Luc takes long strides that I can barely keep up with. The flames burning in my stomach bank higher, fueled by his energy.
“Just try not to think about it.”
“I can’t.”
“You’ve got to let it go.”
He lets out a hollow laugh. “You might as well ask me to cut my balls off.”
We walk through the doors that automatically slide open for us. The wind tousles Luc’s dark hair, and he brushes an impatient hand over the wayward strands.
“I don’t let things go.”
“Excuse me.” A deep, throaty voice warbles out of nowhere.
Luc and I step aside as a tall man buried under a beige trench coat heads for the store. He pauses midstep and turns his head.
Bloodshot pale-blue eyes cut at me.
I back into Luc’s solid chest, my heart seizing as I recognize that mop of flattened yellow hair. His shirt is wrinkled and it’s half-tucked in his slacks, which look like they’ve been slept in. Unkempt yellow and gray stubble grows on his face.
Officer Boucher looks like shit.
“Claire.”
Despite everything, when he sees me, a ray of hope lights up his face. Luc forcibly grabs my arms and drags me behind him, blocking my body with his.
Officer Boucher’s lips curl, exposing his brick-like teeth. “As if I would ever hurt her.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck if you run into my wife in town, you stay the hell away from her.”
“Piss off.”
A vein throbs in the side of Luc’s neck. He’s been dying to have a go at Frank for weeks.
This is really bad.
“Let’s just go,” I hiss in his ear.
Before he can spar back with Frank, I step away from the curb and walk into the parking lot. Luc’s footsteps follow close behind me. To my horror, so do Frank’s.
“Claire, wait!”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
Luc sidesteps Boucher, blocking his way to me. My insides clench as though an invisible hand reached in. Luc’s face is inches away from Boucher’s. His fists tremble at his sides, but Frank has eyes for only me.
Jesus.
Luc’s lips hardly move as he speaks. “You are so fucking lucky that you are a cop. If you were anyone else, you’d be dead. And I would take my time. I’d make you scream like the little bitch that you are.”
“I went to your parents’ house,” he says baldly.
What?
“Did you really think you could hide Claire’s baby from me?” His voice deepens. “I can get to you anytime, anywhere.”
Oh God.
Luc’s about to blow.
“You went to my parents’ house.”
The fucking gall of it.
“Your father told me all about you.”
Boucher ducks under Luc’s flying fist and rams him headfirst, knocking his back to the concrete. They fall together.
“Luc, you can’t!”
He rips his fist across Boucher’s jaw. His head swings back and recovers. They grapple on the ground as my screams bounce uselessly in the parking lot. Boucher’s thick hands wrap around Luc’s throat, but he jams his knee between the cop’s legs. The blond man makes an O with his mouth and falls to the side, writhing in agony. Luc scrambles to his feet, his chest pulsing. He prepares for a kick, Boucher’s moans echoing throughout the parking lot.
“Don’t!”
Goaded beyond endurance, Luc blasts Boucher’s face with his foot.
“I’ll fucking kill you!”
Luc’s strong hands pick him up before he can recover, digging his fingers into his greasy yellow hair.
“NO!”
Boucher’s face smashes through a windshield as Luc hurls him into a nearby car.
“Oh my God!”
Voices scream behind me, and I see a crowd of people watching the savage beating.
“Call 9-1-1!”
Shards of glass stick out from Frank’s face as Luc yanks him back by his hair, his face lit up with savage glee.
“Not so funny now, is it?”
He slams his head into the metal frame of the car, causing a huge dent. A moan breaks from Boucher’s chest as he slides to the pavement, clutching his face.
“You went to my fucking parents’ place. You’re fucking done. You’re finished.” Luc bends over, his dark eyes alive with malice as he grabs Boucher’s bleeding head and digs his thumbs in his eyes. “Do you fucking hear me?”
Boucher screams in pain and waves his fists in the air. I want to pull Luc away, but I’m rooted to the spot, shocked beyond belief. Then sirens wail nearby and they break me out of my paralysis.
I grab Luc’s arm, throwing my weight into dragging him off. “Luc, stop. They’re coming!”
“I can’t—I need to—”
He’s belligerent, consumed with rage.