Of their own volition, my eyes scanned the grounds for Alexi, and once again found him talking animatedly with Gemma. Pain knotted my belly. I’d told him I didn’t want to talk to him, but that didn’t mean it didn’t sting to see him obviously so comfortable with Gemma.

Turning a circle in the wide hallway, I decided it was probably best to go out the way I’d come in before I got lost and trapped in this cross between Downton Abbey and British Stepford hell.

With my camera bag slung over my shoulder, I shuffled out the side door without anyone seeing me. My mind had already turned to the long hot bath I needed when I heard the shouting.

“How could you be so stupid? Do you understand how you made me look?”

My skin prickled as a chill settled around me. A fear and anxiety cocktail made a roiling, boiling science project out of my stomach. “Mind your business, Abbie,” I mumbled to myself.

But as I bypassed the side garden, my feet rooted to the grass. When I saw the contorted features of a hulking man as he screamed in the face of a barely five-foot-five redhead, adrenaline coursed through my veins.

Over the years, I’d never told anyone how Easton had treated me because I was too embarrassed that he’d hit me. I could have been one of those statistics if I hadn’t finally had enough. But what if I’d had someone to step in when I needed it? He might never have hit me in the first place.

He’s bigger than you, and this time you’re not brandishing a weapon.

I shook off the doubt demon that climbed onto my back. This was the right thing to do. It didn’t matter that fear and doubt were like two sets of chains holding me back, begging me to turn away and mind my own business.

When I spoke, my voice wobbled. “Hey, are you all right?”

The redhead didn’t even look at me, just mutely nodded. The man though, he glared. With all his fury directed at me, my steps faltered. “Just remember, he’s a coward at heart,” I mumbled to myself. Yeah, easier said than done.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Aren’t you the help? Mind your fucking business,” he snarled.

Anger had me cocking my head. My voice was steadier now. “You see, I would love to mind my own fucking business, but you’re out here bullying a woman half your size and screaming the house down, so you’ve made it my business.” Without taking my eyes off the man, I asked the woman again, “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t have to stay here with him. We can go to my car, and I can drop you anywhere you like.”