“He put a man in the hospital,” he declared. “Was nearly suspended permanently from the police force because of it. Beat the hell out of him. He’s known to be—”

I cut him off. “I know, Damian, yeesh. You don’t think Brock would share that with me?”

Damian blinked. “You know?”

“Uh… yeah. The guy beat the crap out of his ex-girlfriend, raped her repeatedly and put her in the hospital for two weeks. Brock wasn’t down with that and I don’t blame him.”

I heard Vance chuckle, his scariness evaporating (kind of) and I saw Damian’s eyes narrow.

Then he stated, “He’s had sexual intercourse with suspects he was investigating.”

“I know that too, seeing as I was one of them,” I informed him.

Vance chuckled again and Damian’s narrow-eyed look turned into a scowl.

Then he shared, “You weren’t the only one.”

“Yeah, her name was Darla and he had his reasons. He shared them with me but I will not be sharing them with you. What I will be doing is hunkering behind hot-guy Vance while I call the police and inform them you’re harassing me again if you don’t go away.”

Damian ignored me too and stated, “He’s not a good man, Tess.”

At that, I burst out laughing so hard, I bent forward and had to wrap my arms around my belly because my sides were hurting.

I did this for a long time and then straightened, wiped tears of hilarity from my cold cheeks, and focused on a Vance and Damian, who were both looking at me like I was more than a little crazy.

Then my eyes turned to Damian and I declared, “That was hilarious.”

“I’m not being funny,” he whispered.

“You wouldn’t know a good man if he walked up and tapped you on the shoulder,” I whispered back, suddenly deadly serious. “Brock Lucas is wild and he’s rough and he’s driven but he’s loving and affectionate and so fucking loyal it isn’t funny. He takes care of me. He makes me feel safe. He’s good through and through and that is the first and last fucking time I’ll listen to you talk shit about him. I’m done speaking to you or seeing you. I’m reporting this incident to the police immediately and any future ones will also be reported. I’m done with you Damian, and since you won’t listen to me, maybe the Denver Police Department can make you listen.”

Then I dug out my phone, dialed 911, and put it to my ear.

Vance stayed close and Damian stared at me.

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

“This is Tessa O’Hara and I’m standing outside Tessa’s Cakes in Cherry Creek North. My ex-husband is harassing me and he won’t allow me to get in my vehicle. Can someone come help me?”