“Of course,” Lucas murmured.
“It was lovely meeting you, Mr. Daniels,” I said quickly, extending my hand. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
He kissed it. “Anytime, my dear.”
The second he walked away, Lucas dropped his hold on me like I was a hot potato. And his casual nothing bothers me act. “What did he say to you?”
“Nothing,” I answered quickly, crossing my arms in front of me. “It was nothing.”
He looked at me for a moment, studying my features carefully before his eyes turned to stone. He must have seen the lurking fear in my face.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” he growled, dragging his hand through his hair. When he focused on me, I took a step backward before I caught myself. He no longer looked at me with warmth or anything even akin to it. No, he looked . . . he looked like Scotty. Cold. Calculated. Pissed. “You should not have fucking come here.”
CHAPTER 25
LUCAS
It took all my control not to lose my shit, right here, in front of everyone. To not grab her by the elbow and drag her out of the room like she was an errant child. She’d behaved like one when she’d decided to come here, after I’d expressly forbidden her from doing so. If she hadn’t come here, she never would have met Scotty. And if she’d never met Scotty, she’d be in significantly less danger.
Heidi didn’t even realize it, but by coming here tonight . . .
She’d signed her own fucking death warrant.
I took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching my fists on the count of five. When it came to her, I wasn’t good at acting the way I was supposed to act. I’d saved her when I should have minded my own business. I’d let her creep by the years and years of defenses I’d built around myself, and now I cared about whether she lived or died.
And to repay me, she’d come here tonight and basically thrown her life away.
I was going to kill her myself, and save Scotty the trouble. Growling, I yanked on my bow tie—which was doing its best to strangle me—and jerked my head toward the exit. “We’re going home. Now. Get your coat.”
Her gaze flitted to the door, then back to me, and she swallowed. “Lucas . . .”
“Now.”
“Look, man,” Chris said, stepping in front of her, as if she needed protection from me. Me. I was the only one keeping her alive, for fuck’s sake. God himself knew she wasn’t. “She didn’t mean any harm. She was just trying to help—”
“Help? This was, in no way, shape, or form a help to me. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll back the hell off.” I stepped up in his personal space, using all of my extra height on him. “This is none of your goddamn business.”
Chris flushed. “I’m not your employee, dickhead, and neither is she. You can’t boss us around like—”
Us? Since when were the two of them a team? Jealousy, as uncomfortable as it was unfamiliar to me, hit me in the gut. Hard.
“The hell I can’t,” I growled, needing to get my rage out somehow. I needed an escape, and this was it. Chris, my best friend, my real brother, was my outlet for this inner hell I was stuck in. “Watch me.”
I started to swing, completely prepared to beat the shit out of him in the middle of the crowded room, when Heidi threw herself in front of him. “Lucas, no. Not here. Too many people are watching.”
I lowered my arm, but I didn’t uncurl my fist. Breathing heavily, I ignored all the angry words trying to escape. Now was not the time, or place, to unleash them. I glanced around the room. Way too much attention.
I was doing it again. Showing weakness.
And there was nothing I could do to stop it. It was like an unstoppable tornado inside me, wrecking years and years of self-control.
Chris gently moved Heidi out of the way, and she let him. “I’m not the enemy here, and you know it. Neither is she.”
I slowly uncurled my fist, my blood pumping through my veins at breakneck speed. My knuckles practically ached with the need to crush bone, but I ignored the primal urge. “Get. Your. Coat.”
“Okay.” Heidi lifted her chin high. She looked infinitely calm, when I was anything but. “Okay. Come on.”
I’d told her not to come. She shouldn’t have come. She shouldn’t have—
She held her hand out, those soft blue eyes of hers calling to me in ways that no one else ever had. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
Home. Such a simple word.
Without speaking, I reached for her hand and led her toward the coat area. Several people watched us go, their intent gazes making me itchy, but I didn’t look back. No more looking back. It was too late for that. It was too late to keep her hidden and safe from the life I led. And it was definitely too late to make sure she ran for it and stayed alive. Too late to keep her safe from me. It was time to look forward now.
Time to plan.