Page 70 of Under Control

Huffing, Danica wondered what exactly she expected to find in a man’s dresser.Dildos and red panties?That wouldn’t even really alarm her as much as she would once have thought.

Then she realized she only had one drawer left to snoop in.

The bottom drawer.

She stood still, looking at it—debating if she should just stop. It wasn’t right to pry. She shouldn’t.

Right?

Immediately, she whipped open the bottom drawer, frantically searching for evidence. What type of evidence? The jury was still out on that. She just needed to find something—anything—that would tell her what she already knew. He had a dark past, and he was never going to tell her a fucking thing about it.

Rooting around, she found that the bottom drawer was stuffed with more clothes, but then she saw it. The edges of a small, torn cardboard box stuffed to the back of the drawer came into view, hidden underneath a shirt. It screamed ‘secrets’. It screamed ‘the past’.

Danica had to look inside.

I just have to.

Slowly pulling the box out of the drawer, she tried not to disturb the rest of the contents. She was going to need to put everything back to hide her crime. She ran her fingers over the dusty box and read his name written on it—block letters written in black marker on top of old, ripped packing tape. And sure enough, the box wasn’t sealed anymore. It was simply folded up like it didn’t matter.

And that was exactly how Danica knew that it mattered very much.

She carefully peeled back the flaps of the cardboard box and realized quickly that it was a box full of old cards. But then she realized that they were not just any type of cards. They were sympathy cards.

Someone important died.

She picked up a yellow and muted green card that had some sort of scripture on the front. She traced the gold embossed words with her finger and breathed in the truth. Once she opened that card, there was no turning back. She would know his secret. Know his pain. But also, she would know she betrayed his trust. She put down the card, looking at it. She shouldn’t.

But I have to.

Snatching it up again, she opened the card. She read a message from someone named Aunt Kathy.

Carrick, I’m deeply sorry for your loss. Lauren was the bright star in all our lives, and this world is a lesser place without her. There are no words. An unimaginable tragedy. I’m always here for you, if you need me. In lieu of flowers, we have donated to the cancer foundation in her name.

Oh shit.

Cancer?Danica gasped.God.

She picked up a few more cards, reading similar sympathy messages, then dug through the box until she found a funeral service leaflet. It had a picture of a younger, happier-looking Carrick on the front—holding a beautiful brunette in his arms. The two were a gorgeous, healthy couple sitting on the beach somewhere. They looked so happy. Danica didn’t miss the engagement ring on the woman’s finger.

Tears welled into her eyes, and she felt moved beyond words. Immediately, she found herself crying for him and for her.

As she batted back tears, she read on, unable to stop herself. The leaflet described a young woman who’d suddenly become sick with leukemia and tragically died within weeks, leaving behind her fiancée. She had been loved by all and denied a life she deserved.

Died suddenly. Tragic loss.

Danica bit her lip, dripping a few tears onto the box. She cried for Lauren. She cried for a young woman who should have lived, should have gotten married, should have had children, been a mother.

It isn’t fair.

Immediately, Danica wished she could trade places with her. It wasn’t okay that she had died and Danica would live—taking her place with Lauren’s man, a man who couldn’t love her. It was so clear now why he was so sure that he’d never love again.

Danica knew then and there that her father would be ashamed of her if she let Carrick throw away his life for her—not to mention her own.What an embarrassment.

Crying harder, she felt the agony of her emotions. She was falling for him, but he didn’t love her—and he wasn’t going to. Once again, Danica looked down at Lauren’s picture, and knew she had to do right by her memory, to do right by her parents and the people who loved them. And that was when Danica made up her mind.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Carrick

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