Page 117 of Offside Angel

“It was crowded.”

“As most crowds are,” Zane agrees. “You agreed to sit with him down there. What changed?”

“Nothing. I’m?—”

Suddenly, his lips are against the shell of my ear. “Don’t lie to me, Mira.”

“Lies. Let’s talk about lies,” I snort. “Have there been any fistfights you’d like to tell me about?”

We’re at the end of the hall now, well beyond the people waiting in the tunnel, and Zane grabs my arm. He turns me into him gently. “You’re mad at me?”

It would be easy to funnel everything I’m feeling into a simple emotion like anger, but it’s way more mixed up than that. I press my fists into my eyes. “No, I’m not. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Tell me what’s going on.”

I drop my hands and finally meet his eyes. “I think I need to go to therapy.”

He searches my face, and just like I suspected, every thought in my head is laid bare in front of him.

“This is about Dante,” he guesses.

“I thought I could handle the crowd because the last couple weeks have been fine, but I…I couldn’t.”

My hands are shaking.

I’m a married woman now. I have a house and a little boy who is as good as my son as far as I’m concerned—but some part of me will always be that terrified little girl hiding in her closet. I’ll always be shaking and trembling, looking over my shoulder to make sure no one is there waiting to hurt me.

I clench my teeth to keep my chin from wobbling. “I got cocky. I’ve been locked away with you and Aiden for the last couple weeks, and I thought—I thought I could?—”

“Take care of yourself?” Zane offers.

I could grind my molars to dust right now and it wouldn’t matter. My chin wobbles.

Before I can say anything, Zane pulls me against his chest. “You don’t have to take care of yourself, Mira. That’s why I’m here. It’s why I hired Evan. It’s why Taylor was sitting next to you and Owen was in the row behind.”

“He was?”

Zane nods, kissing my temple. “I would never leave you there alone.”

“I felt like I was going to die,” I breathe. “I felt like I was falling apart. Aiden was next to me, and I could barely focus. I felt like I was putting him in danger, and I hated it.”

“Then what I’m doing isn’t enough.”

I jerk back. “No. No, that isn’t?—”

He shushes me gently. “I’m tough, but even I can’t protect you from what’s inside your own head, Mira. If you think therapy will help, then I’ll get you the best fucking therapist this side of the equator.”

The storm in my chest eases and I press my cheek to the space just above his heart. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” he echoes back, “for wanting to be the best version of yourself. Not just for you, but for our family, too. We need that. All of us do.”

44

MIRA

Daniel frowns as he flips through the wedding pictures.

“What’s wrong now?” I ask with a frown of my own.

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