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No answer.

I removed my hand completely and turned her toward me. Her face was blank, as if she was preparing herself for something.

I wrapped my arms around her, and tucked her head under my chin. “Shh. Relax.”

Slowly, she did.

Then the tears began.

I held her until she cried herself to sleep in my arms, and then I tucked her into her bed.

It was well after eleven before I crawled into my own bed. We had a long way to go if just the feel of my fingers was going to cause her to panic.

Chapter Eleven

Stephan

Another long night. I continued to think over what had happened, and how best to help Brianna. I was worried about her. We’d reached her limit, but she had not used her safeword. Instead, she’d gone into that frozen panic again—something we had to get past.

I woke a little early, got ready for work, and went to check on Brianna. She was still sleeping, so I left her a note saying I’d call her later and kissed her forehead before leaving for the office.

The ride to work was uneventful. I wished I could have said the same thing for my arrival at the office. The moment the elevator doors opened to my floor, standing there in pressed khakis and a polo shirt was Cal Ross.

With a mental sigh, I walked forward. Jamie, already at her desk, had glanced up at my entrance. She was watching the two of us intently. “Good morning, Mr. Coleman.”

“Morning, Jamie. Any messages?”

She looked over my shoulder at Ross, then back at me. “Nothing urgent.”

I nodded to my assistant, turned my head slightly to look at Ross, and motioned for him to follow me into my office. If we were going to discuss Brianna—and I was certain that was why he was here—then I would not do it as an open forum for passersby to hear. It was bad enough he was at my office to begin with.

He followed me inside and closed the door behind him. At least he appeared to want privacy as well; a point in his favor.

I took a seat behind my desk, and motioned to the chair opposite me. He shook his head and stood with his arms folded.

The staring contest continued for several minutes before I finally leaned back in my chair and said, “You can stand there all day, Ross, or you can just say what you’ve come here to say. I, for one, have a business to run.”

Ross’s eyes narrowed at my statement. He shifted his weight, leaning forward with his arms on the back of the chair in front of him. “What’s wrong with Anna?” he demanded.

I was careful to keep my expression neutral and emphasize the first word. “Nothing is wrong with Brianna.”

He threw his arms abruptly off the back of the chair in exasperation. “Nothing is wrong with her? Nothing?” His voice rose in agitation. “She looks like a scared mouse.”

He looked like he was just getting started; I kept quiet and let him continue. I was in luck. He started pacing.

“If I move too quickly, I see her flinch. And if I try to touch her—” I bristled a little at his words; the thought of Ross touching her did not sit well with me. No man was ever coming that close to her again. “—you’d think I’d tried to burn her or something. Then you... you hover around her as if she’s going to break or something. Something has to be wrong with her, and don’t think that I have ruled you out as the cause, Coleman.”

His posturing was aggressive, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. “What has she told you?”

“She hasn’t told me anything,” he said, clearly frustrated.

I leaned forward, rested my forearms on my desk, and folded my hands. “I’m not going to tell you anything either.”

If Brianna wanted him to know about Ian, or about her father, then she was going to have to tell him herself.

Ross just stood there dumbfounded and clearly frustrated. Good... so was I.

He stared at me with a blank look on his face before turning around and leaving without another word. I’d known from the start that Cal Ross wasn’t going to stay out of Brianna’s life. It didn’t mean I had to like it.

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