“He’s…” Daniel hesitated as if searching for the right words. “Donato is the reason I’m where I am today. I owe him.”
“He made you confess?” My jaw worked as an overwhelming hatred for this man I didn’t know consumed me.
“No. No. He was furious when he bailed me out.”
“You went to jail?!” I clutched my throat as bile rose, burning my esophagus. How could this happen without me knowing? Everything I thought I knew was being swept away like it was nothing.
“Why didn’t you call me? I could’ve gotten you out,” Stone said, his jaw clenched.
Daniel recoiled as if surprised by the support. “I didn’t want to get out. If Donato had left well enough alone, I’d still be there.”
Vivian elbowed him in the side. “You’d rather be there than here?”
He kissed the top of her head. “Of course not. It’s not that simple.”
“So what happens now?” I crossed one leg over the other and wiggled my foot at a rapid pace. We had a routine. A safe one. If he was in prison, where did that leave Vivian and me? What if those people came back in retaliation? What if my past resurfaced?
“I won’t let Donato go down for this.” Daniel’s jaw worked into a stubborn set.
“Never mind your family.” I turned away in disgust, unable to look at him. He couldn’t be this bound to someone I didn’t know. When he’d been forced to choose between us and that man, he’d chosen him.
“He’s my family too,” Daniel confessed, his tone soft.
“Then why don’t we know him?” I challenged.
Daniel held onto Vivian a little more tightly. “I thought it was best to keep you away from that world. I don’t regret it. But maybe it was the wrong decision.”
“How could you have this other person in your life? Someone important enough you’d go to prison for? He’s obviously a dangerous man. Why do you associate with him?” Inch by inch, my temper ratcheted up.
“I don’t know any other way,” he said quietly, tugging on my heartstrings. “If it weren’t for him…”
“If it weren’t for him none of this would have happened!” I shouted. They didn’t seem to understand that. All of them were far too calm for my liking. I loved Daniel as much as I’d ever loved anyone, but this was a flat out betrayal.
“He helped me when I didn’t have anywhere else to turn.” A strained expression formed deep creases around his eyes. “I don’t like to deal in what ifs, but there is a very real possibility that if I didn’t know Donato, Vinny would have been the one to find you in that shipping container.”
We stared at one another, fear for what might have been bouncing between us. “He’s the one who wanted to kill me last night?” I managed to clip the words out as horror choked me. Just like that, I was back in the darkness of the container, terrified when I’d heard voices. There’d been someone else there that day, someone Daniel had prevented from seeing me.
Daniel nodded. “I don’t expect you to agree with my choices, but I need you to try to understand them.”
“Maybe I could if you’d been at least a little bit honest.” I pointed at him. “And don’t tell me you didn’t lie to me. Omission is why we’re here.”
Daniel pulled Vivian against him like a lifeline. “I have to do this.”
Panic, fear, and anger swirled inside me. He didn’t have to; he was just too stubborn to realize it.
Vivian reached for me despite that I was too far away. “Last night, I was exactly where you are now.”
That explained the scene in the stairwell. And while I didn’t doubt that was true, it did little to comfort me. I felt like I’d been cast out of our boat, left to tread water on my own.
“I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me about this,” I said, not bothering to hide the pain.
“I didn’t want to burden you, to hurt you.” He shifted toward me without letting go of Vivian, eyes full of remorse.
“Well, you have.”
I sat there for a moment, staring at Daniel. Over the last few weeks, I’d experienced real anger toward him for being so foolish about throwing Vivian away. But now? I was furious.
“Did you think you’d just go away one day and I wouldn’t notice?” I asked, voice rising.
“No. I explained in the letter why I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to suffer along with me.”
My heart shattered for the man I respected more than any other person. He had always put me first, even when he should have been thinking of himself. Yet I couldn’t piece together his logic. I understood the words, but not the reasoning.
“How could you keep this from me? You know everything about me, yet it’s all shadows and secrecy with you. If you’d been honest about what was going on, we could’ve tried to figure out another way. Instead, you chose to go it alone.” I leapt out of the chair and got right in his face. “You say all this is in the name of protection, but that’s a lie. It’s a lack of trust. In me. In Vivian.”
They all stared at me. Daniel said nothing. Not a protest. No denial. Nothing. I loved him, but I deserved more than that.
“Muriella—” he finally started.
I slapped his cheek. “I don’t want to hear it.”
His stunned expression quickly smoothed over. “I promised I would always protect you. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing.”
“No. You’ve been hiding while telling yourself this was for my protection. I know this has to be terrifying, but we’re supposed to be here for each other. You’re a fool if you think Vivian and I wouldn’t have found you. We love you, Daniel. Why can’t you accept that?” I held his face in my hands as I searched his eyes.
“I never meant to hurt you. Either of you,” he said, gripping Vivian’s thigh.
“Well, you did.” I let out a long breath as I dropped my hands in disgust. “I can’t—I can’t be around you right now.”
I stumbled toward the door. Everything inside of me hurt.
“M!” Vivian called.
I held up my hand without turning around. All the anxiety of the day crashed down on me. I needed time, but I wasn’t sure I could ever forgive Daniel for this.
Chapter Eight
Stone
I’d been sitting there unable to do anything but watch Muriella’s heart break, but when she left, I immediately moved to follow her while Daniel and Vivian sat there stunned.
“Stone.”
I hesitated when he called my name, torn between listening to what he had to say and going after Muriella.
I turned.
“I’ve never seen her like that,” Daniel said quietly.
“You telling me to stay out of it or go fix it?” I lifted a brow.
An unprecedented look for Daniel Elliott shadowed his face. Helplessness.
I went with my instinct and caught up to her just as she entered the stairwell. She flew down the steps. I jogged after her, only hesitating a second when she got to the landing on her floor and shoved the door open so hard it ricocheted off the wall.
Today her emotions had snowballed until they had finally settled on anger. That default was easier to handle than hurt. I knew that from experience. Once her temper simmered down, what remained wouldn’t be easy to face.
She marched straight to the kitchen. It hadn’t taken me long to figure out that was her safe place.
That poor dishtowel took the brunt of her anger as she snatched it off the counter and roughly folded it into a perfect rectangle. Without looking up, she opened the dishwasher and took out a handful of silverware.
“Please leave,” she said without looking at me.
I leaned against the counter. “Can’t do that.”
The utensils fell into the drawer with a clang. She glared at me. “Forgive me, but I’m not up for company right now.”
“I’m more than ‘company,’ and you know it.”
She dropped a knife into its proper slot, then a fork, and a spoon, the clatter echoing off the walls.
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“I won’t ask again,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Let’s talk about this,” I said in an even tone. The need to make this right overtook me, even though I knew it was impossible to do tonight. Muriella this mad was something I couldn’t get used to. Didn’t want to.
“No.”
She stacked clean plates on the counter with such force I thought they’d crack. I rounded the island and pried a glass from her fingers.
“Before you break it and cut yourself.”
Her fierce look sliced right into the heart of me.
“You had your date. I need to be alone,” she said crisply.
I put the glass on its proper shelf in the cabinet. Repeated the action with another and another.
“Stop it.” The urgency in her voice gave me pause. “I’ve had enough controlling men in my life.” She clamped her mouth closed as if she’d said too much.
I wanted to know exactly what the hell she meant by that. Now.
“Does Daniel control you?” I asked carefully. From where I stood, it hadn’t really looked that way, but my perspective wasn’t completely from the inside.
She spread her arms wide. “Look at this. It’s all his.” She tugged on her blouse. “This? His.” She laughed bitterly. “I thought—I don’t know what I thought. I just know the person I trust more than anything doesn’t trust me.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s manipulated you.”
“My point,” she said, leveling me with an annoyed stare, “is that I don’t know what’s real and what’s not anymore.”
She resumed emptying the dishwasher.
“You know what’s real. The truth is just a little muddied right now.”
“What would you think?” She picked up the dishtowel and dried a container lid. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
I held up a pair of tongs. “Where do these go?”
She snatched them from my hand and shoved them in a drawer.
I needed to keep her talking, so I refused to get the hint. “I’m pretty damn pissed about what he did too, but he deserves the benefit of the doubt. The guy did what he thought he had to do to protect his family. I can’t fault him for that. In fact, I respect him for it.”
“You and your respect need to leave.” She pointed toward the door.
I held up both of my hands. “I’m only trying to help.”
“Well, you’re not.”
That was a gut punch, but I shoved away the hurt. She was just lashing out. If she needed to unleash, I’d gladly be the one to take it.
“All right. I’ll take off.” This date wasn’t ending like I’d pictured at all. I thought she’d have had so much fun she wouldn’t want it to be over. We’d hang out on the couch, watch an old movie, maybe, just maybe, fall asleep in each other’s arms.
The way she looked at me right now, I wasn’t sure she ever wanted to see me again.
“And what happened last night wasn’t protection.”
I kept my expression neutral when she continued talking. She needed to get this out. Maybe she didn’t want to be as alone as she thought she did.
“Much as we want to, we can’t control every situation,” I offered, trying like hell not to break the mountain of eggshells I was walking on.
A storm gathered in her eyes. “There never should have been a situation like that. This,”—she waved her hand above her head—“is supposed to be the one place I’m safe.”
I drew in a long breath. How could I tell her she was when I wasn’t entirely sure? Even if those assholes last night had never intended to harm a hair on her head, look at the residual effect. She was scared, and rightly so. I was beginning to understand that feeling safe was the foundation Muriella was built on. It had cracked, and she was unsteady.
“You’re safe with me.”
She smoothed down the creases in the dishtowel with the force of a sledgehammer, all while keeping that madder than hell gaze on me.
“Thank you for lunch.”
It was an automatic, polite dismissal. One I wanted to stomp under my boot. For a second today, I thought she’d let me in a little. But she’d put me squarely back at arm’s length, and I hated it.
“It was my pleasure.” I gave her a sharp nod. “If you need me, call me.”
That last part was a waste of breath. The day Muriella called me would be the day world peace was achieved and hunger was wiped out.
I made sure to lock her door on the way out. I pressed the call button for the elevator, then thought better of it. I trotted up the steps and knocked on the penthouse door.
Daniel answered, his hair haphazard where he’d no doubt been yanking on it. He turned around, and I followed him to the study where Vivian was in the same spot on the sofa.
She twisted as we entered. “What happened? Is she okay?”
“She’s pissed as all hell. Banging dishes around and everything.” I dropped into the chair opposite the sofa.
“She slapped me,” Daniel said, almost in a daze.
“You aren’t going to hold that against her?” I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my knees.
His glare was lethal. “Of course not.” He relaxed, slinging an arm around Vivian. “She’s just never done anything like that before.”
“I’m guessing you haven’t kept a murder confession from her before either.”
He shot me an unimpressed look. “I’m doing what I have to do.”
I hung my head to collect my thoughts before I lifted it again. “I’ve got a brother and a sister. Both pains in my ass.” I couldn’t help but smile at that. “We’ve done more stupid shit to each other than I care to admit. But in the end, we always worked it out.”
“How? I’m an only child.” Daniel ran a hand through his hair.
“Me too,” Vivian volunteered.
“Mitch and I beat the hell out of each other. Mulaney beat the hell out of me because I couldn’t hit a girl back. Or my grandmama threatened us, somebody said they were sorry, and we got over it.”
Every family wasn’t like ours. There was some stuff that was unforgivable. Fortunately, I hadn’t experienced that yet and prayed to God I never would.
“She’s been irritated with me before, but this is different. She—” He gripped his thighs, at a loss.
“Sorry’s a good place to start.”
“I apologized,” he argued.
I pressed my lips together. “Not exactly.”
“The hell I didn’t. I told her I didn’t want to hurt her, and she went ballistic.” He shot from the sofa and paced in front of the fireplace.
“Give her a minute to cool off and then actually say the words. ‘I’m sorry’.” I spoke slowly to emphasize them. “Practice with Vivian if you have to.”
Daniel balled his fists at his sides.
“I could stand to hear it again,” she said with a shrug.
“The problem is going to be building back the trust you broke.” I leaned back in my seat.
He stalked over to the windows. Kept his rigid back to both of us.
I stood, exhausted. “I’m gonna take off.”
Vivian leapt off the couch and threw her arms around my neck. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
I squeezed her. Damn, I needed a hug more than I realized.
She jerked back. “I completely forgot to ask. How’d the date go?”
“Hell if I know. I thought it was decent, but the way she just asked me to leave, I don’t think I made any progress.”
She patted my face. “Keep working at it.”
“Yeah.” I hugged her again. “Let me know what’s going on,” I said, raising my voice loud enough for Daniel to hear.
He didn’t respond, and I kissed Vivian’s cheek before I let myself out. As I waited for the elevator, the theme from Dallas started playing in my pocket. I cursed my sister for messing with my phone, even though I was the one who hadn’t changed it in six months.
“Hey, Grand
daddy.”
“Hey, son. Is this a bad time?”
“Nah. How is everybody?”
“Fine. Fine.” A gate creaked and clanged shut. “Randall Hedley came by.”
“What in the hell did that horse’s ass want?” I kicked at the metal plate of the open elevator door, but didn’t step inside.
“The ranch.”
Chapter Nine
Muriella
“Miss Muriella. Look at my turkey!”
Allie Mason ran at me full throttle across the kindergarten classroom at Saint Pius waving orange construction paper above her head. She screeched to a halt, but not fast enough. She thrust her hand out, planting her palm on my abdomen.
With a sheepish grin, she looked up at me. “Sorry.”
“What’s the big rush?” I glanced down. A six-year-old-sized brown handprint stained my cerulean sweater. “Where’s your turkey?” I peered around her. “Is he chasing you?”
“Nooo.” She giggled and held up the construction paper. “Here he is.”
I took the paper, examining it closely. “He’s a handsome turkey. Think he’d let us try on his hat?”
“We could ask him?” she suggested. Allie beckoned me closer. I bent, and she spoke in my ear. “He likes to be called Harry.”
“Like Prince Harry?”
She nodded so big her hair flew in her face.
I held the picture up. “Harry,” I said in a very serious voice, “Allie and I would like to try on your hat.”
I hid behind the construction paper. “Only if you give it back by Thanksgiving,” I said, using a gobbley turkey voice.
Allie stooped down and giggled again. I dropped my arm and laughed with her. The paper hat she’d glued to the construction paper was in her palm.
“Let’s get him patched up.”
She raced off, and I joined her at the table with her classmates, taking the little chair she offered me.
“That’s a lovely green turkey, Erik.”
“Turkey’s aren’t green,” Allie said, making a face.
“My mother says the world is any color I want it.” He squirted glue on the back of the paper hat in his hand and smacked it onto his turkey.
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