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There’s a brief moment of conflict in his eyes before he realizes that there’s no point in keeping it from us because we’ll find out eventually; we always do.
Now that I’m looking at him properly, I can see the dark circles under his eyes, and I feel the anger start to build. I can’t believe that I fucking missed the signs. I know we’ve got shit going on with Atlas’s sudden departure, but that’s no excuse.
Luc glances away from us as he rubs his hand on the back of his neck, “Not really, my fucking dad is on the warpath again; it’s nothing that I can’t handle, though.”
“Are you hurt?” I growl.
He shakes his head, “No, just the same emotional bullshit he likes to pull. He threw a few things, but he’s not a very good shot.”
“How long until he does start to hurt you?” Jensen hisses, the darkness that is always present in his eyes practically glowing with the hungry need for violence.
Luc shrugs, and I know that he doesn’t want to talk about it. We’ve had this conversation so many times before, all of us warning him that it won’t be long until his father's verbal abuse turns physical; he’s already upped it by throwing things.
“Let us help?” Cash asks as he steps forward, his expression severe as he studies him closely, trying to determine if Luc’s really okay.
Luc shakes his head, “I can handle it.”
“You need to stand up to him,” Jensen says bluntly.
Luc sighs as he replies, “I know.”
The arguments that I had ready pause on the tip of my tongue, that is not his normal response when his father starts in on him. Usually, he mutters some excuses about his father going through shit at work, and he got in the way or something that is as equally shit a reason for his behavior. So this time, his quick and easy agreement is a surprise but a good one.
“Do you want backup?” I ask.
Luc shakes his head, “No, if I stand up to him and you guys help, he’s still going to think that I need the help, and then he’ll just carry on when you guys aren’t around.”
I nod, “Yeah, I can see the logic in that.”
Luc pauses, and then adds, swallowing thickly, “I’ll let you guys know if I need back up though.”
We share a look, but Cash replies, “Of course, we’ll all keep our phones close like usual.”
Luc smiles and replies, “Thanks, guys.”
Jensen starts to tap away on his laptop, and Rafe and Riot turn back to face the road; now that the conversation has moved on and we’ve established that Luc is okay, well, he’s not, but there’s now a plan in place, and that’s more than we’ve had in the past.
“Stay at mine for the next few days until you’ve recovered a bit,” I tell him. It’s not a suggestion; it’s an order.
Luc is an extremely capable fighter, better than most, and can easily take his father down if it goes that far. That being said, I don’t want to risk him going back there and being caught unaware by his cunt of a father. If there were any way around it at all, then I wouldn’t want him to go back there ever again. Unfortunately, it’s complicated, and that’s not an option at the moment. As soon as he’s eighteen he’s out, and thanks to Jenson’s gift with investing he’s got plenty of money to buy himself a place, in the likely event that his father cuts him off from his substantial inheritance.
Luc nods, “Yeah, thanks, dude.”
“How are you going to let us know that you need us if you’re in the middle of an argument?” Cash asks.
Luc thinks about it for a moment, “I’ll just call Trick. He’s on my speed dial anyway. So if I call you and don’t immediately start talking, you need to get your ass to mine.”
I nod, “Got it.”
I fucking hate that he’s in this situation, and I sort of wish he’d taken Atlas up on allowing him to sort it.
I get why he didn’t though.
Chapter Three
Trick
“How’re you getting on with the camera?” Cash asks, changing the subject and getting a grateful look from Luc.
