“Hold on,” I called out as I wiped at my face with a paper towel.
Taking in the face on the other side, I turned the lock and then pulled it wide.
“Luna,” Owen peeked his head inside the door.
“Hey.” I turned my back to him, needing to sit down so I could pull the rest of the suit off. “What’s going on?” I asked just as I made it to my desk and pulled out the rolling chair so I could take a seat.
“Mr. Cooper asked me to tell you to go to his office,” my coworker answered, sounding a whole lot more serious than usual.
I pulled the suit off from my feet, glancing up at him to shoot him a smile that made my cheek ache. I had iced and smothered ointment on it afterward, so I knew it hurt less than it would have if I hadn’t. I needed a freaking break. A nice, long break, and if things could go right for just a little while, well that would be nice too.
But I wasn’t going to hold my breath.
Especially not when one sister still wasn’t answering my calls and another one was being weird too.
“Okay, I’ll go up there in a second.”
Owen hesitated. “You okay?”
I shrugged. “My cheek hurts and the cuts on my hands sting, but I’ll be okay.”
My longtime friend looked at me in a way that said he believed me, but it didn’t make him feel any better. He hadn’t been around when I had been upstairs, but the guys at the shop were nosey. They knew something had happened, but I hadn’t said exactlywhat. I’d bet within three minutes, they had come to some conclusion and were just giving me space now.
I appreciated it. There was something really messed up about a family member trying to hurt you, especially when it was your dad who had put it into effect.
But luckily none of that was anything new for me.
And if I got some pleasure at Rudy getting hurt… well, I wasn’t going to feel bad. I could feel nice after everything that had happened. It was the least he deserved.
“Luna…”
I couldn’t even find it in me to muster up a smile. “Yeah?”
His dark brown eyes slid from one side of the room to the other, and his voice dropped so I could barely hear him as he said, “You want us to deal with it?”
“Deal with what?” I asked him as I stood up.
He was still looking around the room. “With the kid.”
I stood there.
He looked at me and let his stare stay. “We looked at the video. He was the one who let them in,” he told me solemnly. “You want us to teach him a lesson?”
I don’t know what it said about me that I felt more loved by my coworkers than ever before right then in that moment.
You didn’t offer to beat up someone unless they meant something to you.
And that’s what Owen was in here doing, being the representative. That was what Miguel and Rip had done for me by running out into the lot to help me.Thatwas what family did.
And even though I shouldn’t have smiled, I did. I probably sounded way more chipper than I should as I answered back, “That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever offered me, Owen, but it’s okay.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you sure? Because nobody messes with one of our own.”
I had always known I was one of theirs, or they were one of mine, but to hear it…
Well, that took care of the pain more than anything else ever would.
“I’m sure, but thank you. And tell the other guys I said thank you too. I’m touched, honestly,” I told him.
