Page 181 of Lucky Mother Pucker

I stand there, stunned as I listen to them. Wait, Zoey lost her job? When? And it was because of Jeff?

I try to make sense of all this. I don’t understand how she’s so calm right now. Of course she’s not cheating. My sister would never do that. How come she’s not angrier? How come she’s not lashing out at him?

Unless she’s used to this…unless he talks to her like this all the time…

Dread slices through my gut like a knife as my brain begins to pull it all together.

Jeff is verbally abusing my sister.

“You’re such a fucking slut,” he shouts.

She tries to move past him, but he grabs her by the face and shoves her against the wall.

Chapter 64

Leo

Something inside of me snaps.

I don’t think. I just react.

A split second later, I’m behind Jeff, grabbing him by the hair, and pulling him off my sister.

The moment he lets go of her, I smash his face against the wall.

He groans and falls to the ground, slumped into a ball.

Zoey screams. I turn to her. She’s standing off to the side, watching with wide eyes as she covers her mouth.

I turn to her. “Are you okay?”

She looks at me and nods. I move to touch her arm, but I stop myself when I see the bruises on her wrist.

She glances down where I’m looking, then pulls on the sleeve of the blouse she’s wearing.

I clench my jaw so hard, it’s about to shatter. That anger inside of me has morphed into uncontrolled rage.

“Did he do that to you?” I ask.

She hesitates.

“Zoey. Did he put his hands on you?”

Her eyes fill with tears, and she nods.

Rage pumps hot through my blood. It feels like molten lava is coursing through my veins.

I think about that bruise I saw on her arm weeks ago. That wasn’t an accident. He did that. He hurt my sister.

“How long has he been doing this to you?”

She sniffles. “A while.”

The rage inside of me deepens and sharpens.

“Go inside, Zoey.”

She opens her mouth to speak, but I just shake my head.