Chapter 18 #4
Oz was lying on his couch with his hand behind his head, watching football and trying to ignore the argument he could easily hear from the apartment next to his.
He’d been listening to the asshole tear into his girlfriend for at least an hour.
This wasn’t the first argument he’d overheard either.
As far as he could tell, the guy had never smacked her around, but he knew better than most how badly words could hurt.
He and his sister had grown up with a father exactly like the jerk he could hear yelling next door.
They hadn’t ever been able to do anything right and had spent their childhoods trying to be quiet, staying out of the way of their dad.
Their mom had walked out when Oz was still a baby, and he’d never known her.
His sister, Becky, was six years older than him, and yet it had been Oz who’d done what he could to try to protect her.
His sister had never been able to shake free of the abuse they’d suffered.
She’d dated a man who was just like their father, except he didn’t hesitate to use his fists to get his point across.
Oz had tried to help Becky more than once after she’d left home and while he was still in high school.
He’d sent money so she could get away from her abusive boyfriend, but she’d always ended up going back to the guy.
Their father had died right before Oz graduated, and when Becky showed up to his funeral obviously on some sort of drug, Oz was done. He’d helped her as best he could, but until she wanted to help herself, he couldn’t do anything more.
Oz hadn’t talked to Becky in over a decade. Right after he’d graduated from high school and joined the Army, he’d had to concentrate on his own future.
He regretted that now. Wished he’d been strong enough to help Becky more than he had.
Listening to his neighbor get verbally abused through the walls brought all the memories to the surface that he’d done his best to bury.
“You’re trash, Riley! Always have been, always will be!” the man screamed.
“Kick him out,” Oz muttered under his breath.
“Screw you!” the woman yelled back. “Get out.”
“That’a girl,” Oz said with a nod of his head. “Stay firm. Don’t let him talk his way back in.”
“You’ll be begging for me to come back,” the man warned.
She laughed. “No, I won’t. All you do is sit around and play video games all day. We’re done.”
“Fine. You’re an ice-cold bitch anyway. Frigid as fuck.”
“Out!” the woman yelled.
Getting up from his couch, Oz wandered over to his door and opened it.
He wanted the asshole she was kicking out to know that she wasn’t entirely without protection.
Oz was a big man. At six foot five, he was an imposing figure, and he didn’t think the guy from next door would do anything as long as he was watching.
Oz had seen his neighbor around, though he hadn’t said more than a polite “hello” and “good morning” in passing. But he’d be damned if he let the verbal abuse turn into something physical.
He leaned against his doorway and crossed his arms over his chest, looking as intimidating as he could. Three seconds later, his neighbor’s door opened and the guy stalked out. He turned back and opened his mouth to hurl one last insult…when he saw Oz.
“You aren’t worth it,” the man sneered to his neighbor, then stalked down the hall, past Oz’s door, and disappeared into the stairwell.
Turning to his right, Oz saw the woman standing in her doorway.
She blushed when she saw him looking at her.
She was a petite thing, at least a foot shorter than he was.
She had long brown hair that curled at the ends and big hazel eyes.
She looked stressed, but he could also see the relief in her eyes.
“You all right?” he asked.
She nodded. “Thanks.”
“You’re better off without him,” Oz couldn’t help but add.
“I know,” his neighbor said.
He was glad to see she wasn’t breaking down in hysterics. He supposed she’d probably be upset later, and he couldn’t blame her, but for now she was holding herself together.
“I’m Oz,” he said with a small lift of his chin.
“Riley,” she reciprocated.
Oz opened his mouth to say something else, but he heard the elevator down the hall ding and turned to see who was getting off. If it was Riley’s ex returning, he was going to make sure the man understood once and for all he wasn’t welcome back.
But instead, a man wearing a suit and tie, along with a kid who was around nine or ten, walked down the hall toward them.
Oz frowned—and was even more confused when the man stopped in front of him.
“Porter Reed?” he asked.
“That’s me,” Oz told him.
“I work with the Texas Department of Family and Protection Services, the Child Protective Services section. Do you have a sister named Rebecca Reed?”
“Yes.”
“I regret to inform you that your sister has passed away under unfortunate circumstances. You’re listed as next of kin, and this is your nephew, Logan Reed.”
Oz blinked in surprise, his neighbor forgotten, the argument he’d overheard gone from his head as if it hadn’t happened. All he could do was stare down at the little boy who was trying to be brave, but was obviously scared to death.
He opened his mouth to protest, to say that the kid couldn’t be his nephew, that he hadn’t even known his sister had a kid. But then the little boy looked up…and Oz got a look at his eyes.
The kid had lived through hell. He could see it in his gaze, along with terror as he looked up at the strange man he’d never met. A man who could hurt him, as he’d obviously been hurt in the past.
But it was the gray color of his eyes, just like Oz’s own, that convinced him the boy had his blood running through his veins.
And as if a switch was flicked inside him, Oz instantly knew he’d do whatever it took to protect the boy. If Becky was truly dead, and CPS was at his doorstep, Logan had no one else to look after him. To keep him safe.
Moving slowly, so as not to alarm the boy more than he already was, Oz crouched down so he could look Logan in the eyes. He held out his hand and said softly, “Hi, Logan. I’m Oz. Your uncle. And no one is ever going to hurt you again.”
To find out who Winnie sets up her granddaughter, Jayme, with…check out Shielding Jayme, the next book in this box set!
And, Wow, does Oz have his work cut out for him with his nephew…and what’s going to happen with his neighbor? Check out Shielding Riley to find out! You can get it as a stand alone book, or you can pick up the next book in the box set!
And Poor Sierra has a bit more to wait for her rescue, but she WILL get a story…it’ll be Shielding Sierra.