Page 43 of Derecho

Beau laughed. “Sorry, you do know my fiancé would not have listened to you for a second, don’t you?”

“Yes, she would have. She loves me, and she’s the one who comforted me every time Lainey made me cry. We’re family.”

“Yeah, and so is Lainey. We don’t have to like it, but our brother is a grown man.”

“He’s still healing!” She turned back to me, eyes locking on mine like a loaded missile. “Lachlan, please! You can’t trust her.”

I groaned, running my hand over my face. “It’s not up for discussion. You don’t have to like it, but Lainey needs somewhere to land, and I’m not about to kick a pregnant woman out of my house after I had to swear a hundred goddamn times that I wanted her here and I’d keep her safe.”

“Safe from what?!”

Ringing cut through our argument.

“Sorry, it’s Birdie.” Beau pressed the phone to his ear. “Hey, Chickadee. You guys on your way back to the ranch?”

Jessie had made her points, but I didn’t care about any of them. In fact, I couldn’t stop thinking about the way Lainey saw me last night. Really, truly saw me. And she didn’t ever look at me with pity, or sadness.

“What do you mean? Is she okay?”

The snap in Beau’s voice had me stepping toward him. Had something happened?

“Okay, yeah. I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Oh, are you sure? Just get back here safely.” Beau sighed. “Love you, too.”

“What happened?” I barked as soon as the phone was away from his ear.

“Birdie and Lainey stopped at the pharmacy. They each went their own way to find what they needed, and Greg showed up. I don’t know anything more than that, but they’re on their way back now.”

“What. The. Fuck?! Is she okay? Did he hurt her again?”

“Again?” Jess asked, looking between me and Beau. Shit.

“Lainey’s fine, I guess. Other than being shaken up from seeing him.” Beau turned to our sister, holding out his daughter to her. “Jess, can you watch Juniper for me for a sec? I want to step outside to call Colt and loop him in on what happened.”

Jessie’s eyes were wide as she took our niece in her arms. “Yeah, of course.”

“I’m going with you,” I added.

“No. Stay here with Jessie.”

I reared back. “Since when does anyone in this family want me to stay in my house?”

“Birdie asked…Lainey doesn’t want to make a scene when she gets here.”

“I wouldn’t make a scene.” Beau’s eyes dropped to my clenched fists, then back to my face with a raised brow. “Okay, fine. Point taken.”

Beau chuckled. “Stand down. Lainey can handle herself.”

Of course she could. But she shouldn’t have to. Not with that piece of shit⁠—

Jessie squared her shoulders. “What did you mean when you asked if Greg hurt her again?”

“What the hell happened? Are you okay?” I practically ripped the car door off its hinges the second Birdie parked in my driveway. Christ, I needed to take a breath. She didn’t want anyone making a big deal out of what happened.

“I’m fine. Greg was just being…Greg.” Her words came out strong, and for a second I really believed that whatever happened hadn’t affected her. But the moment her red-rimmed eyes looked up at me, I knew it was all an act.

“Trouble…”

She shook her head as I helped her out of the car, dropping my hand as quickly as she could as soon as she was up on her feet. Got it. She didn’t want to talk about it, and she didn’t want me pushing.