Page 113 of Dark Love

“Why would you assume that?” It takes everything in me to remain calm on the outside. Dahlia isn’t any of his business.

“Because Prue is a nice woman. She’s not your type.”

Don’t deck him. His family might object, and Emilia is still a scary woman. “She’s everyone’s type.”

“Does that mean you’re interested in her?”

Maybe I can get away with giving him a black eye or two. “How is she any of your business?”

“My daughter is very attached to Prue, therefore her wellbeing is my concern.”

Is Max the one Payne was talking about as competition? “And that concern is driving this line of questioning?”

“Mostly. Curiosity has me questioning why her boss was visiting in the middle of the day.”

“You know her boss?” I really should have looked at the file Payne has on Dahlia.

“I know everything about Prue.”

Do you know why she’s so shy? The question almost slips out of my mouth, but I control myself. “Then why did you let him come to her door?”

“To torment you. When my cousin said you’d been there for hours, I was curious as to how you’d react.”

Don’t kill him. Don’t tear him limb from limb. Payne needs his mother’s help. And he has a kid. “Dahlia isn’t your concern anymore.”

“Are you staking your claim on her?”

“Yes. She’s mine and neither you nor Soup Boy are going to touch her.” Ever.

Max leans back. “Hope is going to be very disappointed. And I’m sure you can imagine how much I hate for her to be disappointed. She has been working so hard to get Prue and me together.”

Even a child is working against me. “Your daughter is going to need to learn how to deal with disappointment.”

“She can, if you’re serious about Prue. I’m not stepping back if this is just a game.” Max places his elbow on the arm of the couch.

“Have you ever known me to play games?” You can’t kill him.

“I’ve never known you to have a meaningful relationship with anyone. Prue isn’t that type of woman.”

“Like I didn’t already know that.” You can’t kill him.

Max and I stare each other down for a long moment before he says, “Interesting. This is going to be very interesting. Well now that we’ve gotten that taken care of, I’ll be on my way. Hope said we’re going to do something fun this afternoon. The last time she said that she tried to talk me into taking her race car driving. That girl is going to turn me prematurely gray.”

“This little discussion wasn’t the reason I invited you over.”

Max pauses as he starts to stand up. “It isn’t?”

“No.” How do I explain this? “There’s a woman—”

“Another one?” Max raises an eyebrow as a smirk spreads across his face.

I ignore his antics. “She’s in need of therapy.”

“Then get her a therapist. What does that have to do with me?”

“It’s a special case. Barb can’t figure out who to send her to.”

The smile fades away. “How special?”

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