I feel like a damn stalker, but I can’t help myself.

It’s around six o’clock and I’m sitting outside of Mia’s house, parked in the street, debating whether or not I want to go inside and talk to her.

I don’t recognize one of the cars in her driveway, and I assume it’s the nurse. I keep telling myself I’ll wait until the nurse leaves, and then go talk to Mia, but I don’t know what I’m really going to do.

I’m hurt, maybe a little angry with her, but I’m starting to see the truth in all this. The Carters are dangerous, goddamn dangerous. I don’t know if Mia can’t see it, or if they somehow are threatening her. Last night showed me the truth of them.

I was underestimating what the Carters are capable of. I never once imagined they’d come to my house, my own fucking house where my goddamn kid lives. I couldn’t believe it, but there he was, that stupid fucking Carter asshole smashing my shit.

Truthfully, I probably deserved it. I did slash his tires out of anger, after all. But he was going to kill me, or at least he was going to try to with his friends. I was lucky I had my gun out and ready, otherwise I don’t know what they would have tried.

I see that moment playing out in my head. I wish I hadn’t slashed those tires, but I can’t go back and change it. That happened and I have to accept that I made a stupid move out of total anger and spite.

That doesn’t mean Mia deserves to get mixed up with these guys. I need to tell her what I did, apologize to her, and hope that she can see the truth of what these men are. I won’t let them hurt her just because of some stupid mistake that I made.

As I’m sitting there, debating what I should do, I suddenly hear it. There’s a commotion in the house. It sounds like someone is yelling, screaming really, and it sounds bad. I take off my seatbelt, not sure what to do. I don’t want to barge in on a private moment. Her father might be having an episode, and I don’t want to embarrass her by barging in.

But that voice sounds familiar, and it sounds angry as hell. I open the door to my truck and step out.

Suddenly, I get that old feeling. It’s the feeling I used to have before a fight, a premonition of sorts. You develop this strange sixth sense after you’ve been around combat for a long time. It’s this strange buzzing feeling in my skull as adrenaline starts to pump, letting me know that something bad is coming, and I better prepare. I guess my body notices unconscious signals all around me, and knows before my conscious mind can understand what’s coming.

Just then, the front door crashes open. Mia comes running out, her eyes wide, but she doesn’t get far. Caleb comes behind her, grabbing her arm. He yells something and then he hits her across the face, knocking her to the ground.

Rage flows through me. Caleb stands over her, saying something else, but I’m beyond thought at this point. I charge over toward them.

Caleb looks up just in time to see my fist slam into his face. He screams and falls back into the house. I follow him, grab his shirt, and then throw him outside onto the front lawn.

Mia watches, her eyes wide, but she doesn’t move to stop me. I punch Caleb once, twice, and then throw him to the ground. He screams in anger and pain and tries to protect himself, but I destroy him, blowing through his defenses. I kick him once, twice, then pull him to his feet again just to punch him in the face a few more times.

When I’m finished, he’s a bloody mess on the ground. He’s not dead, but he’s pretty hurt.

I crouch down next to him. “If you ever come near her again, I’ll fucking murder you,” I say to him. “Do you understand me? I’ll kill you. I won’t hesitate.”

He groans and I assume that means he understands. I move away from him, over to Mia. Her eyes are wide.

“Lucas,” she says. “I’m so sorry.”

I cock my head and crouch down next to her. I gently take her face, looking at it. “You’re going to have a bruise,” I say.

“I’m sorry,” she says again, looking down.

“You have nothing to apologize for. I fucked all this up.”

“No, I did. Caleb’s been blackmailing me, threatening to destroy the nature preserve if I don’t date him. Then he said he’d pay dad’s medical bills, and I thought I could save the preserve and my father all at once, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do it. I told him that and he lost it.”

She talks fast and I watch her, understanding slowly dawning.

None of this was her idea. She’s been trying to sacrifice herself for those that she loves this whole time. When she finishes, I pull her against me, hugging her tight.

“You’re safe now,” I say to her. “I promise, you’re safe.”

I hold her that way, shocked at her strength. She was willing to be with this disgusting man in order to get better care for her father and to save the nature preserve. I’ve been through bad shit, done some hard things, but that’s the kind of sacrifice so few people are capable of.

“I couldn’t do it,” she says, starting to cry, and I hold her tight.

“It’s okay,” I say. “It’s going to be okay.”

Meanwhile, Caleb manages to scrape himself from the ground. He limps over to his car, gets inside, and drives off. I watch him go, but I know that’s not the last we’ve seen of him.

Things just got more dangerous. I think she knows it too, but she’s too busy being freaked out over what just happened. She’s probably never been hit by a man before, and she never will again if I have any say in it.

“Come on,” I say to her gently, helping her to her feet. “We need to get out of here.”

“Where are we going?”

“My place,” I say.

“We can’t. My dad.”

I frown. “We’ll bring him.”

She shakes her head. “He doesn’t do well with change. I can’t leave him.”

I nod, looking into her eyes. “Okay then. I’m staying here tonight.”

She looks at me, biting her lip. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Come on. Let’s go inside.” I glance around, suddenly aware that her neighbors probably saw what just happened. I lead her back inside. “Sit down,” I say.

“Cooking,” she says, sitting on the couch. “Caleb was cooking.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of it.”

I go into the kitchen and find the meal Caleb was cooking. I throw the whole thing away before ordering a pizza.

When it arrives, we eat at the table. I can tell Mia is completely distracted and upset, and I try to draw her out in conversation. I ask her about her father, and she talks about him a little bit, but I know she’s upset.

When we finish eating, we watch her father’s shows again, and then she takes him back into his room for a bath. I wait out in the living room while they do their routine, not wanting to get in the way. I call Alice and let her know that I won’t be home tonight, telling her that I’m staying with Mia. She’s pretty excited and I don’t bother to tell her the details.

After about an hour, Mia comes back out. She stands in front of me, wearing just a tight t-shirt and some shorts. She bits her lips. “My dad’s in bed,” she says. “Asleep.”

I stand up and step toward her. “It’s going to be okay,” I say to her.

“How do you know that?”

I walk over, take her in my arms, and look in her eyes. “Because I’m here now.”

I kiss her deeply and passion flares up between us.

I know this is what I want. I can’t deny it or pretend anymore. The Carters aren’t going to get in the way of what I need. I’m going to take it and own it, because that’s the kind of man I am.