Page 136 of Fierce-Dane
She turned to Dane and said, “Explain yourself.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“You know what it means. You had no right to have my past looked into. That is no different than Mel trying to get you to find your parents.”
“It’s not even close,” he said, his jaw dropping.
“Oh, yes it is,” she said. “Don’t try to say otherwise. You know I didn’t want to know anything and you went behind my back. You’ve said more than once your ex did that to you and how much you hated it. Yet you did the one thing you couldn’t stand being done to you.”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” he said firmly.
“Yeah, well, I’m not in the mood for you to try to talk me into you being right like you do with your kids. You should leave.”
She could see he wanted to argue, but in the end he turned and left.
She wouldn’t cry. She wasn’t even sure if she could, as she was just too damn angry.
For someone who felt she was finally getting somecontrol back in her life, that was a bucket full of cold water in the face as a wakeup call.
She shut everything off in the house and walked up the stairs to see Shiloh standing in the doorway with her head down sniffling.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, running toward her.
“Is Dane not coming back? You were mad and told him to leave.”
Shit. “What did you hear?”
“Just you talking to Dane and you were upset and then you told him to leave. Is he gone for good?”
“Sometimes people fight,” she said. “It’s nothing more than that. You can go back to bed. Do you want me to read you a story?”
Shiloh nodded her head. “I want one with a family and a happy ending.”
“Yeah,” she said softly. “Me too.”
When she was in bed later, she sobbed harder than she ever had in her life and wondered if this was what Dane meant when he said she’d get hit with grief over her mother at some point.
Only it didn’t have to do with her mother. It had to do with the man she loved.
40
WANT TO PROTECT YOU
Dane knew he had to apologize to Sloane. He wanted to call her yesterday and do it but figured she might still need to calm down.
Then he told himself, he wasn’t all that wrong. He just had to explain it to her.
If she’d even talk to him.
When he got the text this morning saying they had to talk and if he could come over after work, that Shiloh was going to stay at the spa, he knew things might not be good.
He was just thankful he didn’t get a call and have to go to the hospital. And hoped that he wouldn’t get one and have to leave.
He knocked on her door, something he hadn’t done in months. He normally just walked in.
“Hi,” he said.
“Come sit down,” she said.