Page 56 of Under Control

Chewing on every possible option before him, Carrick knew he needed to make a plan.

A better plan.

For that, he needed time to think.

“So, you get on a train—then what?” he challenged her, buying himself time.

She didn’t reply and seemed to shrink even farther into her seat. The fury emanating off him had obviously hit her hard, and she fingered the door handle like she was ready to spring.

He continued, not waiting for her. “You knowDaddyis just going to show up, yet again, harassing the shit out of you to do whatever he wants. Are you ready to finally tell him to fuck off? Finally going to tell him he’s not welcome in your life?”

“He’s not my daddy, Carrick, first of all.”

“Might as well be, the way you’re giving in to him.” Carrick curled his lips in disgust, hating every moment of what was happening. “Letting him do whatever he wants.”

She turned toward him, and though he wasn’t looking at her, he could tell she was pissed. Indignant. Good—he wanted her to be pissed. He wanted to light a fire in her because that was exactly how he felt.

She needs to fight.

“I’m not giving in to him. I’ve never given in to him,” she corrected him fiercely. “I ran as soon as I feasibly could and got myself into school to get a job. That job, speaking of which, has probably already fired me for not showing up.”

“You’d be fired anyway after you let Petrov fly you to Russia to be Andriy’s little wife,” he scoffed.

“Russia? What are you talking about?”

A silence filled the car briefly, and he knew he’d said too much.

She started again, realizing what was going on. “Have you been talking to him? Are you keeping things from me?”

Briefly, he flickered his gaze over to her. Wide-eyed, Dani slowly leaned against the door, clutching her seatbelt for dear life. He quickly whipped his gaze back to the road, too full of fury to keep his eyes on her.

Emotion rushed over him as he remembered her lips and how they tasted. From his peripheral view, he could see the softness of her thighs reflecting from the sunshine beaming into the truck. The memories of what they’d done the night before gutted him.

I took her virginity. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Angrily, he shrugged. “Well, there’s no point in me telling you anything.”

“And why is that?” her tone remained vexed.

“It’s not like you’ll do anything about it,” he snapped back harshly. “Not like you are willing to stand up for yourself.”

Realizing that he was too invested, he was plain furious. He couldn’t sit back and watch her life crumble, see her make terrible decisions.

“Anyway, you are not getting on a random train,” he commanded. “I will figure this out…alone.”

She grasped the truck door handle and moved to take off her seatbelt. He knew she was bluffing, so he let her.

“Going to jump out on the side of the highway?” he asked in disbelief.

“It’s better than being stuck with you in this fucking prison.”

“Be my guest, then.” He pulled off the highway onto a deserted offramp.

Slamming the truck into park, he turned to her, giving her a final salute. “Good luck, soldier.”

She sat there, her mouth open, searching him.

“That’s what I thought,” he grumbled. But as he moved to put the truck back into drive, she opened the door and launched herself out into the sandy desert dirt on the side of the road.

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