Page 17 of Danger and Dominance

“Stop.I’ve heard enough.”

“You and Laura, apparently.”

Even though it put him in a bind, he had a lot of sympathy for Laura.Unfortunately, that meant finding another companion for his grandmother.This time he would make sure that they understood exactly the kind of books her book club liked to read.And he’d send Laura a bonus check to make up for being fired.

“When did you fire her?”

“Friday.I told her I’d tell you today.”Totally unrepentant, that’s what she was.

David sighed.Back to the drawing board.

“Okay, I’ll have people stop in to check on you this week, and we’ll set up a round of interviews for next Saturday.”Just one more thing to add to his to-do list.

“I’m sorry, David, but she really wasn’t right for me.Maybe this time you can let me choose who to hire?”She actually sounded sincere and a little pleading.

“You didn’t say no to Laura.”

“I wasn’t excited about her, either.I wanted that nice young man.”

“You only wanted Marcus because you thought he was cute.He was completely unqualified.”David had looked into the guy when his grandmother had stated her preference.Marcus might look good in a pair of shorts, but he’d had three speeding tickets in the last year alone, an outstanding parking ticket, didn’t know how to cook, and hadn’t held any kind of job for more than six months.

“Let me choose this time, no matter what their qualifications are, and I promise I won’t fire them.”Widening her eyes, somehow, his seventy-two-year-old grandmother managed to look like a puppy dog begging for a treat.David groaned.He was going to regret this, he could feel it already, but maybe letting her choose one time would mean she wouldn’t chase the person off.

He only needed someone to last for longer than a month, so he could get through some of his work.And he could just do a deep dive on everyone coming in for an interview ahead of time instead of afterward the way he usually did.It would take more time, doing a deep dive on all applicants instead of an initial screen, then deep diving on the ones they were actually considering, but in this case, it might save him time in the long run.

Because if his grandmother kept needing replacement companions, he was going to lose time he didn’t have over the next few months.

“Fine.”And if it didn’t work out, thenhecould fire them.“You can choose your next companion, and I won’t argue with your choice.”

“Good.Thank you, David.”She beamed at him.

Yeah, he was going to dive deep every single applicantverycarefully before the interview.

7

Cassidy

For the first time in years, Cassidy slept in.Not only that, but she slepthard.From the moment her head hit the pillow until Kincaid came in to gently shake her awake because he didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye, but he had to go, she was so deeply asleep, she didn’t even dream.And, for the first time in years, she actually felt rested when she woke up.

She was no longer worrying that she was going to piss Don off, no longer waking up with a start in the mornings because she was afraid she was going to sleep past him.He’d hated it when she was ‘lazy.’

In D.C., every night, she’d lay down then get up again, just to make sure she’d locked everything and set the home alarm.

She’d close her eyes, then open them again at every tiny noise she heard, every creak of the house, every dog that barked outside, every car that came to a stop on the street.

Her head would spin with all the ways she was vulnerable.Wondering if Don might come that night and find a way in, climbing up the fire escape.Convincing someone to let him into the apartment building, then ending up at her door.Breaking the lock.Breaking in the door.

On the worst nights, her brain would offer up horrific images of him burning the whole building down just to get to her.Who would escape.Who wouldn’t.And then, even if she got outside, he’d be waiting for her… and he’d either drag her off screaming while everyone fought the blaze, or he’d stab her or shoot her and leave her to bleed out in the parking lot of her burning building.

It didn’t matter how unlikely she, logically, knew such a scenario was.How out there.Her brain never let her rest.

But not last night.

Last night, she’d felt wholly, truly safe in a way that had let her anxiety take a breather.

Waking up to that feeling made her tear up, though she did her best to hide it because Kincaid was already acting reluctant to leave her there, and if she cried, he might not go.She’d interrupted his weekend, and his life, enough.So, she sucked it up, kept the tears at bay, and got up to walk him to the front door, where she gave him a huge hug, waving as he left.

It felt so strange to be left behind.