Chapter 14 #2
“What if we stop looking at it from the Lucy perspective?” Arran offered quietly.
“What if it’s nothing to do with her? The notes from the case were well publicized, thanks to the media.
This could just be someone terrorizing Arro because she is …
” His worried gaze met mine. “Because she is the target.”
A horrible silence filled the room at the thought, and I couldn’t hold back a shiver or the way my heart raced with fear. Thane reached out to squeeze my hand, and I held it, grateful.
Finally, Robyn cleared her throat. “Okay, say worst-case scenario, this is about Arro. Who would want to hurt you?”
I’d been racking my brain for weeks trying to figure that out for myself.
“I can only think of people like Duncan—people who I’ve had the odd confrontation with.
A girl I went to college with, a project manager at the start of my career …
but that’s grasping at straws. Everyone has had a confrontation with someone in their life. ”
“I want names,” Mac demanded.
I opened my mouth to argue when Robyn said bluntly, “Guy.”
It was like my heart leapt at the name, and I glowered at my sister-in-law.
Not that Guy hadn’t crossed my mind, but I knew men like him.
They were bullies who fed on the weak, and he’d have moved on to someone he thought was weaker since he knew he couldn’t best me.
Besides, it was a moment in my life I’d still not quite gotten to grips with emotionally.
And there was the small matter of Mac not knowing about it, and I didn’t want him to know about it unless necessary.
“No.” I glowered at Robyn.
She grimaced apologetically. “Arro, I know not everyone knows, but I think he’s worth looking into.”
“Why?” Mac asked, and I couldn’t look at him.
“Who is Guy?” Arran asked.
“Arro’s ex-boyfriend,” Lachlan explained. “He was the chef at the estate, but …”
Looking at my brother as he silently asked for permission to tell the story, I shrugged off the shame that was desperate to crawl over me.
Even though I knew what Guy had done wasn’t my fault, I blamed myself for not seeing the bully in him.
I wanted to hide from my mistake, but it was my story to tell.
I still didn’t think he had anything to do with this, but Mac, for one, wouldn’t leave it alone until he knew.
“We dated for about three months. It was fine. We were fine. But gradually, Guy started acting jealous over other men.” I couldn’t look at Mac because it wasn’t over other men.
It was over Mac, specifically. The night of the ceilidh, Guy lost it after watching Mac and I interact.
I shouldn’t have been flirting with another man while seeing Guy, and I owned that, but I hadn’t deserved what happened to me.
“One night we got into a fight about his jealousy, and he …” I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, shakily. “He knocked me about.”
“He beat the shit out of her,” Lachlan bit out angrily.
“He did what?”
The room grew still, wary, beneath the weight of Mac’s quiet rage.
I couldn’t not look at him.
“Why the fuck wasn’t I told about this?” he asked Lachlan with calm fury as his gaze swept over to me. I felt pinned to the chair by it. Guilty. Like I’d betrayed him. What the fuck? “Is that why he left? How the hell did you hide this from me?” Why had I hidden it from him was his real question.
“I stayed away from you for a while and wore makeup over the fading bruises.”
“Why?” His breathing was harsh.
Why didn’t I tell him?
I couldn’t find the words. I’d kept it from him, thinking he loved me and that he’d kill any man who tried to hurt me.
But now, I didn’t know what to think. Mac had proven that he loved my brother and this family more than he’d ever loved me.
If he could hurt me like he had, then maybe he wouldn’t care like I thought he would.
But that was a lie I told myself right then, because his reaction confused me all the more.
Mac looked like a man who would kill anyone who hurt me.
Fucking arsehole.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mac barked impatiently.
“For fuck’s sake, Mac.” Lachlan scowled. “We didn’t tell you because you’d not long been stabbed, and we all knew if you found out, you’d kill Guy and probably open up your stitches doing it.”
“Did he do anything else?” Mac’s expression was stark.
“No,” I hurried to answer, knowing what he’d feared. “Nothing like that.”
“Arro fought him off.”
“And where were you?” Mac directed his anger at Lachlan. “What the fuck did you do about it?”
“Dad,” Robyn warned gently.
Lachlan narrowed his eyes at Mac. “Want to come at me again?”
“Lachlan.” Robyn switched her warning to her husband.
“No.” Lachlan stood and Mac followed suit, while my pulse raced madly as the tension escalated. “You want someone to hit for this, Mac, is that it?”
“Stop it.” Robyn marched between them. “Now.”
Lachlan stared past his wife to her father, who only looked old enough to be her big brother. “I’m not the person you want to take down for this, Mac, so don’t fucking come at me with your accusations and rage.”
“I just want to know why I wasn’t told about this! Not just then.” He glowered at me now. “But now! An ex-boyfriend beats the shit out of you, then he’s pretty high on our suspect list.”
“Why?” His anger was boiling my blood now as I stood too. “He’s just a bully who couldn’t get the better of me. Someone like that needs a weaker target than himself.”
“Uh, true,” Robyn said, sounding wary. “But there’s more to it than just him hitting you, Arro. Lachlan punched him.” She patted her dad’s shoulder and tried to defuse the tension by joking, “Hope that makes you feel better.”
Mac shot her a half-annoyed, half-tender look that caused a pang of unnamed emotion in my chest.
“And he fired him … but here’s the kicker—”
“I ruined him,” Lachlan finished, staring at his wife in dawning realization. “I put the word out in the industry not to hire him. He couldn’t get a decent job anywhere. Fuck!”
“You did what?” I whispered, suddenly filling with dread. “I didn’t know that.” That changed everything.
“He could be after revenge,” Thane said grimly.
“I’ll look into it.” Mac stared reproachfully at me as if I’d wronged him. Well, screw that! I lifted my chin, refusing to offer any kind of apology for keeping this from him. I didn’t bloody know the important part, did I?
“I’ll find out where he is.”
“But you won’t do anything,” Robyn ordered. “Right, Dad?”
Mac stared down at her and eventually sighed. “I won’t do anything, wee birdie.” His voice was gentle, the way it only ever was for Robyn. Then his expression hardened again as he lifted it to meet mine. “But the prick just made it to the top of my suspect list.”