“He was furious. He said if I knew what was good for me, I’d focus on fixing Luca and mind my own business. Luca’s mom looked terrified, even more than usual.”
“Call your boss and report it. You can’t keep working there if he’s threatening you, Nicky.”
“Who’s threatening her?” Liam growled from behind me.
I jumped. “When did you get here?”
“Just now. Who’s threatening Nicky?”
“Jenna, don’t tell him,” Nicky pleaded. “I’m not going to stop seeing Luca!”
“I’m not keeping it from him, sorry,” I said, my eyes on Liam.
She kept talking, but I shushed her and filled him in.
“May I?” He put his hand out for my phone, and I handed it over. “Nicky, tell me everything, please.” His words were nice, but his tone was all soldier.
I couldn’t hear her, but judging by his dark expression and increasingly demanding tone, she was obviously pushing back. “When are you scheduled to go again… We’ll be home before then. We’ll get someone to go with you… No, that wasn’t a question. In the meantime, go to the police and file a report today… Doesn’t matter. File it anyway… Do not contact them. Do not go near them. Do you agree, or do I need to get Ryan to sit on you… Nowhere near them, Nicky… If you see Luca’s dad or anything feels off, you call the police immediately, then Ryan orme… Yes, I am. There are no secrets when it comes to safety… Do I sound like I’m serious?”
I motioned for him to give the phone back. “Nicky, please listen to Liam. We have to go to Tyler’s graduation now, and you’d better not ruin this day for me by being reckless and selfless. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid?”
“I promise I won’t do anything stupid today,” she said like a petulant toddler. “But there’s no way in hell I’m letting Ryan or any of them tell me what to do.”
“They know what they’re doing. Please listen to them.”
“I will. Don’t worry about me. Go enjoy the graduation.”
“You sure you’ll be alright?”
“Positive. Tell Tyler I say congrats.”
“Love you, Nicky. Be safe.”
“Love you too.”
I hung up, and Liam pulled me into his arms. “She’ll be okay.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m going to call Ryan, and he’ll make sure of it.”
I nodded, grateful for that, but I knew all too well that there was no way he, or anyone, could protect her all the time.
Like he was a mind reader, Liam pressed a kiss to my forehead. “It’s not the same thing, Firefly. Snake Eyes was a serial rapist and murderer. This guy sounds like a big bully. We’ll take care of it.”
We got in the car, and he called Ryan on the way to graduation.
“He’ll watch her?” I confirmed after they hung up, even though I heard the whole conversation, including Ryan yelling that she needed a good spanking.
“Yep. Now the only risk is her killing Ryan.”
“That’s a definite possibility. Do you know she started calling him bacon?”
“Bacon?”
“Delicious, but bad for you.”
Liam laughed. “Well, that makes his name for her not so bad.”