“Oh, okay. Well, change of plans.”
His tone goes serious. “What’s wrong?” I hear his heavy footsteps pick up the pace.
“Nothing! Nothing is wrong, but, um—” I look at Luisa as she mouths “my place” and I nod. “We were thinking of heading to Luisa and Nick’s place next, so maybe we can all meet there?”
“Okay… are you sure everything is all right?” I pause longer than he deems reasonable. “Daisy, are you still at the bar? I’m coming to you, and you’re going to tell me—”
“Please drive safely. I’m fine, but Damien showed up. And there was a photographer outside the bar, most likely planted there by him, so you might see photos of him kissing my cheek and talking to me. The girls were with me the entire time and your sister told him off, but you never know with these pictures and how they get edited, and I need you to know that I had no idea—”
“Daisy, breathe, baby.”
“No, not until you tell me you believe me and that you’re on your way to Nick’s place and not to hunt down Damien.” I can hear a displeased sound coming from his chest at the mention of Damien. “Please, Luke? I need to see you.”
“Daisy girl, of course I believe you. And I’m on my way. And not because you asked me to, but because I need to make sure for myself that you really are okay. I should be at Nick’s place in ten minutes.”
Luisa’s private car pulls up to the curb and we start to pile in. “His place is at least twenty minutes away.”
“I’ll still be there in ten. I love you, Daisy.”
“I love you too.”
thirty-nine
I pull into theprivate garage under Nick’s brownstone and am out of my truck before the engine’s fully turned off.
I curse his fancy elevator for taking an eternity, and when I finally enter the mahogany enclosure, I try to focus on my breathing instead of the need to break something with my bare hands.
Like Damien’s neck.
The doors open and I’m out in a flash, walking toward the voices coming from the living room.
I know I won’t be able to calm the fuck down until I have eyes on Daisy and can confirm for myself that she is unharmed and unaffected by whatever the hell Damien pulled tonight.
“I’m thinking a restraining order should do the trick,” Nick says as I turn the corner and immediately lay eyes on Daisy, who’s sitting on the oversized chair by the fireplace. I’m vaguelyaware that my sister is here along with others, but I push that to the back of my mind as I head straight for my girl.
“Luke!” She stands quickly, but before she has the chance to take a step toward me, I’m on her, pulling her up into my arms. “I’m okay, I promise.” Her hands wrap around me and slowly start to play with the hairs at the nape of my neck.
“Gimme a minute. I need to hold you for a minute longer to make sure.”
“I’m okay, I promise. Hate that this happened. I don’t want you to worry.”
I ease back until I can stare into her beautiful brown eyes. “I’ll always worry when it comes to you, Daisy.” I straighten and run my hands up and down her arms, gently squeezing. She flinches slightly, leaning one arm out of my reach as discreetly as possible.
My eyes zero in on her arm and I’m two seconds away from pulling down her sleeve when she raises her hands and says, “It didn’t bruise. I already checked.”
My blood boils, and it’s clear I’m not the only one who’s irate.
“Say that again for me, sis? You’re telling me this fucker put his hands on you?”
Luisa steps into Nick’s arms, but his gaze is pinned on my girl, who’s nervously biting her lip.
My sister claps her hands, forcing the attention away from Daisy momentarily. “Okay, fellas, this is how it’s going to go. Daisy and the rest of us ladies will tell you everything that went down. And you’re going to listen quietly. Without exerting any toxic, alpha-male energy that Daisy clearly doesn’t need after running into what we can all agree is her massive asshole of an ex. So sit, have a glass of water or a horse tranquilizer for all I care, simmer the fuck down, and let Daisy process. Because from what I’ve seen, all she’s worried about is not stressing you out.” She points to Nick. “And making sure you knew that shedidn’t betray you.” She points to me next and dread pools in my gut knowing that Daisy was more concerned about me and my feelings than whatever the hell that piece of shit just put her through. “Give the woman some breathing room and… and… Luisa, do you know how to make that Fair Trade martini from scratch by any chance? Because that douchebag interrupted right as I got my last drink, and it messed with the happy buzz I had going. It’s been forever since I had a girls’ night out and I’ll be damned if it ends like this.”
Nick grumbles. “So Coach, that’s your sister?”
I nod. “The one and only.”
He keeps his frown in place, looking between me and Val. “I think I like her. Though she does talk a lot more than you do.”
