Stand-In Saturday (Love For Days #2) - Kirsty Moseley Page 0,101

brighter.

Lucas’s eyes are hard and ferocious as he glares, pointing an accusing finger at me. “Stop whoring yourself out, Lucie. For fuck’s sake, you’re embarrassing yourself … and me! We’re leaving. We’ll deal with this when we get home!”

At his words, people stop what they’re doing and turn towards us. Their eyes are curious and shocked at his outburst. This is a side of Lucas no one gets to see but me when we’re alone. He’s usually the consummate professional, unflappable in public.

With my face flaming, my stomach dips, and my eyes widen, but as Lucas reaches out to seize my arm, Theo moves faster. Grabbing a handful of Lucas’s shirt and tie, he yanks him away from me while his free hand curls into a fist and slams into my ex-fiancé’s face. It connects with a dull, muted thud, and Lucas groans in pain as he staggers back, slamming into the wall, narrowly avoiding taking out a waiter who jumps out of the way at the last second.

I gasp.

Lucas recovers quickly, launching himself at Theo, and they crash back into the cupcake station, sending colourful cakes and sprinkles everywhere. They’re scuffling on the floor, fighting for the upper hand. Theo definitely gets it, but Lucas manages to land a couple of hits too.

People stare, open-mouthed, at the scene unfolding in the middle of my father’s retirement party. My heart is in my throat, and I flinch when I see Lucas’s fist connect with Theo’s cheek.

Oh, please don’t let him get hurt!

“Theo, stop, please.”

I don’t bother appealing to Lucas’s better judgement. When he’s in a rage, there’s no pulling him back; you have to let it simply fizzle out. I push myself towards them, intending to break it up, wincing and limping with every step, but my father gets there first.

Wrapping his arms around Theo’s chest, my dad pulls him back up to his feet and drags him away from Lucas as Fred makes a dive for his son, doing the same.

Theo is furious as he growls at Lucas, “I fucking warned you not to grab her again, didn’t I? You don’t put your hands on her like that! Are you insane?”

They’re both thrashing, trying to break free of their restrained holds so they can finish what they started. Lucas screams profanities, his face going beet red, as he kicks out his leg, trying to strike Theo. He looks a mess. His hair is everywhere, his shirt untucked, waistcoat buttons ripped open. His lip is split, and there are blood drops on his white shirt. Meanwhile, Theo is barely breathing heavy.

“That’s enough!” Papà roars. Hissing a string of Italian profanities, he lets go of Theo and manoeuvres himself between the fighting pair, putting two hands on Theo’s chest and shoving him back a couple of steps. “This stops now!” My father’s eyes are blazing as he jabs an angry finger in Theo’s chest. “You get out! You’re no longer welcome here. How dare you walk into my house and show this level of disrespect!”

I hobble to Theo’s side and desperately shake my head. “Papà, you don’t understand—”

“I understand perfectly!” Papà snaps harshly. His eyes flick back to Theo, who has gone very still, his face a mask of stony resignation. “You’re uncouth riffraff, coming in here and starting fights! We don’t want your kind here!”

Anger sparks in my stomach. None of this is Theo’s fault, and once again, Lucas gets away with murder.

Papà sneers at Theo as he continues, “You stay away from my Luciella. She’s spoken for and to be married!”

And now, I’m mad. Eye-twitch kind of mad.

I raise my chin and clumsily step forward, throwing my hands up in exasperation. “I’m not spoken for anymore, Papà! Lucas and I broke up, remember? What is it with you men and not taking no for an answer?” I cry angrily. “And Theo was only defending me! Lucas grabbed me first. None of this is Theo’s fault.”

“It’s okay, Luce. You don’t have to,” Theo says, his hand touching the small of my back, obviously trying to calm me down.

It doesn’t help.

My blood is boiling in my veins. I hate the way they’re all looking at him. He’s the loveliest, kindest man. He doesn’t deserve anyone to ever look at him with such revulsion and disgust.

Fred frowns over at me. “Well, you did insist on bringing someone here just to rub it in Lucas’s face tonight. What did you expect to happen? How much can someone watch their fiancée kissing someone else