that right?”
“You’re saying you would kill me?” she panted, too scared to move.
“You’re admitting he did it?”
“No!” She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her face away, fat tears spilling down her cheeks.
The look of her that way, panicked, crying and scared… scared of him, brought reality crashing down. He saw what he was doing and pushed off with a curse. To keep from touching her again, he laced his fingers behind his neck and roared.
The tortured sound left a ringing in Danny’s ears that had her quivering inside. She opened her eyes, but refused to look toward him.
A few seconds later he spoke again with complete calm. “I won’t hurt you,” he said, unable to look at her as he moved to exit her room. “But make no mistake, I am going to get what I want whether you suffer for it or not.”
She drank in his words like they were poison. Speaking to Derek had strengthened Austin’s quest for revenge and any notion of a peaceable existence between them went up in smoke. When she turned her head to look, he was gone.
Later that morning, dressed in denim and ready to earn something on the quiet Saturday, Danny stepped into the kitchen to begin work on the pizza oven. Immediately in her peripheral vision, she noticed something was off. She stopped, slack-jawed, and turned.& [ anace="Tinbsp; All that was left was the long stainless vent hood as it hovered over empty space.
“That son-of-a-bitch!” she breathed, taking the hint for what it was. There was no money to be earned that day.
“Careful, Bennett,” she heard behind her from the hallway. “I may not fire you but I can make your life a living nightmare.”
Danny whirled around and gaped at Austin. “You got rid of it!”
Austin didn’t deny it, just leaned against the wall and watched her with arms crossed over a casual black T-shirt.
“Was it really worth it?” she asked. His eyes told her “every penny” and her opinion of him plummeted to the earth. “You’ll sacrifice anything as long as it puts you ahead.”
“Depends on the reason.”
She bit her bottom lip, picked up her tool belt. “You know, I was always told the Cahills were too cold, too pretentious to know the meaning of value. And for one scant moment I thought you might be different.” She skimmed past him, her shoulder brushing his bicep. “Apparently I was wrong.”
Chapter 8
The only positive thing from such a quiet day was that Danny was able to catch up on a handful of her assignments. And it felt good to lounge around in a pair of cut-off shorts and her favorite athletic top, pull her hair up off her neck into a ponytail and walk around barefoot. She avoided leaving her room for fear of running into Austin, but hunger forced her into the commons room to scrape for snacks and a bottle of water. Her phone vibrated at her waist and she dropped a package of oatmeal in her hurried attempt to grab for it. Paranoia was getting the best of her, even though she knew Derek wasn’t coming over. She’d made him swear it, reassured him that she was fine and in complete control and that he would only be falling into a trap if he did.
“I’ve known you to do some stupid things, Danny,” he’d admonished when she called him back. “But messing with the Cahills when you know how much that asshole wants a piece of me!”
“I wasn’t expecting to actually run into a Cahill on the job, Derek! They aren’t exactly known for their fondness of hard labor and y’all have kept us women so sheltered from this feud. I didn’t think anyone would know me from Adam.”
“But Austin did know you! And now that I know he has you, I’m going out of my fucking mind! I have a responsibility for you, Danny, ever since you first ^ anac dr started following me around in diapers. Our folks expect me to bring you home before you do something stupid. Well, ha! Ha-ha! Rimshot please!”
His
“You’re saying you would kill me?” she panted, too scared to move.
“You’re admitting he did it?”
“No!” She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her face away, fat tears spilling down her cheeks.
The look of her that way, panicked, crying and scared… scared of him, brought reality crashing down. He saw what he was doing and pushed off with a curse. To keep from touching her again, he laced his fingers behind his neck and roared.
The tortured sound left a ringing in Danny’s ears that had her quivering inside. She opened her eyes, but refused to look toward him.
A few seconds later he spoke again with complete calm. “I won’t hurt you,” he said, unable to look at her as he moved to exit her room. “But make no mistake, I am going to get what I want whether you suffer for it or not.”
She drank in his words like they were poison. Speaking to Derek had strengthened Austin’s quest for revenge and any notion of a peaceable existence between them went up in smoke. When she turned her head to look, he was gone.
Later that morning, dressed in denim and ready to earn something on the quiet Saturday, Danny stepped into the kitchen to begin work on the pizza oven. Immediately in her peripheral vision, she noticed something was off. She stopped, slack-jawed, and turned.& [ anace="Tinbsp; All that was left was the long stainless vent hood as it hovered over empty space.
“That son-of-a-bitch!” she breathed, taking the hint for what it was. There was no money to be earned that day.
“Careful, Bennett,” she heard behind her from the hallway. “I may not fire you but I can make your life a living nightmare.”
Danny whirled around and gaped at Austin. “You got rid of it!”
Austin didn’t deny it, just leaned against the wall and watched her with arms crossed over a casual black T-shirt.
“Was it really worth it?” she asked. His eyes told her “every penny” and her opinion of him plummeted to the earth. “You’ll sacrifice anything as long as it puts you ahead.”
“Depends on the reason.”
She bit her bottom lip, picked up her tool belt. “You know, I was always told the Cahills were too cold, too pretentious to know the meaning of value. And for one scant moment I thought you might be different.” She skimmed past him, her shoulder brushing his bicep. “Apparently I was wrong.”
Chapter 8
The only positive thing from such a quiet day was that Danny was able to catch up on a handful of her assignments. And it felt good to lounge around in a pair of cut-off shorts and her favorite athletic top, pull her hair up off her neck into a ponytail and walk around barefoot. She avoided leaving her room for fear of running into Austin, but hunger forced her into the commons room to scrape for snacks and a bottle of water. Her phone vibrated at her waist and she dropped a package of oatmeal in her hurried attempt to grab for it. Paranoia was getting the best of her, even though she knew Derek wasn’t coming over. She’d made him swear it, reassured him that she was fine and in complete control and that he would only be falling into a trap if he did.
“I’ve known you to do some stupid things, Danny,” he’d admonished when she called him back. “But messing with the Cahills when you know how much that asshole wants a piece of me!”
“I wasn’t expecting to actually run into a Cahill on the job, Derek! They aren’t exactly known for their fondness of hard labor and y’all have kept us women so sheltered from this feud. I didn’t think anyone would know me from Adam.”
“But Austin did know you! And now that I know he has you, I’m going out of my fucking mind! I have a responsibility for you, Danny, ever since you first ^ anac dr started following me around in diapers. Our folks expect me to bring you home before you do something stupid. Well, ha! Ha-ha! Rimshot please!”
His
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