Page 39 of Dangerous Intent

“I’m in no more danger than I was a week ago.” The fire in her eyes warned me that she was about to say something I was going to hate. “Isn’t that the whole reason you married me?”

And there it was…

“What did you just fucking say?” I stepped toward her, causing her to retreat, but I clutched her arm before she could get too far. “You think that was the only reason I married you?”

“Of course not, but protecting me was high on your list of priorities, wasn’t it?” She yanked out of my hold. “You made that really clear.”

“Stop it!”

Her eyes widened.

“You’re not going to turn this around on me.” I backed her against the wall. “You kept something from me. Something vital. That piece of shit called you and threatened you, and you didn’t tell me.”

“I meant to.”

“You meant to?” I slammed my hand against the wall. “This man kidnapped you, shot at you, and planned to auction you off. He’s caught up in a sex trafficking operation, and you forgot to tell me he called?”

What is wrong with her?

Was she ever going to get in line? It wasn’t as if I expected her to obey me—I’d given up on that notion long ago—but I did expect her to understand the danger she was in. Was that too much to ask of her?

“He called the night of the funeral,” she said. “I was so tired. Your father had just told me he had killed my dad, I’d learned about the auction, you and I had intense sex, and I hadn’t eaten or slept. I…”

Her hesitation infuriated me.

“What about the next day?”

She ran her fingers through her hair, and her hand trembled.

“I was about to tell you, but you asked me to marry you. The wedding, your father leaving… Everything was happening so fast, and I still feel like I haven’t processed anything.”

“Not even us?”

Had I pushed her too far, too soon? She had gone through so much in a short time. I had always seen her strong, determined side, and because she was so brave and insistent when it came to what she wanted, maybe I overestimated how much she could take.

“No, not us.” She placed her shaky hand on my cheek. “I want to be your wife. I’m meant to be your wife.”

I was convinced she meant that. She would stand with me until the bitter end.

But I wanted to make sure the end wasn’t any time soon and that nothing about it would be bitter.

“Why didn’t you tell me he called you?”

“I don’t know.” She gazed into my eyes. “It wasn’t intentional.”

“Then what was it?”

“I put it out of my mind, thinking I could make it go away. You were already dealing with so much. I didn’t want to pile on more.”

“You can’t make it go away.” I removed her hand from my face and kissed her knuckles. “You can’t keep stuff from me. I can’t protect you if you keep secrets.”

“I’m sorry.” She bit the corner of her lip. “I figured since Danny was calling me instead of showing up in person, he wasn’t a threat. But tonight he did show up, and he pointed a gun at you.”

“What did he say to you?”

“He said he was glad my father didn’t cut me off because I owe him.”

“You don’t owe him shit.” I should have killed him when I had the chance. “He’s not going to get near you again.”