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I pull back from Willow, grabbing her shoulders and looking her over, just to reassure myself that she’s okay. Her face is blotchy and her eyes are slightly swollen from crying, but other than that, she appears to be fine. That is, until I look down and see her wrist. It’s red and looks like it’s starting to bruise.
I swing my eyes over her shoulder and pin Bryan with a menacing look. As if he feels my stare, he looks back at me. Before Willow can stop me, I’ve eaten up the few steps between us, and my fist connects with his cheek.
“Tegan, no!” Willow cries from behind me, grabbing my arm. But I’m already done.
Bryan stumbles, then lands on his ass.
I stand over him and glower. “That’s for her wrist,” I growl. “Leave another motherfucking mark on her and that’ll feel like a thump compared to what I’ll do next.”
He doesn’t say anything, just sits there with his knees bent and his arms resting on them. But the look he gives me is satisfying. He’s looking at me with respect and something else I can’t name. His eyes flicker to Willow, who’s now crouching down beside him.
He’s just getting to his feet when a loud crash comes from the house behind us. Willow steps in front of Bryan, and I turn to see Logan storming across the yard. His face is red with anger and his eyes blaze with hatred. I step in front of him and put a hand to his chest.
“Logan,” I call, even though I’m right in front of him. He doesn’t pay me any mind, keeping his eyes over my shoulder, killing Bryan with his dark glare.
“You fucking bastard! I’ll fucking kill you!”
When he tries to go around me, I step in his path again.
“Move!” he snarls.
“Logan, man. Wait a minute.” I keep my tone hard, but not confrontational. It fucking bites my ass that I’m keeping him away from Bryan, when he has every right to kick the guy’s ass for what he did.
He finally looks at me. “Let me go,” he grates out.
“Logan,” Willow calls from behind us. “Please, Logan. I know you have every right to want to hurt him. He deserves it. He deserves to pay for what he did to Minnie. But he needs help.” Her voice cracks. “Please, I’m asking you, begging you, to let me and Tegan take him to get help.”
I keep watching Logan as he keeps his eyes on Bryan. The venom there would make anyone cower.
“He doesn’t need damn help. He needs his nose punched through his fucking skull.”
He tries to slide around me again, but I grab his arm, forestalling him. “Logan, don’t, man,” I warn.
“Stay the fuck out of this and let me go.”
“I can’t do that.”
When he tries to jerk away, I tighten my grip and swing his arm around his back, pinning it high up the middle of his back.
“Fuck you, Tegan,” he grits out between clenched teeth, struggling in my arms. He’s a big guy, and although I’ve got a good grip on him now, I’m not sure how long I can hold him. “He deserves it. He hurt her. He could have hurt her worse.” His voice gets deeper when he says, “He could have hurt Luna.”
“No,” groans Bryan, and we look over at him. He pushes Willow to the side and takes a couple steps forward. His eyes look tortured and frantic. “I wouldn’t hurt the baby. I wouldn’t…” He trails off, drops his head, and laces his fingers over the back of it.
“Goddammit!” Logan shouts and starts struggling again. He throws his head back, and I barely miss the head plant to my nose. “Let me the fuck go!”
“Logan!” a loud voice sounds behind us.
Logan immediately stops moving. I let him go and we both swing around and see Minnie standing a few feet away holding Luna. She’s pale and shaky. She looks at Bryan, and her face crumples in pain, before looking back at Logan.
“What are you doing out of bed, baby?” Logan asks, walking swiftly over to her. He takes Luna out of her arms and cradles her close to his chest, then puts an arm around her waist.
“I heard shouting.” Her eyes flicker to Bryan again, then back to Logan. “Don’t hurt him,” she whispers, just barely loud enough for me to hear.
“Minnie—”
She shakes her head and grabs his shirt. “Please. I know he didn’t mean to hurt me.” She looks down at Luna. “And I know he wouldn’t have hurt Luna.”
“Baby, you don’t know that.”
Her eyes turn sad. “Yes. I do.”
His jaw gets hard and he closes his eyes for a brief second before opening them. His voice is guttural when he says, “Fine. But we’re calling the cops.”
I feel Willow step up beside me, and I know she’s going to object, but Minnie beats her to it. Which pisses me off, because Bryan deserves some form of punishment.
Again, she shakes her head. “No.” Minnie looks to Willow. “Let Willow and Tegan take him. He’s needs treatment, not incarceration.”
That’s fucking debatable. Although it’s the loss of their dad that started all this, it was still a choice that Bryan consciously made when he turned to drugs, which in turn made him the bastard he is. He should be made to atone for his actions.
Logan lets out a deep breath, the anger still making his face hard.
Keeping his eyes on Minnie, Logan barks, “Get him the fuck out of here.”
Willow deflates beside me, so I reach out and snag her around her waist. We both turn to Bryan, who still looks tormented. We walk over to him, and I get close enough that I block Minnie and Logan from him.
“Let’s go.”
He nods and turns, but then turns back. “Minnie,” he calls in a strangled voice.
“Fuck no!” Logan snarls. “You don’t get to talk to her. Get the fuck off my property before I change my mind about taking you out.”
Bryan looks like he wants to argue, and I brace for the wrath that Logan will bring down on him if he does. I’m just about to forcefully turn Bryan around, when his eyes drop to the ground, and he turns around on his own.
“I’ll call you later, Minnie,” Willow says, voice wobbly.
She nods and smiles sadly at Willow. Her eyes once again land on Bryan’s back and her expression turns torturous. I know this can’t be easy on her either. Once upon a time, she thought Bryan was the love of her life, only to be betrayed by him in one of the worst ways.
Logan hands Luna back to Minnie, then bends to scoop them both up and carries them toward the house. I lace my fingers with Willow’s, and with a dejected and still drugged-up Bryan, we leave through the side gate.
