Lucas looked over at her one last time. She was so beautiful tonight, he wanted this moment to last forever. But it couldn’t.

“I was thinking,” he said. “When I pick Jackson up in the morning, why don’t you come stay with me until you find a new place to live? It can’t be great sleeping in a car-themed room.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad. I don’t want to inconvenience you or anything.”

“It wouldn’t be. My place is so huge; we wouldn’t even have to see each other much. I just thought that since I have so much room, and your parents don’t, it makes more sense for you to stay with me.”

He almost held his breath waiting for her answer. He had to do something to be close to her. Even if they couldn’t be together, maybe she’d just end up staying there with him for a long time. At least that way, he could pretend.

“I think Jackson would love having you around more, too,” he added. “Starting kindergarten is a big deal. He’ll need more help than he did before.”

She nodded slowly. “If you’re sure I won’t get in your way. I could stay for a little while. To help Jackson and everything.”

“Great.” He pushed his excitement down. He could do cartwheels though. “Then tomorrow? We’ll go to your old place and get your things.”

“Yeah. I do have a lot over there that I need, and I’d feel much better if you were there than if I went alone.”

“Tomorrow then.” He took her hand and kissed it, then bowed. “Thank you for a lovely evening, my lady.”

She chuckled. “Thank you for coming. I know it was last minute.”

“No problem.” He would have moved anything he had planned to spend the evening with her, if that’s what it required.

The next morning, he dressed in jeans and an old t-shirt, then headed over to pick up Isabella. The plan was to move a bunch of things with his pickup truck, then get Jackson and her things from her parents when they were done. Jackson and his grandparents would go out to breakfast and spend the morning at the zoo—one of Jackson’s favorite places to be.

Isabella wore a similar outfit, except her jeans hugged her curves, and her t-shirt stretched tight across her chest. With her hair up in a ponytail, she looked just as beautiful as she had the night before. She came to the front door and handed him a metal travel mug.

“Coffee. Thought we might need it.” She sipped her own mug and gave him a quick hug. “Thanks for doing this.”

“Anything I can do to help you out.”

He opened the door for her and once she was in, they drove over to the house she’d shared with Matthew.

“I told him I was coming,” she said. “And asked him not to be there. We’ll see.”

“I’m not worried about it.” He was carrying today, as he usually did, and this punk Matthew was nothing he couldn’t handle if he had to.

When they arrived, Matthew’s car was not in the driveway.

“Looks like he’s not here,” Isabella said.

For an hour, they loaded up the truck, working together to put her things into boxes and then into the truck. They carried out bigger items together, him walking backward, watching her between glances behind him to make sure he didn’t run into anything.

They made one trip over to his house, unloaded everything, and headed back for another trip. They made the next trip even faster, and returned for their third and final trip. As the truck neared fullness, a car pulled into the driveway.

Matthew got out of the passenger seat. He stumbled and glared over at them.

“Well, look who’s here,” Matthew said. He slurred his words and stumbled toward them.

Lucas shook his head. What a loser to be drunk like that at 11 in the morning. No wonder she didn’t love him.

“I asked you not to be here,” Isabella said, crossing her arms.

Lucas moved closer to Isabella. He’d jump in if he thought Matthew was going to do something stupid.

The car that dropped him off backed out and Matthew held up a hand to wave as they sped off down the road. Great. So he was staying then.

“Just go somewhere,” Isabella said. “We’re almost done.”

“Oh right,” he said. “I almost forgot you’re taking everything from me today. What of mine do you have in there?”

He walked over to the back of the truck and picked up a photo frame. “I’ll take this back, you thieving bitch.”

“You gave that to me as a gift,” she said.

“Right. I bought it, so it’s mine.”

“Fine. I don’t want something you gave me anyway.”

“You wanted it just fine every time I gave it to you.” He grabbed himself and made a lewd face at her.

That was too much for Lucas. He stepped closer to Matthew. “That sort of talk is not appropriate. You will show her respect, and you will stay out of our way so we can finish what we need to do here. Then, you can stay out of her life forever.”

Matthew held up his hands and laughed. “Oh sorry. I didn’t know your new boyfriend was going to be like that.”

Lucas clenched his teeth together.

“He’s not,” Isabella said. “You know that. You’re just drunk.”

“See what you do to me?” Matthew said. “You make me drink all the time now.”

“I haven’t done that to you, you’re doing it to yourself,” she said.

“Maybe if you had better control of yourself,” Lucas said, “she wouldn’t have been so eager to get rid of you.”

Matthew glared up at Lucas. “Fuck off, man,” he said, and almost fell. The frame slipped from his hands and fell to the cement driveway. The glass shattered and the frame broke in two. An old photo of Isabella and Matthew lay under the broken glass.

“Look what you made me do,” he said to Isabella. “You’ve ruined everything!”

Matthew stepped toward her in a sort of lunging motion. He was too drunk to be accurate in any movement, so he tripped and fell, putting his palms into the pieces of glass when he landed.

“Isabella, why don’t you go inside and see if there’s anything else that needs to be boxed up,” Lucas said.

She looked at Matthew, trying to push himself up in the glass, then to Lucas, and nodded. She turned and Lucas watched until she was inside. Then, he yanked Matthew up by his shirt.

“Listen to me, you drunk piece of shit,” Lucas hissed in his ear. “Stay away from Isabella. That means you don’t call her, you don’t text her, you don’t come around, you don’t contact her in any way. Do you understand?”

Matthew’s head hung heavy, and he was barely standing. “I don’t have to listen to you.”

Lucas took out his phone and sent a text to his assistant. “Joe. I need someone to come pick up a problem for me. Isabella’s old place. Come armed.”

Joe responded quickly. “Be there ASAP.”

This was why Lucas loved having Joe as his assistant. The man always acted fast, doing what needed to be done. And this was why Lucas paid him so well.

“Now, let’s try this again,” Lucas said. He put his hand on Matthew’s shoulder and gripped hard. Matthew leaned away from the pain, but still managed to remain upright. “You will not contact her in any way. Do you understand?”

Matthew glared at him, and tried to spit at him, but missed. He wiped his mouth and took a wobbly step. His fist flew up and connected with Lucas’s chin. He hadn’t hit hard. He was too drunk for that. But this was exactly what Lucas needed. The first punch.

He shoved Matthew to the ground, leaned over him, and clocked him hard in the face. He heard a snap at his nose, then blood poured to the ground. He punched him in the jaw, and again across the face.

Matthew wasn’t trying to get up. He was half curled into a ball on his side.

Lucas bent down and said in his ear, “If you contact her again in any way, I will make this beating look like a walk in the park.”

Matthew had some bravery in his drunkenness. Lucas could hardly believe that he didn’t just lie there. But he reached out and grabbed Lucas’s leg, pulling like he was trying to knock him over.

Lucas punched him the stomach twice. Matthew grabbed his stomach and wheezed. Just to be sure there was no confusion, Lucas kicked him in the ribs, then the back, then, because he couldn’t stand thinking that this man had claimed to love Isabella when he’d just stood there talking to her that way, he kicked him in the chin.

Matthew stopped moving around the time Joe pulled up in a car. Another man got out with Joe and they came over to Lucas.

“Is he dead?” Joe asked.

“Knocked out,” Lucas said. “And drunk. Take him somewhere to sleep it off and make sure he doesn’t leave until I give you word.”

Joe nodded and the two of them picked up Matthew’s unconscious body, loaded him into the car, then drove off. Lucas looked at the blood on the driveway, mixed in with the broken frame and shards of glass, and felt satisfied. Hopefully Matthew would learn his lesson, and he’d never bother Isabella again.