FIGHT

Chapter 11

I stop my feet from moving any further; I'm standing on a large pile of broken glass, but I'd rather that than Luke be any closer to me. The look in those blue eyes tells me he's angrier than I've ever seen him.

He really is mad enough to kill me.

Using my arm, I halt Holden in his tracks. I know the men can see each other, but if I let them any closer, things are going to get really bad. Fast.

I can feel Holden's gaze on me, but I keep my eyes locked on Luke. Luke is the threat, the one I'm afraid of.

If I ignored the look in his eyes, I'd be able to say that Luke looks happy. A small smile washes across his face, his blond hair impeccably styled despite the destruction he brought to my home. But his eyes are crazed; they give away that he's a malicious maniac.

It seems as if the room is swallowed in silence. Holden's looking at me, I'm looking at Luke, and Luke is going back and forth between the two of us, inevitably training his eyes on me and Holden's intertwined hands.

The tension in the air is thick, but the fear radiating out of me is even thicker.

Luke is the one to break the frozen atmosphere of the room. He only takes two steps towards me, but I already begin to feel like I'm suffocating from his proximity.

In response to Luke moving forward, Holden attempts to take a step as well. He tries moving himself in front of my body, but my grip on him doesn't allow that to happen.

I watch Luke as he runs his eyes down the length of Holden's body, sizing him up. "You're the guy from the restaurant on Thursday."

Thursday feels like an eternity away; it's impossible to believe it was only a few days ago.

My grip on Holden tightens. I try to silently tell him to keep his mouth shut. Luke only wants to provoke him; he's looking for a fight. Unfortunately, it seems my message to Holden is ill-received.

"You're the lad who gets a kick out of beating women."

Luke laughs long and loud, plopping himself down onto a chair in my living room as if nothing is out of the ordinary.

Granted, I'd rather him be sitting in a chair than demolishing everything I own.

"Come on, sweetheart. Take a seat. I just want to talk." This time his speech is directed at me, causing me to tense up even more.

I don't know what kind of game Luke is playing and I really don't want to find out. Holden tenses at Luke's nickname for me, but thankfully chooses not to comment on it.

Slowly, I drag Holden with me into the destroyed living room. I carefully sit on the couch, adamant on placing myself in between the two men. I'm the reason Luke is here and I'm going to try my hardest to keep Holden out of the thick of it.

However, it seems that Luke has very different plans as far as Holden is concerned.

I release Holden's hand from mine. We're sitting so close together that we're touching, but I don't want to give Luke any more reason to use Holden as a target. Him being here is bad enough. Him walking in while holding my hand will make it even worse.

"She told you I beat her, did she?"

As if I'm not there at all, Luke addresses only Holden. I shouldn't be surprised, I suppose. The Luke across from me shows no trace of the same Luke I met over two years ago. The Luke across from me is just another personification of his father.

Despite the crazed look in his eyes, Luke's tone is exceptionally calm. He sounds like he's discussing a business opportunity.

It's easier to react whenever his hands are throttling the life out of me.