I was glad Jacob’s punch wasn’t as strong as Rowan’s. Otherwise, I would have had worse than a bleeding—hopefully not broken—nose.
Rowan was standing over the prone man, hands fisted at his sides, breathing heavily, with an expression that sent chills down my spine.
This was not the gruff family man who was impossibly tender with his girls. This was a truly dangerous person. I knew him, had plenty of evidence to show he was a responsible, good man. But I was afraid to be in the room with him.
He physically jolted when Nora placed her hand on his bicep.
He quickly turned to her, the two of them having a hushed conversation as he gripped the sides of her face.
The other married couple was not having a quiet conversation.
“Fiona!” Kip yelled. “You’re pregnant. What in the freshfuckdid you think you were doing getting involved?”
I’d never seen the usually jovial man so pissed off, unhinged. I hadn’t noticed the shadows beneath his cheery exterior until he was staring at his wife.
“I don’t know, Kip!” Fiona threw her hands up. “How about my best friend being bullied, my newly indoctrinated Jupiter wife beingpunchedin the face, and only a pregnant Lori left to go against the asshole?” She was shouting too, and it made me realize she was talking about me in the “wife” term.
Lori handed me some tissues, looking extremely pale. Tears were still running down my face as I pressed them to my nose, reaching out to squeeze her hand in comfort.
“I’m not a wife.” Crazily, I interrupted their tense conversation, one I wasn’t meant to be a part of.
Fiona smiled at me with a brilliance that should not have existed after all that ruckus, and especially not with her husband glowering at her.
“Oh, don’t worry, honey, you will be. Just a matter of time.” She waved her hand at my nose. “That’ll speed things along.”
I didn’t have a chance to ask her what the heck she meant by that because, apparently, Kip was done listening.
“We’re going to the hospital. Now.” He pointed to the door. “And as soon as they tell me our baby is okay and they clear you for sex, you’ll be getting a long, naked talking to about how you’ll never pull that shit on me again.”
He grabbed her arm then dragged her—gently—out of the bakery. Fiona finger-waved at everyone, still smiling.
Kip was not a danger to her. That much was clear. He loved her so much that his worry was unearthing a side of him he’d obviously tried to keep buried.
Just like the side of Rowan I hadn’t known existed until I saw him heaving over Jacob’s body like he wanted to kill him.
My body stiffened as Rowan came forward, in my direction. I was only now beginning to process what had happened to me.
Out of instinct, I coiled to protect myself from another male threat. I was no longer there in Jupiter; I was in a trailer withWaylon, glass raining down on me. I was thirteen years old, my mother’s boyfriend screaming at me.
Rowan slowed his gait, holding up his hands in surrender.
“Just gonna check on you.” He spoke slowly, low. Nonthreatening.
Except he was. Threatening. He was exceptionally tall. He had broad shoulders. Muscles. Fists that could knock a man unconscious.
“Tilt your head back,” he instructed softly, stopping a safe distance from me.
With my nose throbbing, I did as he said, heart still racing, trying to convince myself I was okay.
“You’re safe,” Rowan murmured, watching me.
I nodded, thankful for the firm words, for the distance he kept.
Then came the rush of police and EMTs. Finn first, springing through the bakery, barely even looking at the man on the floor who had begun to groan.
Standing beside me, Lori gasped at the sound, grabbing my arm. I patted her hand.
Rowan jerked, looking over his shoulder. “I’ll take care of that, you let the EMTs take care of you.”
