Page 154

"I think you're making this personal."

Soren kept his mask in place, hoping that his expression remained unreadable. "I'm making this practical."

"Bullshit,” Luca challenged. He could always count on Luca to call his bluff.

Soren slowly closed the folder and tossed it onto his desk. "You've got thirty seconds before I kick your ass out of my office."

Luca wasn't intimidated because he'd known Soren for twenty years.

"I ran a background check,” Luca said.

"So did I,” Soren countered.

"You missed something." That was impossible. He didn’t miss anything. It was how he had gotten to where he was in life.

"I don't miss things,” Soren spat.

"You missed her hospital records,” Luca said.

Soren's eyes narrowed. "No—I had them pulled."

Luca slid another folder across the desk. "You missed the part about her never filing charges against the ex." Soren opened the folder and read the report. She had been in the emergency room with a broken wrist, concussion, three cracked ribs, lacerations, and bruises. Jesus Christ. There were different dates in the file, and she’d given different excuses every time. They ranged from falling down the stairs to a car accident and even a kitchen accident. Soren's jaw tightened. He'd seen enough falsified reports to recognize them instantly.

"What happened to him?” he asked.

"The ex?" Luca asked. Soren nodded. "He disappeared about eight months ago."

Soren looked up sharply. "Disappeared?"

"Yep—hasn’t been to work, got rid of his apartment, and deleted all his social media accounts. I found no credit activity, no passport use—nothing.”

Soren frowned. "That's unusual."

Luca nodded. "Unless somebody scared him into vanishing." Soren stared at the pages. The asshole vanishing was one possibility—or someone else had already decided the man deserved worse. Either possibility bothered him—not because he cared about the ex; he didn't. Men who hit women deserved broken bones at a minimum.

What bothered him was Lily. She'd survived all this and still apologized every other sentence. She still flinched whenever someone raised their voice and still asked permission before taking a second helping of soup. She'd been conditioned through years of fear and years of walking on eggshells.

Soren closed the folder. "If anyone touches her⁠—”

Luca raised an eyebrow, and Soren realized what he'd said, and how he'd said it. He sounded protective—far more protective than logic justified.

His friend smirked. "You want to finish that sentence?”

Soren's eyes hardened. "No,” he growled.

"You've known her for one hour,” Luca said.

"I know,” Soren breathed.

"And already—" A crash echoed from upstairs. Soren was on his feet before the sound had fully registered. He reached the hallway first, taking the stairs two at a time, and heard another loud thud, followed by a frightened gasp.

The guest room door stood halfway open, and inside, Lily had backed herself into the corner beside the bed, her breathing uneven. A shattered lamp lay across the hardwood floor, and she stared at the window with absolute terror.

Soren crossed the room slowly. "No one is coming through that window."

She shook her head violently. "I heard him,” she said, her voice trembling.

"You had a nightmare,” Soren said.