“Rick—” I start.

“Absolutely not.”

“You’re not the boss of me!” I stomp my foot.

“You like it when I’m bossy,” he responds, crowding me in. My back hits the wall behind me, and my skin flushes. How he always manages to make my own body betray me, I will never know. “I seem to recall you enjoying just how…bossyI can get the other night.”

“My things?” I ask and my voice sounds high pitched and thready.

“Sure,” Rick agrees with a stupid smirk on his face. “I’ll make sure to get your things.”

“Thank you.”

“After I see that you’re settled in.”

“Fine.” We could play it his way, as Rick suggested earlier. I could stay in his house, and he could fetch my belongings when he decides I can have them, but at the first available opportunity, I’m going to run again, because nothing is going to get between me and my daughter, not even an overprotective man who thinks he knows best. And one thing is certain. I’m not going to settle in, not now, not ever.