Page 84 of Building Courage

“Good.”

“You’ll need to brace yourself. The apartment’s in pretty bad shape.”

Martin nodded, his gaze avoiding his. Tucker fell in step with him as he continued down the hall. Martin got to the open doorway and stared at the destruction. His expression blanked with shock.

On seeing Martin, Brynn said something to the police officer and moved to embrace Martin.

He flinched, and she quickly backed off. “How badly are you hurt? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“I’m just a little bruised.” He stepped forward to cling to her for a minute. “We argued out by the pool at the spa. I told him I’d had enough and no longer wanted him in my life. He went wild and attacked me right there in front of all the other guests. Spa security pulled him off of me and called the police, but he got away from them. I’ve filed a police report for assault. He took my keys and stole my car. They had a BOLO out for it as well. I saw it in the parking lot. At least he didn’t trash that, too.”

“I’m sorry, Martin. We’ll help you clean everything up once the police release the scene.”

Martin laid his head on her shoulder momentarily, then straightened. “At least he didn’t damage the aquarium. I’d have killed him for that. I need to speak to the officers. They’ll have to cancel the BOLO on my car so I can drive it.”

She nodded. “When you’re done, give me a call.”

“Okay.”

Tucker snagged her camera bag and laptop from just outside the door and fell into step with her as she made her way next door to her apartment.

“I need to call Jess and let her know what happened.”

“He’s going to need an army to clean that mess up,” Tucker said.

“He won’t want anyone at the magazine to know what happened. He’ll probably take a couple of weeks off until the bruises fade. He’s done that before.”

“This isn’t the first time Tate has beaten him up?”

She unlocked the apartment door. “No. Jess and I both tried to convince him that Tate was a lost cause and would never change. I hate that it took a public beating for it to finally register. Though he’s surrounded by friends, Martin’s afraid of being abandoned and alone. His parents kicked him out for being gay at seventeen. Everything he’s accomplished, he’s done on his own.”

Tucker put the laptop case and camera bag in one of the chairs. He could understand why she and Martin had bonded. For all intents and purposes, she’d been abandoned by her parents when she’d needed them the most, too.

“The cops will be through documenting the destruction soon, and we can go back over and help him shovel everything out,” Tucker suggested.

She turned and embraced him. “Thank you for all you did. Had Tate escaped, Martin would’ve been frantic until he was caught and arrested.”

He ran his hand down the small of her back, drawing her in closer. “I was just in the right place at the right time. Taking him down was no big deal.” He’d dealt with worse assholes than Tate.

“It was a big deal, Tucker. More than you know. Martin won’t have to be afraid as long as he’s in jail.”

The asshole would probably be out on bail in a few days if he had the money for a good lawyer. Damn it!

“I’ll fix us something to drink and call Jess,” Brynn said.

And he’d call Denotti and tell him they were clear and at Brynn’s apartment.

Chapter 24

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Jessica stormed through the door into Martin’s apartment with a broom, mop, and dustpan but looked more ready for war than cleaning. “That asshole!”

“Is that the best you can do?” Brynn asked.

Oliver set down the garbage can he carried and waved a hand as though directing traffic. “Don’t encourage her. All the way across town, she was shouting and calling him things I didn’t even know she knew.”

Brynn laughed. She dumped a dustpan filled with glass into a large cardboard box. The damage was bad, but not as bad as it looked. Tate had played frisbee with the kitchen dishes and glassware, breaking mirrors and even the glass shower door in the master bedroom.

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