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“Hold up, mister. What are you doing? I have a ton of work to do today. I can’t just leave.”
“I don’t care, Roxanne. I’m taking you to see my dad.” Joe’s blue eyes were flinty with anger. All the humor and charm he’d shown Sheila and Nina were gone. “Your lip is bleeding.”
CHAPTERTHREE
“Joseph, my boy, how are you? How was your fli—” Dr. Sean Buchanan stopped short as Joe stormed into his office, Roxie following close behind. “Oh my god, Roxie. What happened to you?”
“I’m fine, Doc,” she said, hoping to reassure him. She hated it when he worried about her. “Really. It looks worse than it feels.”
“Bullshit,” Joe spat. He turned toward his father. “She’s bleeding, and this is all your fault, Dad.”
Doc squared his shoulders, and when he faced Joe, his voice was quiet. Lethal. “What the hell did you do, Joseph?”
A chill ran down Roxie’s spine. In all thirty-four years of her life, she’d nevereverseen Doc lose his temper.
Now, he stood toe to toe with his son. Both Buchanan men were the same height, and though Joe was thirty years younger and in better shape, Doc was no slouch.
She squeezed between Joe and Doc, pushing them apart. “Stop! What’s wrong with both of you?” she scolded.
“Roxie, my dear girl, please step aside,” Doc said, his livid gaze never leaving Joe’s. “I need to speak with my son.”
She wouldn’t move. No way. But when Doc’s voice deepened, worry turned in her gut.
“Joseph Patrick Buchanan, I asked you a question. Answer me. What the hell have you done?”
A scarlet flush stole over Joe’s face. “This is all your goddamn fault, Dad.”
Roxie gasped. Yes, the duo didn’t always see eye to eye, but she’d never known Joe to treat his dad this way. “Joe, stop it! Don’t talk to your father like that. This is not Doc’s fault. This is not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault. It was an accident, you idiot!”
Ignoring her, Joe said to his father, “I spoke with you yesterday. We talked for nearly an hour. Not once did you mention that Roxanne was staying at the house. Hell, you even had dinner with Roxlast night, and yet you never mentioned to her that I was coming home. These bruises on her face? If either one of us had known what was going on, they wouldn’t have happened. This is on you, Dad.”
Doc’s face paled, and her stomach dropped.
Placing both hands on Joe’s chest, Roxie gripped his shirt. “Please stop,” she pleaded.
“I thought she was a damn burglar robbing the place. Why the hell didn’t you tell me she was staying at the house? Because you didn’t,Ihurt her. How could you—”
Joe’s words died on his lips when she moved both her hands to frame his face. She gently tugged until he tilted his head down to meet her gaze. The agony swirling in his blue eyes had her chest pinching tight.
“Enough, Joe. Please. Please, just stop and breathe. Don’t be mad at your dad, okay? Don’t say something you’ll regret because you’re angry. There’s no way he could have known this would happen.”
Joe exhaled and gave her a slight nod. “Dammit, Roxanne.”
While the fight left him, she could see his frustration remained. She patted his cheeks, trying to lighten the mood. “Now say sorry to your dad like a good little boy.”
Her attempt at humor fell flat, and his blue eyes darkened. He caressed her bruised jaw with his thumb, causing her breath to catch.
“I need to blame someone else,” he said quietly, “because blaming myself hasn’t done any good. I can’t exactly beat the crap out of myself. If I could, I would.”
The guilt painted on his face tugged at her heart. It made her want to forgive him for being such a jerk all these years.
Pulling away, she cleared her throat, which had gone thick with emotion.Keep it light, Roxie.“Joe, this wasn’t your fault. And to be fair, I did try to decapitate you with my baseball bat.”
He picked up a lock of her hair and gave it a playful pull. It had been a long time since he’d done that, and the familiar move left her unsettled. Still, she refused to admit how much losing his friendship had hurt.
“That would bemybaseball bat, actually.” Joe’s small smile faded as he turned to his dad, head bowed. “Sorry, Dad.”
“I understand.” Doc nodded, then moved around Roxie to haul his son into a tight embrace. “But if you ever talk to me in that tone again, you’ll regret it.”
