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The tears burn my cheeks and sting my eyes, hot as they glide down my cheeks in a continuous river. My entire body stiffens as Carter fumbles to get my leather pants down.
I can’t decide if it’s a small blessing that I wore them tonight. They’re keeping him from raping me, but also prolonging the waves of torture as Carter gets frustrated and bites my neck.
A bang sounds in the room, making Carter and I startle violently. It’s the door hitting the wall hard enough to leave a dent as Lucas storms in. Alec and Devlin follow behind him.
“Get the hell off of her, Burns, or I’ll fucking kill you!” Lucas roars.
The relieved sob that spills from my lips isn’t human.
He’s here. He came. Somehow he knew I needed him.
Carter is ripped off me. I curl up in a protective ball, my body so tense I’m shivering. I flinch at the sound of fists hitting flesh and the sick grunts Carter makes as Lucas punches him.
“She wanted it!” Carter moans. “Askin’ for it dressed like that!”
“Are you really trying to justify why you would do this, fucker?” Lucas’ voice is almost unrecognizable, filled with an unmoored rage. “You assaulted her! You were going to rape her!”
His fists fly until Carter’s face is swollen and red, bleeding from the lip and a cut above his eye. Lucas doesn’t stop attacking him, savage in his punches. It should terrify me. But I’m not scared of Lucas. The violence in him on my behalf speaks to something deep inside me.
Alec and Devlin help me up from the bed with gentle, slow movements.
Alec takes point, keeping his hands where I can see them before gathering my hands in his. His face is lined with brittle tension, probably beating himself up for leaving me alone.
I shake my head, trying to convey it wasn’t his fault.
Alec hands me the keys. I clutch them to my chest like a lifeline. They mean freedom. A weapon of self defense. Control.
“You keep these. We’ll go in a minute.” His voice is soft, at odds with the sounds of Lucas tearing into Carter behind him. “Are you okay?”
I nod stiltedly, taking raw gulps of air. He takes my hands in his again and presses his forehead to them.
“I’m sorry, Gem. It’ll be okay now. You’re safe.”
Alec gets up and tries to push Lucas aside, but he’s too far gone in the violent storm of his protective fury. He has to drag Lucas away with Devlin’s help. Lucas stumbles aside, panting. Alec stands frozen over Carter for a second. Then in a burst of movement, he punches Carter in the stomach.
“Don’t ever come near my sister again! You hear me?”
Lucas flexes his bloody hands, poised to jump back in. His eyes are dangerous, the set of his jaw enraged. He swings his gaze at me and it takes a beat for the shadows to fly away.
“Do you want to press charges?” His voice is hard. He can barely keep himself in check. “My dad can help.”
It takes me a minute to find my voice, my tongue sluggish. My body is still on high alert as I sit up and hug myself.
“No. I just want it to go away.”
Lucas furrows his brow, but nods. He turns back to Carter, grabbing him by the collar to drag him up.
“If you ever touch Gemma again, talk to her—fuck, if you even
look her way,” Lucas gets in his face, “I will come after you. I will end you.”
I find it ironic that Lucas can offer me his dad’s lawyer services in one breath and turn around to threaten Carter in the next.
Carter’s sports a puffy eye that’ll turn into a black bruise later. His head lurches when he nods in acknowledgement.
All at once, I’m overcome by the need to get out of the room, fight-or-flight kicking in.
I slip away as the guys show off their testosterone. The music is too loud, the laughter grating. I have to get out of the house.
