My brothers and I took over the clean-up for the day.

Mom wanted to fuss over Dinah, and I think she also wanted to hover over Raye, although she was too…gentle, too good at it to make Raye feel smothered.

The look in Raye’s eyes when my mother had hugged her was one that was going to stay with me for a long, long time, probably the rest of my life.

“Your girl’s a sweetheart,” Eddie said in a low voice as we washed dishes, both of us attuned to the voices out in the other room.

“I know.”

“You serious about her?” He shot me a look as he passed me a pot to rinse off. Once I was done, I turned it over to Justin to dry, and Austen took care of putting it up. We had the system nailed down.

“Yeah, Eddie.” I met his eyes. “I’m serious about her.”

“Been going out long?”

I shrugged, not wanting to tell him we’d actually only been out on one or two dates in the past week, and before that…what did I call what we’d been doing before that? Not like I was going to tell him, but no. We hadn’t been going out long.

The timing didn’t matter though.

She felt right to me.

And when she looked at me, I could see it in her eyes that she felt it, too.

I wasn’t going to question that.

“Well, good for you,” Eddie said, bumping my shoulder with his. “She makes you smile a lot. Shit, I didn’t know you could smile that much. So…yeah, good for you.”

“She’s a good cook,” Austen piped up from his spot at the end of the line. He was moving to the beat of the music pulsing out of the headphones he had draped around his neck. The music was loud enough that all of us could hear it, but he was the only one who seemed to appreciate the loud, discordant tones.

“When did you get to try her cooking?” Eddie asked, looking put out.

I met Austen’s eyes.

I didn’t have to do anything else.

I’d had a talk with Mom – and yes, she had wanted to go after Calie, but other than her, nobody knew about the mess with Calie and Austen.

And Austen seemed to have settled himself down in the days since it had happened. It was early yet, but maybe he’d gotten himself scared enough to get his act together. Not exactly the ideal way to do it, but it was better than not having it happen at all.

Under Eddie’s sharp eyes, Austen shrugged and grinned. “Don’t worry, man. I’m sure she won’t mind cooking for you at some point. She just likes me more.”

The good-natured ribbing kept up even once we were finished.

Meeting Raye out in the living room, I looped my arms around her waist and asked if she was ready to go. Eddie could be as nosy as an old mother hen when the mood got on him, so I figured it was best to head out.

She nodded, tipping her head back to meet my eyes. “We can go if you’re ready.”

Once we were out on the street, I took her hand, trying to think up a subtle way to ask her if she wanted to spend the night, but Raye stepped in front of me, bringing me to a stop.

She cocked her head, eying me nervously, then she blurted out, “You want to come over to my place?”

I kissed her. “Sounds good to me.”

The subway ride was becoming familiar, and I spent the time with my arm around her shoulders while she held my hand and traced her index finger over and around some of the scars on the back of my knuckles and my palm.

Once we got to her place, she started up the steps.

My phone rang, and I pulled it out, checked the number. It was one of the guys from work, so I let it go to voicemail and put the phone on vibrate. I could take a few hours away from the world, right?

I went to put the phone in my pocket just as Raye rounded the corner, disappearing out of sight.

I missed my pocket, dropping the phone in the process, my hands still numb from the cold. Swearing, I knelt to grab it. Once I had it in hand, I rotated it to check and make sure I hadn’t broken the screen. I’d lost more than a few phones that way.

Luckily, the expensive case I’d invested in this time had protected it. As I went to shove it in my pocket, I heard a rush of footsteps and Raye’s startled voice.

Adrenaline kicked in.

I rushed around the corner just in time to see her driving her fist into the temple of a man nearly twice her size.

He jerked back, but not in time to entirely avoid the blow. He looked slightly dazed, but he managed to catch her by the arm, jerking her up against him.

That was as far as he got before I reached him, coming up behind him and wrapping my forearm around his neck. “Let me guess…” I said, anger pulsing inside. “You must be Chad.”

He jerked against my hold, and I loosened my grip enough for him to slip away, but then I caught him again and slammed him into the wall, glaring into watery blue eyes that now held more than a little fear.

“You like going around and terrorizing women?” I asked, shoving my forearm against his windpipe. His pale face started to go red.

He opened his mouth, trying to choke out something. I doubted it was an answer to my question.

“I’m going to put this to you plainly. You’re going to stay away from Raye. Permanently. For like…the rest of your life,” I said, speaking in a slow, measured voice. “If you come around her again, I’m going to round up some friends of mine. And let me tell you, these friends make me look like Santa Claus. Do I look like Santa right now?”

The sleazy bastard frantically shook his head.

“So, you can imagine what kind of friends I can round up, right?”

He nodded, face now almost purple.

I eased up on the windpipe and let him suck in air. Couldn’t have him passing out before I issued my big threat.

“Now that you seem to get the picture, let me tell you what we’ll do to you if you ever come near her again.” I dipped my head and murmured close to his ear, feeling his body twitch and jerk with fear. “And if you touch her? There won’t be enough left of you to bury.”

I drew back, letting him go.

He sagged against the wall, reaching up to rub at his throat.

“What do you think, Chad?” I made a sneer out of his name. “Think maybe you should stay away from Raye now?”

He nodded and practically tripped over his feet as he ran away.