Page 55 of Three Hearts Hideaway

“He deserves worse.” Logan’s voice was low and menacing.

“I know.” Ava’s voice was pinched but stronger than before. “I know. Thank you for standing up for me. Both of you.”

They embraced her, acting as a shield from the dickbag-of-a-human struggling to catch his breath on the floor.

“Let’s go before I really lose my temper, and something worse happens.” Logan grabbed Ava’s bags and headed for the lobby’s front door.

Roman ushered Ava ahead of him as Sebastian staggered to his feet, leaning on the wall for support.

“I hope you both enjoy my sloppy seconds and her big, stretched-out puss?—”

A loud crunch filled the air as his fist collided with Sebastian’s face.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ava startle and grip Logan. He towered over Sebastian, who lay in a heap on the floor, holding his nose while blood poured between his fingers.

Roman flexed and shook out his hand.

“What the hell, man?” Sebastian cried. “You can’t go around sucker-punching people. My dad’s lawyers will?—”

Roman bent down—mere inches from his face—and Sebastian recoiled. “Real men don’t run to daddy’s lawyers. And real men don’t treat women the way you do. Love is love. But since you’re incapable of that, I don’t expect you and your tiny, intolerant brain to understand.”

It took everything in him to not spit his hatred on the man’s pathetic face. “Never contact Ava again. Never come near her. Never speak her name. Or next time, you won’t be so fucking lucky.”

He spun to face Ava and Logan. “Let’s go.”

Logan nodded and escorted Ava out of the building. Roman followed closely behind, leaving the miserable excuse for a man bleeding on the floor.

Chapter Eighteen

AVA

The last two days were a blur. Between the flight to Ottawa, getting fired, Sebastian berating her, being rescued by Roman and Logan, and returning to Little Greenfield—she was exhausted.

She stretched out on the guest suite bed. The images of Logan choking Sebastian, followed by Roman smashing his nose, wouldn’t leave her mind. She replayed them again and again.

Logan squeezing Sebastian’s throat.

The crack of Roman’s fist against Sebastian’s face.

The way he cowered on the floor.

It gave her a sick sense of satisfaction. Was it normal to feel so satisfied watching your ex-boyfriend get what he deserved? It didn’t matter. She’d never wished physical harm on him before, but seeing it play out was gratifying.

Roman and Logan cared about her. She’d have to be blind not to see that. But she didn’t realize how much until they arrived on her doorstep. She didn’t need a pros list any longer.Why would she? Her two men were the epitome of everything on said list.

When she saw Sebastian walking into her lobby, her heart sank. She thought he’d convince her to give him another chance, repeating the same cycle she always went through, though she recognized how wrong it was. How unhealthy.

But Roman and Logan didn’t let that happen. They’d protected her. They’d given her the confidence to tell him off.

She’d spent two long years with Sebastian. Not once did she ever feel loved by him the way she felt loved by Roman and Logan. Could she use that word—love—already? Probably not. She shouldn’t jump to words like that after being in a dysfunctional relationship with Sebastian for so long. How many times had she saidI love youto him? Too many to count.

But it wasn’t genuine love. The kind that made a person feel safe and secure. The kind a person saw in movies and read about in Jane Austen novels. The kind that made a person’s toes curl and heart beat faster.

Sebastian’s love was toxic. Rotten. Defective. But after he’d told her so many times that no one else would love her, and how he was the one person who could take care of her, she started to believe it. Repeat something enough times and it feels like reality.

She got up, checked the clock beside the bed, and saw the time was almost eleven in the morning. Draping a throw blanket around her shoulders, she opened the glass doors to the balcony and went outside. The cool breeze caressed her face, and she shivered, savouring the moment.

So did she love Roman? Logan? She didn’t know.

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