Jeremy was limp in his hold, his legs barely holding him up, Ben’s hand around his throat the single thing keeping him up.
“Get the fuck out of this house,” Ben growled, propelling him to the front door, as though he weighed nothing. “And if I ever see you within fifty feet of Stef, I will cheerfully murder you and then pay someone to make sure your body is never found.”
Jeremy sneered, his eyes rolling around in his head. “I—”
Ben shook him. “Am not going to say another word.” A beat. “Because that would be the first good decision you’ve made since you decided to break up with Stef.”
“She—”
Ben shook him again. “Is a fucking goddess who is too good for me and you?” A feral smile curved his lips. “You’re right. She is. But your idiotic loss is my gain, and I will protect what is mine. So heed my words, do not come back here.”
Then he threw him out the front door, slammed it shut, and locked it.
Stef’s knees gave way, and she found herself sliding down the wall, collapsing onto the floor. Tears leaked from her eyes, but she angrily brushed them away, turning her focus to Fred, even as her ankle screamed out in pain as she crawled toward him. Fred whined, his tail thwapping once on the floor. He tried to get up, but one of his back legs wouldn’t work, so she held him in place. “No, buddy,” she said through her tears, “just stay down.”
She kept her hands on his side, scrabbled for her cell.
“Here,” Ben said, handing it to her. “Are you all—”
Banging began on the front door, the wood panel rattling on its hinges, Jeremy screaming and ranting. Ben cursed, rising to his feet, at the same time sirens sounded, came close, and tires screeching somewhere close.
Perhaps her driveway.
Voices rose and fell, Jeremy’s and several unfamiliar ones shouting orders. Jeremy refusing them.
Then a scuffling, a crash, more scuffling, and . . . finally, all went quiet.
Ben crossed to the door, but before he got there, a knock sounded through the panel.
She turned her head, watched as Ben carefully opened the door, keeping his hands open and wide at his side as police officers stood in the opening. “Thank you for coming,” he said.
They studied him then her on the floor, Fred trying to get up.
“Are you okay, ma’am?”
She nodded. “Ben”—she pointed, wanting to be sure that they knew exactly who the good guy was—“is my boyfriend. He saved me from”—she nodded to the porch where her ex was trussed up like a turkey—“Jeremy. My ex who broke in and assaulted me. H-he—”
Then Ben was there at her side, pulling her into his arms. “It’s okay. I’m here, baby. I’m here.”
She clung to him. “Fred’s hurt.”
“I know.” He pulled out his phone, spoke quickly into it. “Claire and Baine are coming. They’ll get him to the vet.”
“O-okay,” she whispered, slipping out of his arms and turning back to her dog.
“Sir?” one of the officers asked. “Can we have a word?”
Ben gently cupped her cheek. “You okay for a minute?”
She nodded.
“Tell me what happened,” she heard the officer said. “And start from the beginning.”
“I pulled up and saw the front door was open,” Ben began.
Fred whined, and she knew she should splint his leg, should do something useful, do something to make him more comfortable. Maybe get a towel under him so he would be easier to carry. She pushed her hands beneath herself, started to push to her feet.
She cried out and collapsed before she got there.
Instantly, Ben was there, two police officers flanking him. “What is it, honey?” he asked.
“My ankle,” she groaned. “I’m fine—”
He gently lifted the hem of her pantleg, and cursed. “It’s not fine.”
His tone had her glancing down. Fuck. It wasn’t fine. It was swollen already, and she could hardly feel her toes. “I’m going with Fred to the vet first,” she said.
“No.”
Two letters, one word, said so fiercely that she blinked.
“Claire will take Sweetheart, who’s in my car, home. Baine will take Fred to your vet. Who you’ll call right now, and if they’re closed or can’t take him, then he will take him to the emergency vet.” She opened her mouth to protest. “Then as soon as these officers will allow us out of here, I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“But—”
“Plus, Spence will be backup if either Claire or Baine need him,” he said. “They have it, okay? Let me take care of you. Let me