“I don’t… I don’t even know what to say. That’s just crazy,” I told him.
“Nope, it isn’t. Last November a friend of mine did something brave but stupid to save someone she cared about. She got a bullet to the chest and another one to the belly for her troubles.”
Yikes.
I sucked in breath at his announcement and the way he shared it. He looked angry and his body was tense and I knew this event affected him in a profound way (as it would anyone).
I stared at him but he wasn’t finished talking. “I saw her on the floor, bleeding while her man tried to staunch the flow with a f**king bath towel. Before she went down, she shot a man in the head, killing him. She’s got to live with two kinds of scars now. The kind you can see and the kind you can’t.”
Ho-ly crap.
“Luke,” I had lost my glare and my anger and my voice went soft.
Luke didn’t feel like responding to my soft voice. He came closer and it took a lot of effort, because his intensity was freaking me out, but I stayed where I was even when I saw his eyes were shining with anger.
“I’m not playing this f**king game with you, Ava. You told me last night you wanted to know why I cuffed you. So now I’ll tell you. You’re playin’ with fire and I’m not about to stand around and watch you get burned. Before Jules got shot, there was Roxie, another friend of mine’s woman who was stalked by her ex, beaten, abducted right from his f**kin’ house while he was out runnin’, and taken on a crazed, zigzag ride through three states. We found her cuffed to the sink in a sleazy motel. Before Roxie there was Jet, whose Dad got some poker debt and his loan shark tried to use Jet to force payment. She caught the attention of a f**kwad and ended up kidnapped and nearly raped. Before Jet there was –”
“Okay, I get it,” I broke in quietly.
Jeez.
I was freaked out and he hadn’t even gotten to the car bombs yet. Boy and I thought all the men I had met were ass**les.
“Tell me right now what you and Sissy are up to,” he demanded, moving back but only slightly.
I gave in. I might as well, he wasn’t going to let it go, that was easy enough to read. And anyway, I knew this extent of sharing was taking some effort for him, what with being a tough guy, macho man and all. I didn’t like that he was angry and struggling with unhappy memories and I further didn’t like that I was the cause of it. It made me feel crap.
“I don’t want Sissy to come back here,” I blurted and Luke’s body went still, likely preparing for what I would say next. “Dom’s good at sweet-talking her back to him and he’s a total jerk and no good for her. I won’t get into it but trust me, he’s seriously no good for her. While she’s gone, I promised to get the goods on Dom, find some evidence to use so the divorce would go well for her.”
“So you were searchin’ his shit last night to find somethin’ on him.”
“Yeah.”
His body visibly relaxed and I felt my body relax in response. I didn’t know his tension was making me tense and I didn’t know what to make of that. I decided not to think about it as I watched him nab another chunk of melon and throw it in his mouth.
“It’s covered,” he told me, mid chew.
I stared at him. “What?”
“I’ll get what Sissy needs.”
Yee ha!
“Really?” I breathed.
Yay! No more breaking and entering and stupid behavior, Good Ava shouted happily.
Damn, there goes all the fun, Bad Ava pouted.
“Really,” Luke said.
I couldn’t help it, I smiled at him. This was good, really good for Sissy. I imagined Luke knew what he was doing, considering the loft and the Porsche showed that people paid him a lot to do it.
His eyes dropped to my mouth and watched me smile. When they did this, his face, as usual, stayed hard but his eyes lost the shiny, dangerous anger and became soft and warm.
I ignored this because it made my knees wobble.
“What do I do?” I asked. “Do I go to the offices and talk to Shirleen? Set up an account?”