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Chapter Eight
Stone
I’d been sitting thereunable to do anything but watch Muriella’s heart break, but when she left, I immediately moved to follow her while Daniel and Vivian sat there stunned.
“Stone.”
I hesitated when he called my name, torn between listening to what he had to say and going after Muriella.
I turned.
“I’ve never seen her like that,” Daniel said quietly.
“You telling me to stay out of it or go fix it?” I lifted a brow.
An unprecedented look for Daniel Elliott shadowed his face. Helplessness.
I went with my instinct and caught up to her just as she entered the stairwell. She flew down the steps. I jogged after her, only hesitating a second when she got to the landing on her floor and shoved the door open so hard it ricocheted off the wall.
Today her emotions had snowballed until they had finally settled on anger. That default was easier to handle than hurt. I knew that from experience. Once her temper simmered down, what remained wouldn’t be easy to face.
She marched straight to the kitchen. It hadn’t taken me long to figure out that was her safe place.
That poor dishtowel took the brunt of her anger as she snatched it off the counter and roughly folded it into a perfect rectangle. Without looking up, she opened the dishwasher and took out a handful of silverware.
“Please leave,” she said without looking at me.
I leaned against the counter. “Can’t do that.”
The utensils fell into the drawer with a clang. She glared at me. “Forgive me, but I’m not up for company right now.”
“I’m more than ‘company,’ and you know it.”
She dropped a knife into its proper slot, then a fork, and a spoon, the clatter echoing off the walls.
“I won’t ask again,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Let’s talk about this,” I said in an even tone. The need to make this right overtook me, even though I knew it was impossible to do tonight. Muriella this mad was something I couldn’t get used to. Didn’t want to.
“No.”
She stacked clean plates on the counter with such force I thought they’d crack. I rounded the island and pried a glass from her fingers.
“Before you break it and cut yourself.”
Her fierce look sliced right into the heart of me.
“You had your date. I need to be alone,” she said crisply.
I put the glass on its proper shelf in the cabinet. Repeated the action with another and another.
“Stop it.” The urgency in her voice gave me pause. “I’ve had enough controlling men in my life.” She clamped her mouth closed as if she’d said too much.
I wanted to know exactly what the hell she meant by that. Now.
“Does Daniel control you?” I asked carefully. From where I stood, it hadn’t really looked that way, but my perspective wasn’t completely from the inside.
She spread her arms wide. “Look at this. It’s all his.” She tugged on her blouse. “This? His.” She laughed bitterly. “I thought—I don’t know what I thought. I just know the person I trust more than anything doesn’t trust me.”
