Page 49 of Tough Justice
Besides, anything he said to Lane right now probably wouldn’t go over well.
“Someone broke into my apartment while I wasn’t there,” Suzy said. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine. We spoke with Spencer, I won’t be going back until it’s one hundred percent safe.”
Lane’s jaw tightened. “I don’t like this. I’d feel better if you’d stay with me.”
“I don’t really care about how you feel,” Suzy snapped.
Lane flicked his gaze toward Duke.
Duke refused to break eye contact. He wouldn’t back down. Not when it came to Suzy. Tension crackled in the room, the beeping of the monitors and the ticking of the clock the only noise until Parker let out a loud wail.
Celine hopped to her feet. “Come here little man. Let’s check your diaper and get you a snack, okay?” She reclaimed her son and hooked a diaper bag over her arm. She lingered at Lane’s side. “Make this right.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek and walked out of the room.
Suzy stood with her fists anchored on her hips, fire shooting from her narrowed eyes. “Yeah, Lane. Make this right. You were an ass to Duke and he’s done nothing but be a good friend to you. There’s no reason for you to rush in and try to play protective big brother here. I don’t need it. Haven’t in a long time. And I won’t stand here and let you use me as an excuse to be a dick. Not to Duke.”
Lane huffed out a breath through his nose and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She shook her head. “You and I can talk about that later. We have our own stuff we’ve dealt with, but this is about you two. Leave me out of it.”
Duke pushed up from the chair and faced off with Lane. “We don’t need to do this here with an audience. Suzy’s right. It’s between us.”
“Fine. Let’s step into the hall.”
Duke offered a weak smile to Suzy and Heather then dipped out of the room. He shut the door then frowned. “Where’s the deputy who’s supposed to be standing guard?” Chances were slim Heather was a target, but it wasn’t certain. He’d been told someone would stay and watch out for her in case they had their sights set on the wrong person.
“Blake was here but there was an accident. I got a call and was asked to help out.” Lane stared down at his dirty boots as he spoke.
A lump lodged in Duke’s throat. “You could have called me.”
Lane lifted a shoulder. “You’re looking out for my sister. Figured I could do the same for yours.”
“Thanks.”
Finally, Lane glanced up and met his eye. “Listen, about earlier. I know I was out of line. I was scared shitless. I left Suzy behind before and that’s eaten me up for years. I’ve been trying to make up for that since I came back home, and I felt like I was failing.”
“I get that. Trust me. But the crap you said cut deep. I need to know if you really think I don’t belong here. Doesn’t mean I’ll leave, but it’ll make me think twice about staying in business with you.”
Lane winced. “Rough Ride Security wouldn’t exist without you. I couldn’t do any of this without you. When you showed up at my house it annoyed the hell out of me—youannoyed the hell out of me.” He cracked a small smile.
“Really? You hid it so well.”
“Ha. Well, you being in Hillmore helped me more than I wanted to admit. I couldn’t have won back Celine if it weren’t for you, wouldn’t have let my guard down to this town I thought I hated. You forced me to tear down walls I’d built since childhood. I owe you everything.”
Shit. A vise crushed his chest, but he couldn’t let the stupid emotion show on his face or Lane would never let him hear the end of it.
“And what about Suzy?” he asked. “You still think I’m not good enough for her?”
Lane shrugged. “I don’t think anyone is.”
“Probably not,” Duke agreed. “But I’ll try damn hard to be the man she needs—the man she wants.”
Lane grunted. “I guess it’s not up to me to decide what’s best for her anymore. It never really was. Just know that if you hurt her, I’ll have to kick your ass.”
“I’d like to see you try.” He grinned but wouldn’t blame Lane one bit for taking a swing if he did something stupid enough to mess things up with Suzy.
