Page 84 of Dash

“Your father destroyed me, and you know that,” she hisses. “Don’t you dare throw him at me like that again.”

I turn slowly to face her and she flinches at my expression. Good. Be fucking scared.

“You’ll never hit me like that again,” I say my voice low. “And I’m not marrying James. Trust me when I tell you he wouldn’t want me, anyway.”

“Of course, he wants you, darling. You’re a Harrington.”

“I’m also pregnant.” The words snap out of me before I can stop them. “So, stop trying to sell me off like a used fucking car. Because somebody already got in there and took it for a fucking test drive.”

I can feel the moment the air changes between us, see the way she recoils as I detonate those words between us.

She pales, clutching her throat. “You’re lying.”

I move away, putting enough distance between us in case she slaps me again. “I’m not. Though I’m sure you wish I was.”

“To that… man?”

“To Dash, yes.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose as if she’s getting a headache. “I trust you’re having it taken care of.”

Even though I was considering termination, hearing somebody else say it so casually hits me like a blow.

“I’m keeping it.”

I lay my hands over my stomach, protective.Mine.

Disgust ripples over Evelyn’s face. “You can’t be serious. That thing it’s going to ruin your life.” She reaches for me, but I step back.

“Touch me again and see what happens.”

Her eyes narrow, scanning me as if she doesn’t recognise me anymore. She probably doesn’t. I’ve had a full evolution personality-wise in the last twenty-four hours.

“Do you really think a man like him is going to stick around? If you’re expecting him to play the perfect father, you are off base, darling. Men like him, they’re good for a short time, not a long time.” She huffs. “I’ve indulged your reckless behaviour this year, but now it’s time to grow up. The Harrington name?—”

“I don’t give a shit about the fucking Harrington name!” I yell. “If you want to cling to something long gone by your fingernails, that’s up to you, but I’m gonna be over here trying to build something for myself.”

Probably living on stale bread.

“You’re upset and saying things you don’t mean. Now, before either of us says something we can’t take back, I’m going to leave. But Dayna, if you have that baby, you and I are done. I already bore the shame of your father’s actions. I won’t bear yours too.”

She might as well have hit me for how much that blow lands. She might be a nightmare to deal with, but she is still my mother. And she’s the only parent I have. I hoped she might support me for once.

“Then I guess we’re done.” The words wobble, and I turn my back until she’s gone, needing that distance between us so I can breathe.

Then I rebuild my walls brick by brick. I closed the shutters around my heart, put my mother’s words into the boxes I keep in the back of my mind so I don’t have to let those wounds bleed openly. And by the time Dash arrives, my smile is in place, and my tongue sharp in the best ways.

As soon as he’s inside the flat, he’s kissing me like I’m the only thing he needs, and I let myself get lost in his mouth, in his touch, in his kindness. When he pulls back, touching his forehead to mine, he asks if I’m okay.

I do the only thing I can. I lie. Because I’m so tired that I don’t have another round of conflict in me tonight.

When he asks what the faint red mark on my face is, I lie.

When he asks if I got up to anything interesting at work, I lie.

When he asks if I’m feeling okay, I lie.

He makes us dinner, moving around my kitchen like he’s on the rent agreement.

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