Page 71 of When Love Found Us
It’s quick, barely there, but I notice. My gut twists. My protective instincts rise to the surface almost immediately. My hand finds her thigh beneath the table, pressing just enough to ground her. To remind her I’m here to protect her. She doesn’t move, but her breathing is almost normal. Almost.
“It’s okay. Nothing is going to happen to you.” My voice is low, meant only for her, but something in her eyes flickers—uncertainty, maybe disbelief.
Before she can respond, I shove to my feet, moving between her and Ledger.
I don’t touch him. Not yet.
The last thing I want is for Blythe to see me as something else to be afraid of. I’ve been working very hard to show her I’m different from Winston, and the last thing I want is to lose everything I built because Ledger is an asshole.
“I don’t know what your problem is, but you better calm the fuck down. I didn’t marry her to getyourgoddamn inheritance—which, may I remind you, is mine too.”
Ledger’s lips curl. “Mom shouldn’t have left you anything. You weren’t hers. You were just a fucking bastard from a woman?—”
“Say something about my mother, and I swear I’ll kill you,” I snap.
A cold silence grips the room.
“Enough,” Hopper bites out.
A light touch skims my arm. Blythe. She’s barely touching me, just enough to bring me back, but I can’t—won’t—let this go.
Ledger takes a step closer, his voice mocking. “Me? This asshole is the one acting like our father.”
My jaw tightens, my hands curling into fists at my sides. I glance at Galeana. “If I were you, I’d leave.”
“Don’t fucking tell my wife what to do,” Ledger snaps, eyes dark. “I would never treat her the way our father treated us.”
“Then don’t start acting like him,” I warn, voice cold. “But if you do, stay the fuck away frommywife.”
Ledger exhales, nostrils flaring, muscles tight.
Hopper steps between us. “That’s enough. Both of you, with me. Office. Now.”
Nobody argues.
Ledger rolls his shoulders back, sending me one last glare before stalking off toward the back of the house.
I exhale, the tension in my chest refusing to ease. My gaze flicks to Blythe. She’s sitting still, her lips pressed together, watching.
“I’ll be back,” I murmur, brushing my fingers lightly over hers before following Hopper and Ledger down the hall.
The office door clicks shut behind us, and the air inside feels dense, charged. Hopper is the first to break the silence.
“I don’t know what your problem is, Ledger, but you need to stop acting like that,” he says, his voice is firm. Like he’s taking his role of the oldest brother. Even when Keir and Malerick are older than him.
Ledger doesn’t hesitate. “He’s my fucking problem.” His glare is locked onto me, burning with something unresolved, something deeper than just hate. “Why don’t you stay the fuck away? We don’t need you.”
“I needed him,” Hopper counters, his voice quieter now but no less certain. “He was here when Nysa was in danger. He helped me get her back—put his life on the line for her. If you can’t see that he’s not your enemy, I can’t help you. But you need to stop this bullshit.”
Uncertainty flashes across Ledger’s face. It’s barely there before he schools his features. “I . . . I didn’t?—”
“Of course, you didn’t,” Hopper cuts him off. “Because you only care about how much you hate him.”
“I didn’t ask to be here,” I say simply.
Hopper straightens. “He was a victim of our father, just like us. He lost his mother at six and was dumped here to be treated like trash.”
Ledger’s jaw clenches. “Because of him, our father started beating me too—just like he did all of you.” His voice is tight, filled with something raw, something he doesn’t know how to release without swinging fists.
