Before I could even turn around to tell him to back off, he had two fists full of my shirt and was yanking me away from Ana. Out of instinct, I let go of her, stumbling back from the force of another grown man propelling me backward.
There was barely any time to react as a fist came swinging at me, nearly catching me right in the jaw. I jerked my head back out of instinct, giving me enough of a torque on my body to slip free from his hold on me.
“Knock it off!” Sergeant Boise’s voice boomed.
Unfortunately, it seemed Steele was too enraged at seeing me put hands on his mistress, despite it being self-defense in the first place. He reared back once more, clocking me on the shoulder on his way up from swinging and missing my face yet again.
There was a brief moment where I spotted Brandon darting away from the two officers and coming at Steele and I full force. In that instant, my heart clenched with worry. As noble as it was of him to come over here and help defend me, I in no way wanted him hurt in the process.
Thankfully, both officers suddenly seemed to decide that springing into action was a far better choice than waiting for Steele to actually land some kind of hit that would result in me having an open and shut lawsuit against the Palmerston police department for negligence.
The second I stepped to the side, the other office tackled Steele to the ground, flattening him on his stomach. The man let out a shrill howl the moment his arms were yanked behind his back and a pair of cuffs was slapped on his wrists.
My cheek burned, the skin tender when I tapped at it gently.
Bitch...
“No!” Ana screeched, jabbing a manicured finger at me. “Arresthim!”
“Slaps count as assault, ma’am,” Boise stated, motioning for her to turn around. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
I wasn’t afraid to admit how satisfying it was to watch Ana fight with the officer before she, too, was forced into cuffs. Her shouts for them to arrest and charge me with assault rang on deaf ears, even as she was forcefully dragged out of my foyer literally kicking and screaming.
“Jesus...” Brandon mumbled, his arm looping under mine. He tucked his body against me, allowing me to lean my weightinto him while we stood by and waited for Steele to be peeled off the floor and taken out to the police cars parked in the driveway.
As soon as the foyer grew quiet, a long sigh of relief left me.
“Let me see.” Brandon maneuvered my face around, his touch gentle. “Oh...”
“How bad?” Judging by his reaction, I had a feeling it was already bruising. For someone so small, Ana sure had a killer wind-up.
“It’s... well, you can definitely see the impression of her fingers. And her manicure.”
I rolled my eyes. “Mind taking a picture? I want to send it over to Ted for evidence. Maybe charging her will keep her off my property.”
After Brandon snapped a few photos and sent them over to me, he slipped his phone back into his pocket in order to cup my jaw again. “We should get you some ice.”
“We should follow up with the cops first. They’ll probably want us to fill out a report first before they leave.”
“Good point. Hopefully, they’ll stay in jail over the weekend. It’s the least they deserve.”
I slipped an arm around his waist, pulling him to my side again.
His warm body was comforting, a solid weight against me that instantly soothed whatever lingering anger I had surging through me. He was my own personal white noise machine, cutting through the chaos in my mind with that unshakable steadiness he wore so well.
My cheek pinched when I leaned down to kiss him, a hiss escaping me.
“Careful,” he murmured.
It was those damn nails. Like fucking razor blades.
The moment I reached down to grab his hand, he laced our fingers together. A warmth spread through my body, startingfrom my chest where it rapidly trickled down to my toes. The feeling beat in time with my heart, cocooning me in these tender emotions I had for my best friend.
What would I ever do with him?
“Come on,” he said, nodding for the doors. “Let’s get this over with. Then I can get back to babying you.”
With a firm nod and a hand squeeze, he tugged us forward.
