This is going to be bad. Really bad.
My common sense kicks in about two seconds too late. Izzy turns her beautiful, ‘living life to the fullest’ smile my way, and I know she can tell something is wrong. She looks confused for a second, and before I can call out a warning for the huge cluster fuck that is about to slam right into her, she turns, and all I can do is watch it play out like a damn horror movie from hell.
“What the hell?” I feel Beck say against my back. His hands grip my hips when I sway slightly.
No, no… There is no way this is happening. I would give anything to be able to stop this from happening, but I know there isn’t a thing I can do. This is happening, and all I can do is wait to pick up the pieces when she falls.
It happens so quickly. She turns with her smile still in place, with only a little confusion, and when she sees what I’ve seen I watch as her legs give out, and her body falls limply into Greg’s arms. And for the second time in as many days, all I feel is fear. That same fear that I’m starting to worry will never leave me.
I go to move off my stool to get to Izzy, but halt in my tracks when I hear his voice. “Are you fucking kidding me? Isabelle is your goddamn Iz?” The newcomer, who I instantly recognized as Izzy’s old high school sweetheart, growls out in a tone that makes every hair on my body stand on end.
“Oh God,” I squeak.
“Holy shit,” Beck rumbles against my back.
“Yeah, holy shit about covers it.”
Greg doesn’t even pause. He wraps Izzy protectively in his strong arms and starts working his way through the crowd towards the back hall. Beck breaks me from my stunned immobility when he grabs my hand and pulls me after them. I can feel the others behind us, but I can only focus on the huge man barreling after Greg and Izzy, and making sure that I get where I need to be.
What a mess. As my legs race to keep up with Beck’s much longer ones, the only thing on my mind is how Izzy’s going to bounce back from seeing the man she never stopped loving again, the man she’s thought was dead for over a decade.
****
We’ve been standing in the narrow hallway outside the owner’s office for a while now. Not too long, but enough that Axel, Izzy’s ex, is pacing like a caged animal. When his patience snaps, and he starts yelling through the door, I know I have to do something. Stepping in front of a feral beast probably isn’t very smart, but if he has to physically plow over me, at least I will offer some kind of speed bump.
At this point, I can safely say that my earlier thought that this would be a mess was a great understatement. I know there isn’t much that I can do if Axel wants to get past me, but right now, the only thing on my mind is keeping him away from Izzy so she doesn’t have another episode. I can’t let her sink back into that pit of depression that she was in for such a long time. There have been times when I really doubted my ability to keep her sane. Hell, I doubted my ability to keep me sane.
Right here, and right now, I have to put my best friend hat on and do whatever I need to do for Izzy. I spare Beck a brief glance before looking back up into the fire sparking, emerald green eyes of Axel Reid.
“Move the fuck out of my way, Woman. I will not tell you a-fuckin-gain.” The cold fury lacing his words causes me to flinch, but I stand my ground. “I will get back there. Do you fucking hear me, Isabelle? I will be talking to you!” He screams loudly over my head so that his voice can do what I won’t let him physically do... reach Izzy.
“You need to stop. I don’t mean shut up and sit down. I mean shut up and go the hell on. If Izzy ever wants to speak to you, which I seriously doubt she will after your immature little tantrum, then she will call. But this, this shit that you are so inclined to throw in her face is going to stop. Right. Fucking. Now.” I’m pretty proud of myself when I deliver all of that without my voice shaking with the fear still surrounding me.
When his eyes, already so full of anger and hate, turn towards me, I know it’s not going to be pretty. I can almost taste the madness coming off of him. Right before he can get a word in, Beck hooks me around the hip and pushes me behind him. “No.” One word, but one with so much meaning, only a fool wouldn’t recognize the warning. This man, who doesn’t even know me, just stuck up and picked sides against someone close enough to be his family.
That doesn’t happen to me.
Never, not once, has a man ever been anything but a narcissistic ass towards me. I stopped expecting anything more than some tit staring, and if I’m lucky, an orgasm years ago. But with that simple move, Beck might become the first man to make me question my decision about getting attached.