The Favor

“You have some kinky stuff in there or something?”

“No. It’s just off-limits.”

“A Dane-only zone.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t like anyone being in your private sanctum, huh?” I suspected it also had something to do with his aversion to sleeping around others. “Do you have a housekeeper?”

“I have two. They only come in when I’m working. They know I like to be alone. You’ll probably meet them at some point.” He leaned back against the kitchen island. “I’ve hired a moving crew to help you pack and transport your belongings. They’ll start tomorrow after the police are done with your apartment. We’ll get everything moved here on Sunday like we originally planned. You should stay with me until then.”

Considering it made sense to do so, I didn’t argue. “It’s fine if you don’t want to answer, but what did Jen mean when she said she knows what ‘drives’ you to spend your life alone? Is it something that, as your ‘wife,’ I should know?”

“Jen could never understand why I didn’t want to get married and have a family, so she felt the need to try to explain it. There is no ‘drive,’ there’s only my preference to be alone.”

I wasn’t sure if I believed that nothing drove him to live this way, but it did seem that he believed it.

“Did Simon really beat up your mother?”

Tension tightened my muscles. Fucking Jen just had to go and dig up that shit, didn’t she? “It was Deacon.”

“Why did he do it?”

“She … she hurt me, and he lost his temper. I know it’s wrong for a man to hit a woman—”

“It’s just as wrong for an adult—man or woman—to harm a child.” A muscle in Dane’s cheek ticked. “She was abusive toward you?”

“Sometimes,” I replied softly.

“What had she done that made Deacon lose his temper like that?”

I rubbed at my throat. “I didn’t want to go … somewhere with her, so she slapped me hard enough to split my lip. Simon walked in just as she was trying to drag me out of the apartment. He realized what was going on and, well, Deacon surfaced and lost it.”

Dane slowly crossed to me. “Where was she trying to take you?” he asked, pitching his voice low.

I swallowed. “To see her dealer. He never touched me, but he wanted to. He liked little kids. Mostly little girls. And so he found female addicts who had kids, and he suggested they pay for their drugs by letting him make use of their children. She told me that I was to do whatever he told me to do, even if it hurt.”

Dane’s jaw looked hard as granite. “Then she’s as twisted as he is.”

“Was, not is. He was killed in prison.”

“Good.”

Yeah, it was. “Not a lot of things scare me. But someone who could molest a child, who could find enjoyment in that? They terrify me. Because that’s a kind of darkness that should not exist in this world or any other.”

“Anyone who preys on those who are weaker than themselves aren’t frightening; they’re spineless. Worthless. Pathetic. Sick in the head. And they know it, which is why they never target anyone whose strength matches or surpasses their own.”

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

“I wasn’t sexually abused, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

I noticed he only specified he wasn’t sexually abused.

He folded his arms. “Did your father go to prison for assaulting your mother?”

“No. The police realized he had mental health issues. They called in an expert. He was eventually diagnosed with DID. That was when he started getting the help he needed.”

“What kind of help?”

“Mostly medication and psychotherapy. They work. He used to have eight alters, but he was able to integrate five of them into his personality with the help of his doctors. But Simon believes the other alters won’t be going anywhere. Honestly, I don’t think he wants them to.” I drew in a steadying breath. “Are you done quizzing me now? I’m going to note it’s a little hypocritical of you to launch questions at me when you rarely answer mine.”

He closed the small distance between us, edging into my personal space. “Ask me a question. Any question. Just be sure you want the answer.”

There were a lot of questions I wanted to ask this man. There were so many things I wanted to know about him. I opened my mouth to speak, but then I snapped it shut.

Dane slanted his head. “What?”

“I don’t want to pry out of you something that you don’t want to share.”

Those pools of dark ink seemed to warm slightly. He very slowly bent his head and pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth that made me all tingly and shocked me into silence because, hello, this was very un-Dane behavior. “You’re a far better person than I am, Vienna.” He sighed. “You once asked who Oliver was. He was my twin.”