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She’d scraped and fought for everything she’d gotten since the day she was born. She hadn’t been allowed to even think about what she wanted. Not that it mattered. No one wanted to hear about her desires.

It was normal, expected. So, why did it hurt so badly when it came from Boone? She’d let herself believe it would be different with him. She should have known better.

“You’re totally right,” she said, staring down at her knees so he wouldn’t see her lip tremble. She knew all the tricks to hide what she really thought or felt. “I shouldn’t have talked like that. I’m being ungrateful, and… and you don’t deserve that. You saved my life, and I’ll be grateful to you forever. So… so yes, you say jump, and from now on, all you’ll hear from me is how h-high.”

There, she did it. Hopefully, he didn’t catch the hitch in her voice. But at least she’d made everything okay. She’d given him what he wanted. It sucked, but she wanted him to be happy with her. Now at least the rest of their trip back home would go smoothly.

Or so she’d thought, right up until he growled, “What the hell was that?”

CHAPTER 11

Her gaze shot up, only to come face to face with a very unhappy Daddy. As a matter of fact, he was the exact opposite of happy. He was furious.

Now just a minute. What right did he have to be furious?

She’d told him what he wanted to hear. She wasn’t sure what else he expected. She didn’t like not meeting people’s expectations. Meeting expectations meant she was safe. It meant there could be peace.

She’d done her part. What was wrong with him?

“Answer me, little girl. What was that shit you just spewed at me?”

“You… you said I was ungrateful.”

“I sure as hell did not.” If his scowl got any deeper, his eyebrows would merge in the center of his face.

How could she give him what he wanted when he didn’t even remember what he’d asked for? Something in her snapped. Too much was too much. She punched her hips with her fists and yelled right back.

“You did so say that. You said I should be grateful I was rescued and do whatever it takes not to be taken again. I’m nota complete idiot, you know. I may be slow to grasp some things, but if the General taught me anything, he taught me that.”

Boy, did he ever.

Unbidden, the memory assailed her, taking her down. Her father’s voice echoed in her head. “Sera, an A+ in British literature is trash if you only get a ninety-seven on your advanced calculus test when you could have gotten a one hundred. With all I’m doing for you, the least you could do is put forth a modicum of effort. Your lack of gratitude is a slap in the face. It makes me sick.”

Wait. Had she said that last part out loud?

Boone studied her like she was some kind of science experiment that failed, and he couldn’t figure out why. Several times, he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Great. She finally found the Daddy of her dreams and promptly broke him. This was why she couldn’t have anything nice.

After waiting a few minutes for him to say something, her tummy started to get tight, and her eyes started to burn. What was he thinking? Did he wish he hadn’t rescued her? Was he thinking about chucking her into the sea?

He was getting harder and harder to focus on because all the spots floating around kept getting in her way.

He took her hand in his. “Bluebell, are you breathing? I’m gonna need you to calm down and take a breath, darlin’.”

What was he talking about? Of course, she was breathing. And as soon as her lungs stopped burning, she’d tell him so. Not breathing. Ha!

But she’d have to tell him how silly he was being later. Right now, she needed to figure out who was stabbing her chest with knives of fire.

“Shit. Tildi, breathe for me, babygirl.” He grabbed her arms and forced her to her feet.

He said something else, but the ringing in her ears and the pounding of her heart in her chest were all she could focus on. And whoever was crying in that muffled way really needed to stop. It was annoying.

Boone shook her. Hard. His lips were moving, but no sound was coming out. But she couldn’t worry about that, either. She was floating. It was almost like she was watching a video of what was going on in the room but not really experiencing it.

And he really needed to stop shaking her because her head was killing her, and that wasn’t helping. But he was right about one thing. She needed to breathe.

She tried. She really did, but it was like something was lodged in her throat, and she couldn’t get past it.