“Chiara, how wonderful to see you,” he says with a thick English accent and low-pitch voice.
“Tim,” she grinds out, removing her hand from my leg.
Not good. Without her touch to ground me, I might actually break his face for the way he’s looking her up and down. I bring my arm around her shoulders without thinking. It makes her tense even more for a moment, but when she sees the confusion on Tim’s face, she sinks against me.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asks, and I shoot him a glare I hope causes him to drop dead.
“I’m her boyfriend. Who the fuck are you?” I spit back, but Lizzie lets out a small giggle.
“No, you’re not, you’re—” I use the hand that’s around Chiara to place it over my niece’s mouth.
“We’re pretty new, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know about the way you’ve been treating my girlfriend. I suggest you leave before I make you regret ever allowing your eyes to drift to her,” I say, slow and careful. Chiara pinches my side, but I was expecting her to, so I don’t even flinch. I keep glaring at the man hovering over us.
“Does your mum know about the kind of people you surround yourself with, Chiara? I don’t think she’d approve of someone who threatens another guy,” Tim says, and I almost lose my patience.
“Tim, I don’t know why you keep showing up at the places I work, but, as you can see, I’m dating someone. I’m not interested in you, nor am I playing hard to get like you suggested last time.”
There are many parts about those few sentences that are making me nauseous. 1) He’s been showing up at her workplaces. 2) He thinks this is all a game and Chiara is just playing hard to get. 3) Her voice is calm and careful, letting me know she is scared of the repercussions yelling at him would have. She’s thinking about her Mamma, and it makes me even angrier that Chiara ended up in a situation like this. And the fact that she hasn’t shared any of this with someone means she’s been dealing with it by herself probably since her Mamma and Tim moved in together. Six years ago. This shit started happening six years ago. I am definitely going to be sick, I’m just not sure when my body will decide it can’t handle any more thoughts of my Starling getting treated like this.
“Don’t worry, little girl, you will see who the better man is sooner or later,” Tim replies before walking away. Chiara lets out the breath she was holding, and I release Lizzie’s mouth.
“Did I say something wrong?” my niece asks, but I give her a soft look before shaking my head.
“No, it’s alright, Liz, I just needed to deal with that man by myself, okay?” She gives me a small nod while I bring my hand to Starling’s arm. A moment before my palm connects with her, she jumps out of her seat.
“Excuse me,” is all I hear as she rushes out of the room. If Lizzie wasn’t here with me, I’d run after Chiara to make sure she’s okay. I’d probably end up making her angry with me again, but I’d rather have her angry than upset.
“Is Chiara okay?” Lizzie asks after the show ended and Starling didn’t return.
“Yeah, she’ll be fine,” I lie because I want to reassure my niece, but I have no idea how Chiara’s actually feeling.
We’re walking out of the room, her small hand in mine. I spot the woman I’ve been worried about for the past half an hour sitting with her backpack on at one of the benches outside, her phone between her fingertips and her eyes fixated on the ground. She’s deep in thought, but so on edge too that when I step in front of her, she jumps ever so slightly. The little demon never fucking flinches. I barely bite back the curse threatening to leave my throat.
“Let’s go,” I say to her, and she stands up, forcing a small smile at Lizzie.
Noticing how off Chiara seems, Lizzie slips her hand into hers so we’re all walking together like a little family.
* * *
“I’m goingto need you to tell me how bad this situation with Tim is,” I say as soon as Chiara and I are alone in my apartment.
Somehow, I convinced her to have dinner with me tonight under the pretense that I had a job offer for her. Well maybe not a pretense entirely considering I do have a job I would like to offer her, but it was mostly to get her to talk to me about Tim. She’d agreed with little to no complaint, and I know it’s because she’s lonely in her flat. It must be weird to be there without Graham now, especially because in the six years they lived together, he was never gone for longer than two days, and neither was she.
“Can I help you make dinner?” she asks instead of answering my question.
“Don’t change the subject, Chiara. This is important. How bad is the situation with Tim?” I repeat while she throws Benz’s ball. My Pit Bull sprints after it, returning it to Starling’s lap a moment later. She barks at it to encourage her best friend to keep playing fetch with her.
“He’s verbally harassing me. Recently he showed up at the bookstore where I work. Today at the gallery. He doesn’t understand I’m not interested in him,” she explains, and the temperature of my blood starts to heat in my veins.
“And you haven’t said anything because you’re scared he will kick your Mamma out of the apartment,” I observe, causing Starling to freeze for a moment.
“Yes,” is all she says before throwing the ball for Benz again. She slips back into her thoughts, I can tell by the way her teeth capture her bottom lip.
“It can’t go on like this,” I say. Chiara lets out a sigh before scratching Benz’s chest.
“For a guy who grew up in a family that struggled with money, you’re really not understanding this situation,” she says, but it irritates me. I lean against the wall in the living room, crossing my arms in front of my chest. Her gaze briefly slips to my forearms, and I wish I could focus on the blush settling on her cheeks in response.
“I don’t understand because you have an option. Let me help you,” I beg,fucking beg, because I’m getting tired of this awful feeling deep in my gut. Worry, concern, guilt for letting her go through all of this by herself.
