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Right then, Vienna reentered the room with a tray of cups. Drinks were quickly passed around, and she then took a seat beside Dane.
We spoke of mundane matters, my parents eyeing me and Dax like hawks the entire time; monitoring our body language—no doubt noting that, though we only engaged in incidental touching, we were completely at ease with each other.
Dax’s hands were far from neglectful in the bedroom, but he still rarely touched me outside of a sexual context. Maybe it would be different if we were an actual couple; maybe then there’d be hugs, kisses, and some social touching—I didn’t know. I’d never seen him with any of the women he’d dated, so I couldn’t even guess.
Breaking out of my thoughts, I returned my focus to the conversation. Though Dane ceased making rude remarks and tossing out nosy questions, he didn’t let up with the glaring and scowling.
In response, Dax did what he always did. He ignored it. That was the thing—he could use silence like a weapon. Could ignore you so spectacularly it would anger you more than any insult he might give.
Though the whole thing didn’t appear to be bothering Dax all that much, I nonetheless eventually burst out, “Dad, would you please stop being an ass to him?”
Dax looked at me. “It’s fine. If we have a daughter, I’m going to loathe whoever she marries.”
I felt my brows meet. “Why?”
“Because they won’t be good enough for her,” Dax replied. “No one will. They’ll be part of her life on my sufferance, and I’ll never let them forget it.”
Dane grunted. “That’s how it should be.”
“Agreed,” said Dax.
I looked from one male to the other, my lips parted. Well, at least they agreed on something.
A short while later, while Dax was driving us back to the villa, I looked at him. “You really don’t care that my dad’s being difficult, do you?”
Slanting the steering wheel to take a turnoff, he replied, “No. I told you, I’ll be the same with our daughter’s choice of partner, if we have one. What you’re not seeing is that Dane would act this way no matter what our reasons for marrying. That we’re honoring a pact just gives him more of an excuse to be remote and standoffish.”
Huh. He had a good point there.
“I suspect my dad will be the same with whoever’s Raven’s choice. God knows I won’t be any more pleasant to him. Neither will Caelan or Drey.”
“As a silent reminder for the guy to watch his step?”
“That, and we’ll feel she can do better than him—no matter who he is.”
I wondered if Dax would still feel that way if her choice turned out to be a close friend of his. I hadn’t been able to make her talk more about Rafael. She just kept reiterating that nothing had happened between them.ThatI believed. But her claim that nothing would ever happen? Not so much. There was something between her and Rafael. An unexplored potential.
I hadn’t mentioned my suspicions to Dax, though. Not merely because I couldn’t back them up, but because it would only cause friction between him and his friend. And I’d rather he wasn’t at odds with a full-on criminal.
“By the way”—I scratched the side of my cheek, feeling a little awkward—“thanks for coming with me today.”
He gave me a brief sideways glance. “It mattered to you the times I didn’t do it?”
I felt my nose wrinkle. “I wasn’t upset or anything. I didn’t even wish that youwouldcome, since my dad isn’t exactly welcoming toward you. It’s just … I want us to be a team. A unit. Support each other.”
“And you occasionally need support when you’re with your family?”
“It’s just that they usually quiz me about how our marriage is going—it’s annoying at times. They don’t need to do it when you’re there, because they can monitor us and form conclusions that way. It means I can escape the round of twenty questions and simply enjoy the visit.”
He let out a deep, thoughtful hum. Long moments of silence crept by. “I’ll go with you from now on whenever you’d like me to.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know. But I will.”
“Okay. Thanks. I appreciate it. I also won’t hold it against you if you change your mind at any point.”
He slowed the car to a stop as we reached a red light. “I won’t. Dane will get used to having me around. Until then …”
