“I don’t think that’s a good idea. But I do have a couple of questions for Lucy.”
“She’s answered questions all night. She’s been at this for hours.” Ty moved to stand between them. “She needs some rest, and she needs us. Both of us.”
“I don’t think there’s anything you can say that will make him stay.” She was fairly certain she understood what was going through Michael’s head. “He thinks I did it. He thinks I’ve lied to him and used him.”
“Why would you do that?” Ty asked, seeming to be genuinely confused by everything about the night.
She looked to Michael. “Because he thinks that’s what happens to him. He thinks the people he cares about are bound to betray him.” Her heart sank because he didn’t correct her. “Michael, do you believe I targeted you because you could help me cover up a murder?”
His eyes rolled. “No. Of course not. You didn’t even know Brock Foster when we first met.”
At least he admitted that much. “So you were merely useful.”
He ignored the comment. “Why didn’t you tell me what happened in the parking lot?”
“I thought you would go after him. I didn’t want any trouble, and I thought I had handled it,” she replied as calmly as she could. She wanted to yell at him, to fight with him, wanted anything but this cold calm between them. But she knew if she pushed him, he would leave. This was something she had to hope she could logic her way through. “Michael, I’ve had to handle men like Brock all my life. Every woman does. If we sicced our boyfriends on every man who behaved poorly, nothing would get done in the world.”
“He threatened you according to Nate.”
She was going to be totally honest with him. “Yes, and I threatened him back. I don’t remember exactly what I said but it was something like if he was going to ruin my life, then I could ruin his, too. He was a bully. I’ve found the way to deal with bullies is to let them know you won’t be an easy target. It’s how I’ve handled them for a long time. I was worried things could escalate if I got you involved and frankly, I wanted to concentrate on how good our relationship could be, not how much trouble it could be.”
“You know who I am, Lucy. Protecting people is what I do. What I did,” he replied. “For a long time it was my job. Why would you think I wouldn’t want to protect you?”
“I knew you would. There was no question in my mind that you wouldn’t protect me. I was so sure of it I didn’t want to put you in a position where Brock caused trouble for you. He was supposed to leave in a few days,” she explained. “I didn’t want to cause a fuss over someone who was going to be gone very soon.”
“His family owns a villa,” Michael countered. “He could have been back any day.”
“And he would have moved on.” She’d gone over the situation in her head a hundred times. “He would have barely remembered me the next time he came out here.”
“That is not what Nate thinks.” Michael held his ground.
This was the one place he had her. She’d promised Nate she would talk to them both, and she’d used every excuse to put it off. “I meant to tell you what Nate said. I truly did.”
Michael nodded as though she’d made his point. “But then we didn’t meet you for lunch.”
Ty huffed. “She wouldn’t keep that from you because she was upset with us. She’s not like that. I upset her all the time, and she doesn’t stop talking to me.”
Michael turned his attention Ty’s way. “Are you fucking kidding me? She won’t even let you feed her when she’s hungry. You had to lie and say your mom made too much. You have to go behind her back to make sure she’s okay because she won’t let you take care of her.”
“That’s because she’s too proud,” Ty answered. “That wasn’t about punishing me.”
“It was because I didn’t want to lean on him when I thought he could be gone any second.” It was funny how it had only been a few days, but she already couldn’t imagine her life without Ty as her boyfriend. Maybe that was what she’d always been afraid of, the fact that she couldn’t dream about a future without him. And then Michael had come along, and it had been right for the first time. “I wanted to be independent. I wanted to be some kind of superhero who didn’t need anyone. I think I was afraid of needing anyone. I’m supposed to be the strong one.”
“You are strong.” For the first time since she’d walked in the door, there was real emotion in Michael’s voice. “You take care of the people around you. It’s why when you had a problem with Brock, I wish you’d come to me. We wouldn’t be in this situation.”