“You’re angry because I’m seeing to your protection?”
“Well, no, not exactly…”
“Then what?”
“You didn’t tell me, Flynn. I just turned around and there he was.”
“You weren’t supposed to see him at all.”
“Okay, that doesn’t make me feel any better. I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“You do,” he insisted. “Look what happened the other night at Marino’s. Look what happened in my club.”
I lost some of my anger when I realized he was just doing what he always did—looking out for my benefit.
“They’re isolated, unrelated incidents. And besides, what happened at Marino’s couldn’t really have been avoided. As for the drugging of my drink”—I shrugged—“a glass of water could’ve been drugged. What am I supposed to do? Never leave my home?”
Though I softened my stance, I continued on, “There’s more I’m upset about.”
“Okay, I’m still listening.”
“You didn’t ask me to this charity event. You just had Lacey take me shopping.”
“I’m sorry, I—”
“I no longer feel like I have any sort of control over my own life. Ever since I met you, I…”
“You what?” Flynn asked quietly.
“I find out about things after the fact. And we bought jewelry that cost as much as a house. I don’t want to be a kept woman. And now I have a bodyguard? It’s too much. Don’t you get that?”
“You shouldn’t feel like a kept woman just because I want to buy you nice things and take care of you. I know you can do all that on your own.”
“Let’s not do the feminist debate, okay? That’s not what this is about.”
“Then what is it about?”
“Stop doing crap without consulting me first. It’s that simple.”
“I was just trying to—”
“I get it, Flynn. When we went to Marino’s, I should’ve worn the jewelry because it was a place with different rules. But out here, in the real world, I don’t want to be coddled and dressed like a decoration.”
“Youdon’t get it,” Flynn snapped, his own irritation rising. “You’re straddling the line. Either you’re in or you’re out.”
“What are you talking about?”
“With me. You’re either all in and you accept what you know and forget about the things you don’t, or you leave. I’m calling your bluff because I’m tired of you happy with things one moment and then you’re off-the-wall the next.”
“I don’t know you,” I said. “Not the way I want to.”
“I’m trying, Barrett.”
“It’s not enough,” I whispered, feeling all my anger drain out of me. Would I ever be able to live in the dark?
He reached for me, but I went willingly into his arms and buried my face against his chest. He crooned into my hair before saying, “I have enemies, Barrett.”
“I know.”
