes had been so bleak, her own pain worse because she’d blown off his fears, saying the family would get over it, that they’d come around.
She’d been so wrong.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cal ignored Gideon’s outstretched hand as he climbed—every muscle screaming—up the shallow steps and out of the cold water.
Daniel’s words pierced his gut: You got my little sister pregnant… You asshole.
Sebastian’s voice rang out as the other guys hauled Daniel out of the pool. “We haven’t seen action like that since we were fifteen years old.”
“Well, none of you are fifteen anymore.” Bob’s voice was gruffer than Cal had ever heard it. “You’re all going to hurt like hell in the morning.”
Their voices echoed around Cal, but what stabbed him was the look on Lyssa’s face. Pain, anger, anguish.
It was never supposed to be like this. The day she told her parents she was in love and pregnant should have been beautiful. It should have been a memory she would hold close to her heart forever.
Instead, she’d gotten mixed up with him, and that memory would forever be horrific.
Cal hadn’t only let Lyssa down. He’d let the whole clan down. He should have taken the beating he deserved without throwing a single punch.
