Page 84 of Lonely Heart
“Has she been checked by a paramedic?” Cooper pressed. “Was she hurt?”
“Yes, they just walked out,” Liam informed him. “But she’s dealing with a bit of shock and not talking. She hasn’t said anything since Marco got here.”
A heavy silence hung in the air.
“Folks?”
The unfamiliar voice belonged to an officer. “Yes?” my dad answered. “I’m Malcolm Westwood. This is my daughter, Ivy.”
“Mr. Westwood, we’re heading out tonight. We’ll need your daughter to stop in down at the station in the next day or so, though.”
“Sure. Is this guy… He’s not getting out any time soon, is he?”
“After what he did to her once and coming back here tonight, he’s not going to be roaming free right away.”
My dad gave him a nod and extended his hand. “Thank you, Officer.”
“Don’t mention it. Have a good evening, everyone.”
As the officer stepped away, the tension in the room grew thicker.
“Why were you coming over here?” Cooper asked.
There was no question who he was speaking to, even if he hadn’t been staring at Marco like he was.
Marco didn’t miss a beat. “I was coming over to pick her up. We were going to be spending the night at my place.”
I cuddled closer to Marco, wanting him to know how much I appreciated his willingness to just put it out there and face whatever was going to come our way.
“You two… you two are seeing one another?” Rhea asked, her delighted surprise evident.
“We are. We have been spending time together ever since that guy attacked her back in January, but things didn’t turn serious until about a month later.”
“Oh, this is wonderful news,” Mom declared. “This is an awful way to learn about it, but I couldn’t be happier for the two of you.”
I expected as much from her. Mom adored Marco, the same way I believed everyone else in the family should have. None of the men spoke, but I noticed how Skye stepped close to Cooperand linked her fingers with his. Evidently, she could sense he was struggling.
Ava broke the silence. “It’s a great thing they’re together, too. Because imagine how much worse this could have been tonight if Marco hadn’t been on the phone with Ivy when that guy broke into the house.”
I loved my best friend. She knew the concerns Marco and I had with Cooper learning the truth about this, so I was grateful she was pointing out something that might help get him to realize this was nothing for him to be upset about. The problem was that I wasn’t quite sure he believed that was the case.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Cooper asked. His tone indicated he was struggling to maintain his temper. “Why did you hide this?”
Marco told him the truth. Or, part of it, anyway. “We wanted time to just be happy.”
Tate cut in, clearly hurt. “And you didn’t think we’d be happy for you?”
“That’s what I said,” Liam added.
“You knew?” Cooper clipped.
“Ava and I knew, too,” Jules shared.
“I knew, because I figured it out on my own,” Liam informed Cooper. “They didn’t tell me until I asked Marco about it today, right before he left work.”
Cooper’s gaze cut to Marco. “Why didn’t you tell me? You’re my best friend, and she’s my sister, and you didn’t think you should share the news with me? Why not?”
Marco hesitated, but I felt his thumb stroking lightly along my side. It was like he needed a way to reassure me that everything was going to be fine, even if they got out of control in the next few minutes.