Page 72 of Under Control

“I had a conversation with Andriy,” Carrick conceded, but remained circumspect. “You don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

“What does that mean?” she said breathlessly, fast and desperate. “What did youdo?”

Carrick kept his face cold and serious. There were things he’d done that she didn’t need to know, things he didn’t want to tell her.

“All you need to know is that I dealt with it, and now we can get this done.”

Danica dropped his hand and leaned back, though she was stuck by the bed and unable to retreat any farther. She was not happy.

“What do you think of me?” she gasped. “Don’t you think you should have talked to me first? Don’t you care about what I want?”

Then she started to cry.

Carrick watched as she reacted—knowing what he had done had been for the best. Sure, she was taking it harder than he’d expected, but what else did she want? This was his job. So he stood firm, his arms tightly crossed and his gaze narrowed on her. He wasn’t wrong. She would learn, and she would come to understand.

And he watched…and waited.

And she ran her hands over her face, still crying.

The longer he stood, waiting for her to relent, the more he came to realize that there was something different in the air between them. He shifted in discomfort as he held his arms across his chest, watching her shake her head, clearly frustrated.

Not willing to wait longer, he pushed, “Like I said, I’ve got everything ready. Let’s go get it done.”

She finally stopped, wiping the tears from her face. He figured that she had come to understand his point of view. He reached to pull her into him. She immediately shook her head and backed away, turning so he couldn’t take her mouth with his. That was when he knew. Something was very, very wrong. It was more than he thought. She didn’t speak. She didn’t say anything.

The intensity within him tripled, and he demanded, “Is there something you need to say?”

“I-I just… I can’t afford to do this with you anymore because—”

“You can’t afford to do anything else and I—” he cut her off, scanning her face.

“You can’t love me.”

He didn’t reply, growing hard and angry, and just stood firmly planted. How the hell was he supposed to respond to that? Why the fuck would she say that?

She watched him, slowly shaking her head. “We deserve more thanthis. You are a closed-off, locked-down vault that I’ll never get the code to.”

He assessed her, his tone as emotionless as ever. “And what specifically do you feel you need to know?”

“About her.” The words spilled out of her mouth as she turned, reached down and pulled back the crumpled mess of sheets on his bed, revealing sympathy cards and the cardboard box. “About what happened.”

Holy fuck.

Fury filled him, as he was betrayed and broken by Danica. He gazed back and forth between his private past and the woman standing before him, unable to process what it all meant.

“What the actual fuck?” He clenched his jaw and was livid. “You don’t need to know.”

“I don’t need to know aboutyou? About yourpast?” She pushed herself away from him. “About why you need to keep emotion out of this? About why you want to marry me, but can’t ever love me? I don’t need toknow? Then whatdoI need, Carrick?”

As he reached out to pull her against him once more, goosebumps rose on her arms and chest. Her reaction to him was equally visceral.

“You have no idea how you make me feel.” She stiffened her spine, holding his gaze as raw emotion rose in her tense face. “I can’t do this with you. I can’t let you in anymore.”

Carrick realized she’d made up her mind. She was leaving.

She was leavinghim.

Her gaze falling from his, Danica pouted and showed a deep sadness he’d never seen before. She appeared defeated. She peeled herself from his hands then took a step to the side, moving toward the bedroom door.

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