Page 51 of Daddy's Wild Girl

A morning wake-up like this would do that to a man.

There were so many ways she could have hurt herself. She could be lying on the ground right now . . . broken . . . bleeding.

Breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

“You okay? You seem tense. And your breathing is funny.”

“Do I? Is it?” It could be because she was raising his blood pressure through the roof.

“Must be due to your anger issues.”

“Anger issues?” What anger issues?

“You just said before that you were really angry and I’m not sure why. What do you have to be angry about?”

“How about the way your parents treated you as a child? Don’t you think that’s reason enough for me to be mad?”

More than mad.

Upset. Heartbroken. Murderous.

And then her mother went and aired her break-up with her idiot boyfriend on TV for everyone to see.

They never protected her.

They exploited her.

She turned to look at him, but he kept his gaze ahead, feeling the anger rising again. He didn’t want to frighten her with his fury.

“You’re angry on my behalf?” There was a hint of wonder in her voice.

As though she couldn’t imagine anyone feeling that way. For her.

Fuck. That was making him feel angry all over again.

“Yeah. On your behalf. No child should ever feel like their parents are strangers to them. No child or adult should ever feel unworthy of love.”

She sucked in a breath. “No, you’re right. They shouldn’t.”

“You have every right to be angry at them,” he told her. “But try not to let it consume you. Anger can become toxic. It can eat you alive. And turn you into someone you don’t want to be.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“You’re a smart guy. Anyone ever tell you that?”

He let out a small huff of laughter.

“I’m trying not to hate them. I’ve even considered forgiving them. Or forgiving my father. It’s just . . . it’s hard to trust them.”

“No one says you have to trust them. In fact, I wouldn’t if I were you.”

She let out a sigh just as the sun started to rise on the horizon.

“This is why you come up here,” he murmured.

“It’s so nice and quiet. The city is starting to wake up and the sun is rising. And she’s beautiful. Reliable. Always there.”

Corbin thought he was starting to understand her a bit better. They sat for a while and watched the sun rise.

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