Page 114 of Danger and Dominance
“Yeah, some douchebag who didn’t want to get involved when Don was actually abducting her but heroically stepped up to talk to the cops.”Jennifer snorted.
“He didn’t want to get involved in a ‘domestic thing’,” Cassidy confirmed in a low voice.
David flexed his hand, closing it into a fist and reopening his fingers.It was probably a good thing Jennifer hadn’t mentioned the man’s name.In fact, he had a feeling she’d done that deliberately.
Paying a visit to the coward wouldn’t be self-defense.
“Lincoln said Don’s parents might try to sue, but there’s no way they’d win, especially with the camera footage,” Cassidy said in a low voice.There was anger thrumming through her tone but also some regret.
David tightened his grip on her.He hadnotbeen privy to the sessions Cassidy had with her therapist the past few days; she’d gone to a different room for those video chats.He imagined she was feeling guilty, though she didn’t say that to him.She did tell him that she hadn’t had a single nightmare since Don’s death.That didn’t do anything for her guilt, though.
The injury he’d received was part of her guilt, but it wasn’t her fault.It was Douchebag Don’s and no one else’s, except maybe his family.Parents who had raised him into an entitled little shit, then continued to support his sketchy behavior.
“They can certainly try.”He wouldn’t cause them any grief unprovoked since they’d just lost their son, but if they came after Cassidy in any way, he would fucking bury them.He had very little patience for people who weren’t willing to take accountability for their actions.If they were smart, they’d leave Cassidy the fuck alone.“What about at work?”
“Claudia’s taken on your role for now, of course,” Jennifer said.Claudia was his number two.“Lincoln says he wants to talk to you about the new hire he’s decided on once you’re back, but not yet.And Drew, Darcie, Miguel, Grant, Harrison, and Lincoln have all received black roses at home now.Lincoln got his this morning.We thought there was a missed day between Grant and Harris, but then we realized you weren’t home, so Mason ran by your apartment and found that you’d gotten a delivery as well.”
“Interesting,” David murmured.Obviously, they weren’t from Don.Whoever was sending them was aware of where the two Black Fox teams lived, but they either hadn’t known he was in the hospital or they hadn’t cared, which was interesting.
He wondered if the order was significant.They’d been sent two per team, alternating, all the way up to him and Grant as the team leaders, then to Harrison and Lincoln as the owners.
“I didn’t get one,” Jennifer concluded.“No one knows what it means, and they’re still having trouble figuring out who is sending them.Lincoln and Harris are waiting to see what happens next now that they’re out of people to send them to.”
David blew out a long, slow breath.“Well… great.”It wasn’t great, but there wasn’t anything they could do.Sometimes, the only option was waiting.“Anything else?”
“I talked to Kincaid,” Cassidy piped in.“He was worried about me, even after Don died.I told him I’m doing okay.”
Sudden fear stabbed through David as he realized that the reason Cassidy had come to Pittsburgh in the first place no longer existed.She’d been hiding out from Don.
The rest of her life was back in Maryland, along with a whole group of friends she hadn’t been able to see or talk to for weeks.They’d probably expect her to move back now that she could.
He’d thought they would have a lot more time together before she had to make that decision…
Now that it was here, he knew he didn’t want her to go.
Cassidy
David had gotten very quiet in the car, but he perked up again when they got to his apartment and found his grandmother there waiting for him.Brenda had busied herself with ‘cleaning up the place’ and ‘getting it ready’ for his return.Also, getting the guest bedroom ready for Audrey to stay in.
His sister was arriving next Friday, and Cassidy was even more nervous about meeting Audrey after getting her brother shot, but she wasn’t going to abandon David while he needed her.Audrey had wanted to come sooner when she’d heard David had been injured, but he’d told her not to, and something had come up at home that she’d had to tend to before she could leave, anyway.
There had been a part of Cassidy that wanted to take the cowardly way out and return to Jensen and Mick’s, just for the weekend Audrey would be here, so she could avoid the other woman, but… that wasn’t going to leave any better of an impression.
She tried to take heart from the fact that Brenda didn’t blame her.
Logically, she knew it wasn’t her fault.Still, she couldn’t help but wince every time she looked at David and the sling on his left arm.The injury that he’d gotten because of her.
She’d left the bathroom instead of staying with the group.She should have known better.
No, Don should have known better than to stalk me and try to abduct me.
Sometimes, she got mad at Robert Johnson, the man who hadn’t helped her in the hallway.If he’d justdone something.
But then he might have been shot in the hall, and Don would have still dragged her out the door.Sighing inwardly, Cassidy pushed the thoughts from her mind.As Mistress Julie said—what happened, happened.There was no point in going over what might have happened because it hadn’t.
“I changed and washed your sheets and Audrey’s sheets, and you’ve got food in the fridge,” Brenda said, walking David through everything she’d done.He had his arm around her while she stood in the kitchen, ticking points off her fingers.
Cassidy had quietly removed herself to the living room with Jennifer to give them a little space.She could tell the older woman was full of anxious energy, probably at almost losing her grandson.
