AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Okay, that was bad. He’d forgotten all about Noah and Jorge. The rage had risen up to cloud his vision before he could stop it.
“I raised you to be better than this. I don’t care what you think of what Lyssa or Cal has done.” She stepped closer, and the look in her eyes made him flinch and nearly take a step back. “You have the right to your own emotions, Daniel, but what you did out there is beyond protectiveness. It’s just plain idiocy.” That word was as close as she’d ever come to swearing, because she was too kind to ever call anyone an idiot. Until now. “You owe Lyssa an apology. And you most definitely owe Cal an apology. You owe everyone an apology.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to say he’d go to hell before he’d ever apologize to Cal Danniger.
But his mother glowered at him, clearly reading his mind. “Don’t you dare say it, Daniel.” Then her tone softened, saddened. “I’m so disappointed in you.”
For the second time, he felt that spike of pain, just as he had when he’d seen the disillusioned look in Tasha’s eyes. His mother’s words made him feel…
Ashamed. He felt ashamed, despite the righteous fury still roiling in his chest.
The back door opened, and all the Mavericks stomped in.
His mom turned on them. “I thought I’d seen you all at your worst, but this takes the cake. I told Daniel, and I’ll tell you too. I’m beyond disappointed in your behavior. And you all owe Lyssa an apology.”
“But we broke up the fight, Mom,” Will said.
She rounded on him. “I cannot believe you’re trying to weasel out of what you did. You might have broken up the fistfight, but you all tried to break Cal down with your words. I never thought the day would come when I would be this upset with all of you.” Their wonderful, warm, loving mother all but growled the words. “I want an apology to your sister and Cal, do you hear me?” She flashed them all a glare like Daniel had never seen as she added, “This is your sister’s life. None of you have the right to step into the middle of it. Just like she never stepped into the middle of any of your relationships. She respected you and your choices the way you’d better start respecting her and her choices.”
With that, she spun on her heel, leaving her sons gaping after her.
And feeling like they were the lowest of the low.
Because deep in their hearts, no matter how much they tried to justify what they’d done, they knew she was right.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
With Cal’s eye swollen shut, Lyssa had taken the keys to his car. He didn’t say a word on the long drive from Portola Valley to San Francisco. It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon, even if it was cool, and the traffic into the city was horrendous as they headed toward her apartment.
She sensed every muscle in his body shutting down, every pore closing up, shutting her out. Suddenly, they were right back where they’d been when he’d run away from Catalina, with Cal holed up inside himself.
Finally, she couldn’t stand the silence another minute. “I’m sorry for what Daniel did.”
They’d crawled another quarter mile before he answered. “He was right to do it.”
She whipped her head to the side to look at him. “Are you kidding me? How could he possibly have been right to attack you like that?”
“They only want what’s best for you,” he said with a lisp through his cut lip. “And they’re right that I’m not good enough for you. They’re right that I never should have touched you. They’re right that I’ve derailed your whole life.”
Lyssa couldn’t believe what he was saying. It was as if their glorious road trip had never happened, as if they’d never confessed their love, as if they’d never lain on the beach in each other’s arms and exchanged what she’d felt were vows.
Was he suddenly rethinking everything, the baby, wanting to be a family with her?
When he’d finally opened up to her about his past, she’d believed they could deal with anything that came their way from now on openly and honestly. Was she wrong about everything?
Scared and mad and confused all at the same time, she pulled up outside her building, her voice sharp as she said, “You need the blood cleaned off your face. Come inside.”
In her apartment, she had Cal sit down on a kitchen chair. Retrieving the first aid kit from under the kitchen sink, she grabbed a bag of frozen peas and wrapped it in a towel. “Hold this on your eye.” Then she went to work on his cuts and bruises. “You probably think I should be grateful that you defended my honor, or whatever the hell you thought you were doing.”
