Page 77 of My Damaged Protector

“It's fine. You were right, anyway. I just needed time. Is that too much to ask for?”

“No, it's not. If it's any consolation, I think he cares about you.”

Shaking my head, I pull away from her. I know she's just saying that to make me feel better.

“No. You don't have to say anything to make me feel better.”

“I'm not saying anything to make you feel better. I'm telling the truth. The man cares about you.”

“Well, he clearly did not care enough to stay,” I huff, cleaning the remaining tears on my face.

My aunt bites her lips, her face grim from her attempt to not say anything.

“Just say it.”

She purses her lips at my words, pretending as though she has nothing to say, but she only lasts a few minutes before she speaks.

“I just think you could have handled the situation a lot better.”

“Auntie,” I say her name in warning.

“Fine, I'll shut up. But I think you both are being childish.”

“Childish? Ian is well into his mid-forties.”

“Age has nothing to do with maturity, and you know it.”

Sighing, I shrug.

Maybe she's right. Maybe she's not. It really doesn't matter. What does is the fact that he left at the first sign of trouble. That's what he's always done.

He did it all those years ago.

I wonder if he sees the error in his action. This is a time when I need him most, and he left me because I wouldn't tell him why I couldn't donate bone marrow to my father.

If only he knew that things are more complicated than they seem.

What would he have me do? Tell him the truth? How am I supposed to do that?

I bet he would want me to do the bone marrow surgery in the blink of an eye, even if he knew the complication.

That's not true, and you know it.

Fine, Ian would never let me put my life in danger, and I know it. But I'm all up in my feelings right now.

This was the same thing that happened with my father. He left me when I needed him most and then came back years later, begging me to save his life.

There's just so much at stake here. Him, my dad, Olivia. This whole situation is putting me in the spotlight, and it's only a matter of time before she's affected, too.

She's been my secret so far. No one knows about her except my aunt. I couldn't risk Kyle, who by the way, is a very dangerous man, finding out about her. Not only would he take her from me if he finds out, but he may also kill me for hiding her from him for so long.

Can't Ian just understand all this?

But I guess he can't because I didn't tell him.

Crap, my aunt is right.

He can't empathize with me because he doesn't exactly get where I'm coming from. It's too late now, though.

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