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“I’d rather not talk about that right now.”

He nods, accepting my answer far easier than I expected him to. I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Fair enough but is he the one who did this to you?”

“No,” I say, dropping my gaze to my lap for the hundredth time tonight as the events of the evening come rushing back to me again. “The father… he’s… it doesn’t matter right now but he’s a good man. He would never do something like this.”

Chance leans forward, placing his hands flat on the table and motions to me. “I realize we’re all shocked here and I sure as hell want to know who knocked her up but I’m far more concerned about the more immediate problem.”

“Right,” Logan answers, nodding as his gray gaze locks onto me again. “What happened tonight?”

Just like that, memories from the evening return and slam into me like a freight train. I suck in a breath and clench my shaking hands.

“When I first found out I was pregnant, I didn’t know if I was going to keep the baby and to say I didn’t handle it well would be an understatement. I threw myself into dating, trying to avoid the truth…”

“And what does this have to do with what happened tonight?” Logan asks, interrupting me as he scowls at me from across the table. It makes it ten times harder to tell this story and despite the fact that I know him well enough to know that he’s just focused, not angry, I still fidget in my seat.

“I went out with this guy…”

“What’s his name?” Chance cuts in and Ali scoffs, slamming her hand down on the table as she levels a glare at each of the guys.

“Jesus Christ, will y’all let her tell this story without fucking interrupting her?”

They both have the decency to look apologetic as they share a look and nod before turning back to me, quietly waiting for me to continue. Ali shakes her head as she turns back to me and offers me an encouraging smile.

“His name is Luca and as far as I was concerned… he was nobody. We went on a few dates at the beginning of my pregnancy and he was… not memorable.” I scoff at the thought because after tonight, I know I will never forget Luca. “I ran into him again tonight when I was picking up food after work and he was a dick…”

“Oh, no,” Carly whispers, fighting back a smile and I return the grin despite the tears stinging my eyes. “How bad was it?”

I laugh as a tear slips down my cheek. “Uh… pretty sure I called him a limp dick motherfucker and called him out on his micro penis.”

“Jesus Christ,” Chance spits out, a grin on his face as he shakes his head at me. He can act surprised all he wants but these guys know me well enough to know what my reaction was going to be.

“So, you put him in his place?” Ali supplies in an effort to push the conversation along and I’m grateful for it.

“Yeah, you could say that. I ripped him a new one and left him standing on the sidewalk as I went into the restaurant to get my food. When I came back out, I heard this man cry out and I was worried that he was hurt or something so I followed his voice into the alley. I peeked around the corner and saw two men advancing on a third as he cowered away from them. One of the men had a knife in his hand and when he took another step forward, he came into the light and I realized it was Luca.”

Logan leans forward, drawing my gaze up to him as his brows furrow in concentration. “He saw you?”

“Yeah,” I whisper, nodding as that moment flashes through my mind - four pairs of eyes turning to me in an instant. “I gasped when I realized it was him and they all heard me. Luca handed his knife off to the other man with him before pulling a second blade out of his boot. The other man… he stabbed the third guy… so many times… I don’t know. I lost count and then… Luca came after me.”

“But you got away from him?”

I shake my head. “Not at first. He tackled me in the alley… it’s how I got the bruise on my face and he was going to cut my throat but I fought him as hard as I could… somehow… I managed to get away.”

“What’s the bandage you showed me on your chest, Iz?” Ali asks, tears in her eyes and I shudder as I think about how close the knife came to slicing my throat open.

“That’s where he tried to slit my throat,” I whisper, my voice sounding unfamiliar to me as I lay that harsh truth out there for the whole damn world to see. The words hang in the air between us and I can’t stop picturing that moment.

“Oh, God,” Carly breathes, falling back in her chair as tears drip down her cheeks and she presses her fingers to her lips, staring at me in horror. I can’t say that I blame her. Even thinking about the way Luca looked at me in that alley has me ready to burst into tears again. I bite the inside of my cheek as my eyes burn with the tears I refuse to let fall. Glancing up, I meet Ali’s gaze. Tears drip down her face and I can’t help thinking about how close I came to losing it all tonight.

“What about the second guy?” Chance asks, reaching across the table and laying his hand on mine. It grounds me back in the moment as I turn to him. “Did you get a name on him?”

My mind flashes back to the alley in an instant and I nod. “Luca called him Gio.”

“And you think they’re going to come after you now?”

I nod, remembering the look on Luca’s face as I got away from him – the dark promise of my demise shining in his cold eyes. A shudder races down my spine and I pull my hand from the table to wrap my arms around myself.