Page 22 of Under Their Protection

“Harper said she was your sub last week,” I say.

“God no. You know I wouldn’t do that,” he says. I put the phone on speaker and smile at Harper.

“You are on speaker. Say that again,” I say.

“The only day I had a sub was Wednesday and it was Mia. I would never do anything like that with your sister. I’ve never even talked to her before,” Max says.

“Have you two ever done anything?” Harper asks.

“No, we haven’t,” he lies. “Who was that?”

“Harper,” I say as I take the phone off speaker. “Alright. Thank you.”

“Am I on speaker still?”

“No,” I say.

“She was with Isaac’s brother on Wednesday,”he says.

“Wow. Well, tell Mia I said hey. I’ll call you guys later,” I say, not reacting.

“Okay,” Max laughs as we hang up.

“Any other questions?” I ask my parents.

“Why did you bring Rowan?” Dad asks.

“Because I knew Isaac would be here and after putting yet another bruise on me, I didn’t want to chance getting cornered,” I say.

“This is a family dinner,” Mom snaps.

“If Isaac leaves then Rowan will,” I say. Mom grits her teeth and glares at me. “I thought so. Need any help with dinner?”

“No,” Mom snaps.

“Well, while this cooks we need to all go sit down and talk,” Dad says as he waves us all out of the kitchen. Everyone leaves but Isaac turns and blocks Rowan and me from exiting.

“You have some fucking nerve showing up here with him,” he says as he gets in my face.

“Whatever your assumption is about Rowan is a product of your own delusions,” I say simply. Isaac tightens his fists and steps closer. I can sense the tension coming from Rowan so I try to defuse the situation.

“Go ahead, Isaac. Do it. Show them your temper. Show them how you treated me when no one was looking,” I challenge him.

“Rowan doesn’t look the type to fuck you” Isaac snarls.

“Oh, but at least he doesn’t leave bruises behind,” I smile.

I watch Isaac snap as he grabs me by the arms. I know immediately he is about to slam me against a wall before Rowan can react, I yank my arms away and shove him backward toward my dad.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” I yell at him.

“Isaac, honey, go sit,” Mom says before looking at me. “If you would learn to control your mouth all of this could have been avoided. No wonder the man went looking elsewhere,” she says as she looks me up and down.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I deadpan.

“Watch your mouth when you talk to Mom,” Harper snaps as she steps up to get in my face.

“You’ll be watching at the inside of a hospital room if you don’t get the fuck out of my face,” I snap. She recoils with a huff and goes over to the couch and sits between Dad and Isaac.

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