Were they friends, then?
Since he had a key, the possibility was likely. But Lucas had told me to trust no one. I shook my head as best as I could with him on top of me, and the floor pressed up against my face. “Who are you?”
“Don’t worry about who I am,” he growled. “Convince me why I shouldn’t fucking kill you, right here, right now, for being in my boy’s apartment.”
“Fine. He invited me here,” I said, keeping my voice as calm as possible. “I’m living here for a little while. We’re—”
“Bullshit,” he said, snorting. He tightened his grip on my wrist. “Lucas would never let a girl move in with him. Ever.”
I bit down on my tongue to keep the groan of pain from escaping. “He did. I swear it.”
“Why would he do that?” he asked, jerking on my wrist a little more.
The pain blinded me, and despite my most valiant efforts, I gasped. “Twist my arm any harder, and you’ll break it.”
He let up on me a little bit. “Answer. Me.”
“I’m his . . . girlfriend.”
He laughed. Actually laughed. “Sure. And I’m the pope.”
“But—” Footsteps on the stairs sounded, and I grinned. “You’ll see. He’s home, and he doesn’t like it when other men threaten me.”
It might have been my imagination, but the man straddling me stiffened.
The door flew open, and Lucas came charging in, gun drawn. As soon as he saw me on the ground, with my attacker on top of me, he froze. “Chris. What the fuck are you doing?”
The man shot me a look, and for the first time since he’d attacked me, he seemed a little less sure of himself. “I came to talk to you and used the key you gave me. When I came in, I caught her running through your place with a big-ass knife, so . . .” He didn’t finish the sentence but shrugged casually.
Lucas rubbed his jaw, staring Chris down with stony silence. “So you tackled her to the floor and straddled her? Get the hell off her, man.”
Chris loosened his grip on me. “But who is she, and why is she in your apartment alone? She claimed to be your girlfriend, which we both know can’t be true.”
“Shit.” Lucas kicked the door shut but didn’t lower his gun. “Get off her, or I’ll kill you. Now.”
Chris blinked. “But—”
Lucas crossed the room, his lip curled in anger. Every step he took vibrated with fury and frustration. “I said, get. The. Fuck. Off her.”
“All right, man. Easy.” Chris got off me instantly, lurching to his feet easily. I rolled over onto my back so I could keep an eye on him, cradling my wrist in my uninjured hand. When he caught sight of me, he froze. “Well, shit. If I’d gotten a real look at her, I wouldn’t have questioned why you let her stay with you.”
I was about to tell him that that her was right here, and he needed to stop talking about me as if I wasn’t, but Lucas shoved him backward. His face was red and his movements were jerkier than usual. I’d never seen him look so pissed before. “Don’t even think about her like that. She’s mine. Understood?”
“Dude, I wasn’t trying to take her or anything. I was just saying she’s—”
“Mine,” Lucas repeated, shoving him against the light blue wall. “And if you touch her again, I’ll fucking gut you like a fish.”
Chris held his hands up, a skeptical look taking over his expression. “Seriously, man?”
“Seriously.” He let go of his friend and backed off but gripped the butt of his gun. “Understood, man?”
Chris stared back at Lucas for a few seconds, and I held my breath. Finally, Chris let out a breath and nodded. “Okay. I get it. She’s yours.”
A muscle ticked in Lucas’s jaw, and he held his hand down to me. When he glanced at me, I could still see the anger seething in the green depths of his eyes, but they gradually softened to the mist green hue I was so familiar with. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
“Yeah.” I slid my hand into his, shooting Chris a nervous look. Lucas trusted this man—obviously, since he’d turned his back on him—but he’d been holding me to the floor moments ago. I didn’t trust him at all. Cradling my injured wrist to my chest, I rubbed it absentmindedly. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.” He skimmed his fingers over my wrist, his jaw flexing. “Damn it. It’s going to bruise.”
Chris cleared his throat. “Uh, sorry about that.”
“It’s fine,” I said. When Lucas merely glowered at Chris, I wiggled my fingers in his. “Hey. I said I’m fine. He was just trying to protect you.”
Lucas didn’t answer me. Just went on looking pissed as hell. A muscle in his jaw ticked, and I swore I could literally see him plotting Chris’s murder.
And it was ugly.
Chris cleared his throat. “Look, man, I’m sorry, okay? I thought she was trespassing—or worse, working for Scotty.”
“She’s not,” Lucas said quickly, dragging his hand through his wavy hair and shooting a quick glance at me. “She’s not in the life at all, so shut up.”
“Well . . .” Chris tipped his head toward me. “She kinda is now.”
That muscle in Lucas’s jaw ticked again.