Before I could react, someone grabbed him from behind and yanked him off his feet. It was Wallace. He put Beau up against the wall. He didn’t say a word, just held him there. Then he dropped him, stepped back, and waited. Beau struggled to his feet. He stood with his fists at his sides, one hand dripping blood. When Wallace made no move, Beau hightailed it down the hall.

“You need to tell Ricky,” Wallace said.

“I know.”

He eyed me. “I mean it, Liv. If that boy went after you, Ricky needs to handle it, even if that’s not how you normally do things.”

“It isn’t. I am going to tell him, though. Not because the guy cornered me, but because he insulted Ricky, who needs to know a potential prospect doesn’t respect him.”

Wallace grunted. He seemed marginally impressed.

“Beau wasn’t really hitting on me,” I continued. “He was taking a shot at Ricky. That seems a stupid thing for a potential prospect to do.”

Wallace shrugged. “With some of these guys, testosterone runs higher than IQ. I’m just glad I saw that side before we started seriously considering him. Guys like that are not welcome.”

“Guys like what?” Ricky rounded the corner and stopped beside me. He slid an arm around my waist. “Something up?”

“Beau,” Wallace said, and gave me a look to say he’d handle this.

“Beau?” Ricky said. “Oh, right. New guy.”

“He was drunk,” Wallace said. “Too damned drunk for ten o’clock on a weeknight. First, there was a dustup with Lily. Olivia handled it. Lily’s earned herself a month’s suspension. Beau seems to have hooked up with her, and I don’t know if that’s what made him go after Olivia or—”

“He went after—?” Ricky saw blood on the floor. “Did he hurt—?”

“No,” Wallace said. “That’s his. Apparently, you gave Liv a knife.”

Ricky’s arm tightened around me as he leaned in to whisper, “You okay?”

“I am.”

Wallace said I’d handled it fine, that it was just one asshole being an asshole and Beau had better never step on the property again, but Ricky strode to the door and opened it with a hard kick. We followed him outside, and he surveyed the lot.

“He’s got a Super Glide, right?”

“Yeah.” Wallace stepped out behind us. “He’s long gone.”

Ricky’s gaze fixed on the road. My hand tightened on his. He murmured, “I want to go after him.”

I agree. I want you to show him why he should respect you. And yet . . .

“And yet . . .” Ricky murmured, the echo sending another shiver through me. “I need to start reining in my temper. It doesn’t lead me anywhere good.” He raised his voice for Wallace. “We know where he lives, right?”

“Where he’s staying, yeah.”