“Not me!” Kyle’s scream echoed through the metal door that led to the alley. “Ando, help Lyla. Now…”
Adrenaline surged through Danny’s body, pulling him toward the furious, fear-filled voice.
CRASH! The metal door slammed into the cinderblock wall, and a roar—Danny later learned that came from Gage—filled the air.
Danny looked from the man in Kyle’s grip to a semi-conscious, bleeding Lyla on the dirty ground, and the situation clicked together. The punk had put his filthy hands on Lyla. He’d abused her, touched her who knew where, and tossed her down like garbage. He wanted to kill the bastard in Kyle’s hands, but he knew by the way Gage’s fists were clenched and his body coiled that Gage would actually do it. Gage’s nostrils flared as his booted foot took its first step.
“Sebastian, stop!” Danny couldn’t let a man who cared that deeply for Lyla do something that would take him away from her. “Think,” Danny whispered, “this how you want this to go down? Physically she’s gonna be okay, son. Don’t you want to be here to get her through the rest? You see what I see when you look at her, I know you do. Let us take care of that motherfucker, and you worry about her. Yeah?”
A nod. That was it. Then Gage knelt by Lyla’s side, and those hands that had been ready to kill gently tended to the broken woman on the ground.
***
FOR DAYS FOLLOWING Lyla’s attack, Julie and Danny did their best to care for her. For the first twenty-four hours, Julie stayed at Lyla’s house under the threat that if Lyla didn’t allow it, they would call Janie and inform her of the incident. Lyla didn’t want her friends bothered on their engagement night, so Julie stayed and Lyla moped.
After the initial twenty-four, the family did what it always did—swooped in and took over, leaving love and kindness in its wake.
For Janie’s sake, Lyla smiled brightly, turned on the charm, and laughed her way through days and weeks. But as they always said about Lyla Dalton, the woman couldn’t lie for shit. Even as her face was delighted, her eyes stayed dim. Unlike when Kyle was going through his rough patch and acting out, Lyla did the opposite. She kept everything in. There was no behavior to correct, no issues to discuss; she was just flat and gray behind the happy mask.
In some ways, Julie began to feel a connection to Lyla when it came to hiding behind a mask of gray. She was hiding too. In doing so, she was creating distance between herself and her husband, distance she didn’t want, but needed in order to figure out what was going on in her head. Danny had enough to worry about—the last thing she wanted was to add to his burden with an unidentifiable problem. She’d figure it out, solve it, and move forward without anyone being the wiser. Yep, that was what she’d do.
Chapter Thirty
Remove The Space
SOMETHING WAS GOING on with his wife. He’d noticed it for weeks and done his goddamned best to let her figure it out on her own. But enough is enough. He wrapped a towel around his freshly showered waist. I’m gonna get to the bottom of this today.
The rich smells of coffee and bacon led him to the kitchen, where Julie’s firm yoga-pant-encased ass had his mouth watering more than the breakfast foods. Sweeping her hair to her left shoulder, Danny nibbled on her neck. “Mmm, better than bacon any day of the week.”
When her hips tilted back and rubbed against his rapidly growing erection, she looked over her shoulder and purred, “Mmm, better than sausage any day ever.”
“Fuck...”
Before either the play or the breakfast could go any further, the phone rang.
“Don’t get it,” Danny gruffed.
“Dan, it’s seven thirty on a Saturday morning. If someone is calling this early, I answer the phone.”
She wasn’t wrong. While everyone knew they were early risers, everyone, even his dad and Chester, also knew not to call someone’s house before nine in the morning. If the phone was ringing, no matter how badly he wanted to slide into his wife, the phone needed to be answered.
“Hi, sweetie. Is everything okay with you and Max?”
Danny poured them each coffee and filled their plates with food.
“Okay,” Julie drew out the word. “No, it’s totally fine. Of course we’ll be here.”
The lilt in her tone grabbed Danny’s attention. Was something wrong with Janie? Max?
“You got it, Janie. We’ll see you then. No, don’t bring food, honey. We’ll order in. Bye.” Julie placed the phone on its cradle, grabbed the butter from the refrigerator, and sat in her chair at the kitchen table.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Danny blurted. “Woman, you actually gonna make me ask you what that was all about?”
“What what was all about?”
Her innocent reaction amused him. “Nice try, honey, but spill. Seriously.”
“She apologized for the early call, but was worried that if they waited too long to call, we’d be busy. They want to see us for lunch today.”
Danny rose from his chair and paced. “She say if anything was wrong?”
He searched his wife’s eyes for answers, but he only saw confidence when she answered that Janie sounded fine, happy even. It would be hours until he saw them with his own eyes, and worry churned in his gut as he paced the main room, breakfast all but forgotten.
“I wonder what’s so important that Max and Janie are coming over here to speak with us instead of just waiting till tomorrow at Sunday dinner,” Danny questioned for the third time since receiving Janie’s phone call just minutes before. Julie opened her mouth to speculate, but Danny’s follow-up question was quicker. “Jules, they’re okay, yeah?”
His normally gruff voice sounded uncertain. He was worried about his family. Nothing bad was ever allowed to happen to them. Not ever. Obviously his dad, Anita, and even Chester were advancing in age, and while it pained him to know a day would come when they would no longer be around, that was something he and Julie would have to deal with. But when it came to the kids—their kids—bad things were unacceptable. End of story.
“Yes, honey,” Julie reassured him again. “After all, she just got engaged to the man of her dreams.”
She crossed the length of the room, not stopping until her breasts rubbed against his chest. Her hands climbed his torso, fingers splayed so every muscle could be felt under her loving touch. He smiled as they continued their ascent, not slowing until her soft palms glided over his salt-and-pepper whiskers. She locked her hands around his neck, sifting her fingers through his hair. The touch sent shivers up his spine.
“And I know how that feels.” Tilting her head back, she looked him straight in the eyes. “Not even my dreams could have compared to the reality you’ve given me.”
Danny exhaled, holding her chin between his forefinger and thumb. “Woman, you’ve made it so damn easy to love you all these years.” The crinkles framing his eyes deepened as his trademark smirk made an appearance. “I’m so fucking grateful. Jules, you have been honest, supportive, and loyal since day one, and that makes me the luckiest son of a bitch around.” His brows waggled with sexual suggestions. “I don’t give a shit what those kids think they have goin’ on between the sheets—no one, I repeat, no one, can hold a candle to us.”
“Danny.” Breathless and trembling, Julie exhaled, her desire an electric current just waiting to connect with the right target.
“Not kidding. Closing in on thirty years, baby, and I still see you at work and think of new ways to fuck you till you scream my name. It’ll never get old with you, honey. Never.”
Her soft lips opened a mere second before his mouth ravaged hers. Taking what he needed, he gave what she wanted and unleashed the hunger that only she had ever brought out in him.
She hummed as he pressed her flush against the wall. Arms above her head, a whimper escaped her when he wedged his thigh between her legs and captured her wrists in one of his large hands. God, he loved her. She owned him. She thought it was the opposite, even after all their years together, but the fact was, she owned him.