Aaron took a step back. He nodded and then turned for the stairs again.
“Do you?” I asked to his back.
He stopped in his tracks.
“Because he loves your family. And he puts his life on the line for you. He’d never tell me the details, of course. But I know he does.” It had to be love that gave me the courage to say all of this to a man I didn’t know. And one, I imagined, didn’t just look intimidating but very well could be when he needed to.
Aaron turned back to me. “He’s guarded my family for years. He spends almost as much time with my children as I do. He holds my wife’s life in his hand when she’s not in my sight. Of course I do. He’s part of my family.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I didn’t have to ask to know that Aaron wasn’t the type of man to say what he didn’t mean.
“You should tell him.”
His eyes widened in surprise. I got the impression he wasn’t a man who was easily surprised either.
But I was on a roll, so I kept going.
“He believes he doesn’t have any family beyond his father. If you love him, too, you should tell him.”
He threw another look of contemplation my way. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t need to. We just said everything that needed to be said between us. We’d come to an understanding.
I watched Aaron head back down the stairs. I continued in the other direction, taking in our conversation. It warmed my heart to know that the Townsends didn’t think of Brutus as just their head of security. But I also meant what I said. He needed to know it. They needed to tell him.
I thought of the young boy who only had his mom to rely on. And he’d watched as men abused her. I realized the night he told me that those experiences he’d had as a child were what created his desire to protect others. To the extent that he’d put his very body in the line of fire to keep them safe.
I peered up at the artwork but didn’t notice it. I was already planning how I wanted to tell Brutus that I was in love with him. Lost in my thoughts made me unaware of my surroundings.
Which was why when Vincent came up behind me, I didn’t hear him.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
I jolted and spun around. “I was on my way downstairs.” I tried to move around him, but he side-stepped, getting in my way. My stomach dropped. I felt this encounter would be even uglier than the one we’d had on the street over a month ago. The strange gleam in his eyes told me so.
“Vincent, I don’t know what your issue is, but you need to get out of my way,” I said sternly.
“My fucking issue is you.” He thrust his finger in my face.
“Number one,” I said, fists balling at my sides, “I have nothing to do with you. Number two, it’s no one else’s fault that you can’t do your job.” I threw the words in his face, uncaring. I remembered back to the previous week what Maureen had told me about Vincent losing multiple accounts.
“Instead of being here in my face, it would serve you to worry about how to keep your job.”
I started to push past him when he lunged at me. On instinct, I spun, knocking his arm away, then grabbing his wrist and twisting it. He folded over like a lawn chair.
“I told you the first time about putting your fucking hands on me,” I gritted out.
“Get the hell off of me, bitch. Ah!” He screeched when I twisted his arm farther and braced his elbow with my other hand. I was in the perfect position to break his arm if he pushed me too damn far.
“You’re obviously hard of hearing. So I’ll tell your stupid ass again. Keep your hands to yourself, and the next time you see me, cross the street. Stay the hell away from me and out of my way.”
With that, I pushed him away from me, letting him go.
“You stupid cu—” He had been starting to charge me again, but a giant hand wrapped around his throat and slammed his back into the wall. His head crashed into the glass that housed a fire alarm, cracking it.
I gasped at the sight of Brutus with his hand firmly around Vincent’s neck.
“You don’t like your life very much?” Brutus asked. His voice was eerily calm despite the furious expression on his face.
“Brutus?” I called tentatively. He was like a vast, barreling bear. It was best not to startle them lest they rip whatever was in their sight to shreds.
