Page 79 of Shark’s Rise

She touched my arm. It wasn’t her death grip of before, but it burned in with the same force—so deeply that I could only stare at where she’d made contact. “You, Mr. Shark, are about to not be the center of the universe anymore. For anyone in your household.”

She retracted her touch. Sat back. Gave me a simple shrug, her expression full of gentle challenge. She almost seemed smug, as if she were waiting for me to hoist my jaw off the ground and say something.

“That’s not—”

She tilted her head to one side, already silently calling my bullshit.

“I don’t—”

She let her head flop to the other side, still calling me on my crap.

“You don’t—”

She put her hand up. “Cut the crap, man. For now, please go spend time with your woman. If everything looks good after twenty-four hours, you can take her home. I’ll see you in my office in three days.”

Dr. Julie patted my shoulder as she walked by on her way out the door. When I looked down, I noticed, for the first time, the woman didn’t even have tennis shoes on. She was wearing black leather pumps.

Fuck me.

I really did have my head up my ass.

For the next five minutes, all I did was sit there and cradle that stupid head in my hands. That five minutes stretched to ten. Then to fifteen.

Sanford’s words sank in long. And deep.

To the point that they started to ache. Then hurt.

“What the hell?” I muttered. Then several more times. The laminate table wasn’t much help for advice anymore. I was on my own for this deduction, and it was a lonely goddamned valley in which to be.

But an abyss only I could traverse.

How had I fucked all this up so badly? Normally, I was the man on top of the heap. The king of the hill. Top of the list. The guy everyone else wanted to be. It had always been my nature to control whatever situation I found myself in. From childhood on, controlling everything from start to finish was the surest way to manage the outcome.

Then the universe had given me Abbigail.

And better than that…the promise of our baby.

But that new life had changed everything. Had sent me running toward the security of my old ways to avoid the terror I was feeling. The utter uncertainty. My control had been slipping, and I went into default mode. Buckled down and took back the reins. Despite everything Abbi had made clear, from early on, I went back to trying to control her through indirect ways.

And now, my behavior was putting her and our son’s health at risk. I was driving her to defiance, to act out just to prove she could.

But now what?

I’d figured out only part of the tough stuff. Answered only one of the questions here.

I needed to give her what she needed…not what I thought she did or what my version of “best for her” was. But what was that?

I was giving all I could—but there were factors in our world that I couldn’t control. A hidden maniac—no; maniacs—were still out there, ready to threaten us again. Shark Enterprises needed my leadership. The Edge was still an architectural infant.

I didn’t believe Abbigail was trying to get in the way of any of that. Just the opposite. She supported my dreams. Believed in them. Wanted to be a vital part of them.

But was I doing the same for her?

How did we find the perfect balance? Other people managed this shit all the time; I was sure of it—but I had no examples to draw from in my personal life. Despite my joke about Doc Sanford and her Yoda spiel, I possessed no mentors.

Maybe I had to figure this out on my own. Come up with a new plan on my own.

That didn’t involve trying to control everyone and everything.