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“I’m sorry,” Dawn mumbled into my chest, sniffing.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” I replied.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I never act like this.”
She was too upset to look at me, but she did bury herself farther into my chest, which filled me with more satisfaction than I ever thought possible.
There was a knock at the door. Room service. “Great timing,” I muttered but made no move to get up.
“Aren’t you going to get that?” She looked up at me with big eyes. She made no move to get off me, and I just tightened my arms around her.
“It’s just room service.”
When the knock came again, she sighed, leaned in one last time and took a deep breath. Then she slid off my lap and sat in a nearby chair. I gave her a smile before crossing to the other room and opening the door. I tipped the guy and took the tray, placing it on the table.
“I went with a burger and fries. You good with that?”
“Yeah, but I’m not really hungry.”
I hardened my voice. “You’ll eat what you can. I don’t know how long this will last and, while I’m confident we can ride the storm out here, I’d rather us be prepared if we need to leave. That means you need your strength.”
“I know,” she said softly. “You’re right.” Dawn stood and went to the small table to sit. “Thank you, by the way. For saving me out there.”
“No need for thanks. I was glad to do it.”
“Because of my father?”
I frowned. “Why would you say that?”
She shook her head. “No reason.”
I studied her for a long moment. She didn’t make a move to remove the lid from her food, so I did it for her. “I came after you for a few reasons.” I removed the lid from my own plate and passed her the mustard and ketchup. “El Diablo called Thorn in… distress. He was frantic to get someone to you and knew he didn’t have time to himself. Everyone but a small number from Salvation’s Bane is in Kentucky with Bones.”
“Where I was supposed to be.” She looked down at her plate without interest. I thought I saw sadness and guilt on her face, but I didn’t know her well enough to make that call.
“Thorn is very protective of his territory and the people in it. He was going to send Beast, but I talked him out of it.”
She looked up at me, her lips parting. “Why would you do that?”
“Like I said. Several reasons. First, El Diablo dropped that on Thorn. President of Bane. If he couldn’t go, he couldn’t very well give it to someone other than his vice president or the president of another club he trusted. I volunteered because he needed to be with his club and the local community. They don’t often reach out to them but in situations like this? Yeah. He probably had several people come for shelter once the winds started in force.”
“That was nice of you.” Her voice was soft and she wouldn’t meet my gaze.
“By volunteering, I not only took a burden from Thorn, but let both him and El Diablo know that, as the new president of Bones, I intend to continue the supportive relationships we’ve forged over the years.”
She glanced away. “Always my dad,” she muttered.
I reached across the table and placed my hand over hers. “Dawn, what’s going on? Why were you really so intent on getting back to Lake Worth?”
“It’s nothing. Poor judgment.” She tugged her hand from under mine and picked up a fry and nibbled, not really making an effort to eat.
“Uh-huh.” I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest. “You know, we’re gonna be here for several hours. Tell me what’s going on.”
She sighed and looked away, but I could tell she was considering it. “I have some things…” She trailed off. “Well, one thing.”
“Money?”
“No.” She sighed, looking down at her plate, her shoulders slumped. She picked up another fry and put it into her mouth and chewed. I thought it was more to give her a moment to gather her thoughts before she continued the conversation. “It’s stupid.”
“Honey, if it got you upset enough to run to your family in the middle of a storm, it’s not stupid. Tell me.”
“You promise not to tell Dad?”
“Nope. I ain’t a dumb fuck. But I promise not to tell him if it doesn’t endanger your safety.”
Dawn nodded, then hung her head. “I can respect that. Everyone who really knows my dad is afraid of him.”
“Honey, he’s the world’s most deadly assassin.” I raised an eyebrow at her. “Anyone who knows your dad would be a fool not to be afraid of him.”
“What about you?” The girl had the most beautiful sapphire eyes to go with straight, shoulder-length, blue-black hair. She was an exotic beauty but lacked the confidence she should have given her status in Black Reign as the president’s daughter, not to mention just being El Diablo’s daughter.
