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“I was scared period Tyler. Chance tried to kill me after following me here. So yes, I was scared because he stuffed me in the trunk of a car and left me there for two days.”
“What?” the table said turning towards her.
“Chance was my ex one I didn’t know very well after a couple brief dates, and when I came here and started moving on, he didn’t want me to. So, there’s the story Ty, I’ll be looking for it in the paper I suppose,” she said turning to go. Luke stopped her as the tears hit her and pulled her into his hold, soothing his hands down her back until she had herself back under control.
“Jesus Dani, why didn’t you just tell us that when it happened?” Tyler asked feeling like an ass.
“Because she was scared Tyler,” Luke stated. “Chance wasn’t the kind who was going to back down, he stuffed her in the trunk of a car and sent it over an embankment and when that didn’t work, he came into our home to try again. Would you have willingly admitted that you misjudged someone so much?”
“No but why hire Brad then?” he questioned.
“Are you really that dense Ty?” Angela said glaring at him moving over to Dani’s side. “I really do have some idiots for brothers, don’t I Dani?” she asked softly.
“After the story hit the papers, people were crushing in on her Tyler,” Luke stated. “Everywhere we went they wanted to know what’d happened and I wasn’t going to watch her have yet another panic attack when the claustrophobia set in. I hired Brad to keep her safe, same as now. I’ll admit I pushed to get our engagement into the paper in hopes of getting people to talk about it instead of everything else and back off.”
“Panic attacks?” Joan asked and Luke muttered a curse.
“Sorry baby,” Luke said as she lifted her head and looked at him before turning to Joan and the others. “I guess I’m the one who put my foot in it this time.”
Dani gave him a little smile as she sighed.
“Maybe it’s time to stop hiding the truth. I’ve been severely claustrophobic my entire life. My parents told me it started when I was in kindergarten and one of the kids locked me in the outside storage bench. No one found me for hours and even though I don’t remember it, it’s why I hate elevators so much. When he locked me in the trunk, I thought I was going to die, and I nearly did, not from lack of food or water but because of the panic attacks. They hit me one after another and wouldn’t stop,” she said pausing to take a breath. “Luke had seen me with Chance and thought I was cheating on him; it’s why he wasn’t thrilled coming to the hospital to see me.”
“Then she explained, and it made sense, but he broke in and nearly killed her again. He said he was just going to keep coming back and he came after me with the knife,” Luke added. “He was gone but she had nightmares for months.”
“Then why didn’t you want Luke knowing I was over and that you were upset?” Tyler stated.
“Because he was already blaming himself for not coming home when I said I wasn’t feeling well, and he knew I was upset over losing the baby. I didn’t want him knowing that I was as upset as I was. You know how much Luke hates it when I’m upset, and this has been hard on us.”
“And you’re not making it any better Tyler,” Luke spat at him. “So now that all of our friends and acquaintances know all of our personal business, I’d say there’s no reason for us to stick around and pretend that we want to be here when the truth is the only place I want to be is at home with my wife, preferably in bed.”
“Luke,” Dani said with a slight laugh as heat surfaced in her cheeks.
“It’s not like it’s a secret Dani,” he teased pulling her in for a kiss.
“You don’t have to be so blunt about it,” she countered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss. “But I won’t say no to going home early,” she whispered against his lips.
“Good, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for coming, enjoy the rest of the dinner but I’m taking my wife home,” he announced putting an arm around her, ushering her from the room and into the car.
***
“Should I be afraid to open the paper?” Dani asked as she walked into the kitchen Sunday morning.
“There’s a small bit in the gossip column about our party last night but nothing big,” Luke assured her gently tracing the outline of her bruise. He pressed a kiss along it, hating that he’d done that to her, before pulling her into his arms for a real kiss.
“Luke…” She sighed as his hands strayed underneath her top and caressed her stomach then up towards her breasts.
“What baby?” he asked feeling the way her nipples tightened as he flicked his fingers over them.
“Weren’t you the one telling me that it’s time I stop skipping meals?” she inquired with a grin as her stomach growled.
“I was,” he agreed with reluctance. He gave her another kiss before moving away to make her something to eat. She usually cooked for them, not wanting a lot of staff in the house which he understood better as to why now, but he liked taking care of her and wanted to make sure she didn’t skim the fat off everything because she needed it.
Dani sat down at the island and opened the paper checking over the information listed in the business section as he warmed the pan on the stove.
“You might want to pull your stock from Larry’s company,” she stated seeing the latest numbers.
“You’re kidding right?” he asked turning to look at her. “What do you know about stocks Dani?”
