Kids could be so stupid. She wasn’t going to like what she was going to have to do, but that little revelation could wait until she finished her story. “What happened when you went to see him?”
Her shudder answered Jake’s question, and he exchanged a glance with Maria. She’d seen firsthand how some men treated women and could guess what had gone on between Angie and Fortunada. A hardness he’d never seen before glinted in Maria’s eyes and he could read her thoughts as if she spoke them aloud. She wasn’t going to let this go until the man was dead or behind bars.
“What happened, Angie?” Maria asked.
Angie’s gaze shifted to Eddie. “I think you should go home now.”
“The hell I will. What did he do to you?”
“Easy,” Jake said to the agitated boy. He put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “It won’t help her if you get crazy.”
“I know. I’m okay.” The kid swiped a hand through his hair. “But I’m not leaving.”
“Look at me, Angie, and don’t pay them any mind. Just look at me and tell me what happened,” Maria said.
The girl took a deep breath and then trained her eyes on Maria. “He said he’d give me some money if I’d do things to him. I told him he was disgusting and it was no wonder my mom broke up with him. ‘Who needed some old lady when I can have a fresh young thing like you,’ he said and laughed. I realized I’d been stupid to go there and turned to leave. He grabbed me and was ripping off my shirt when you rang the doorbell. He let go and I ran out the door.”
She shuddered again. “You saved me, and I wanted to thank you, but I was just too scared. I was worried about you, though. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I am,” Maria said.
But she almost hadn’t been. Jake glanced at Maria’s cheek. She’d done a good job of covering her bruise with makeup. You could see it if you knew it was there, but Angie was too caught up in her problems to notice.
“What’re we gonna do about this? The asshole needs to pay for hurting Angie,” Eddie said.
“You need to leave Fortunada to the police.” And me. Jake looked at Eddie and hardened his gaze. “You stay far away from the man. If you feel like you need to do something, then just be there for Angie and her mom.”
Jake knelt in front of Angie. “You’re going to have to tell your mom about this.”
She gave a vigorous shake of her head. “She has enough to worry about already.”
“Angie, I doubt he’ll appear on your doorstep, but if he gets desperate . . .” He didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was, but she needed to be warned. “You just never know what a desperate man will do. Your mother needs to know. Tomorrow, Maria and I will come by with Detective Nolan. You’ll like him, I promise.”
Angie slapped her hands over her face. “Oh, God.”
While Maria comforted the girl, Jake nudged Eddie away and had a brief conversation with the kid before sending him and Angie home.
“Are they going to be safe? Shouldn’t we have found out where she lives?” Maria asked, her gaze intent on the couple walking away. Eddie had his arm around Angie, and her head rested on his shoulder.
“Angie Davis, mother’s name is Carol, 127 Marbury Avenue.”
Maria blinked and turned wide eyes on him. He grinned and took her hand. “Come on, we’ll follow ’em, make sure they stay safe.”
Maria sipped her wine as she watched Jake unwrap the cheese. She was helpless in the kitchen, but grating cheese was probably something she could do.
“Want me to do that?”
He sent a quick look of mock horror over his shoulder. “So you can slice your fingers on the grater? No thanks.”
Because he was probably right, she didn’t take offense. “I still don’t understand why you’d rather have a boring piece of fish and broccoli than tacos.”
“My body is my temple.”
She couldn’t deny his body was meant to be worshiped, but God forbid the day would come when she had to eat broccoli to stay in shape. Logan never ceased to scold her about her choice of food. That Jake would willingly cook two different meals and not insist she eat healthy did something funny to her heart.
Her gaze slid over his back, over the broad shoulders, down his spine to the trim waist, and below that to his lean hips. What would it feel like to slide her hands over his hard body, his taut butt? She marked the moment she decided, one way or another, she’d find out.