Page 54 of Break

Sighing, I shake my head at him. He’s not hearing a word of what I’m saying.

Looking up at Vincent, then Tony, I raise a brow, asking silently for permission. Vincent wrinkles his nose in disgust at Danny and gives me a slight nod. Tony shrugs his shoulder like he couldn’t care less what I do, then says, “It’ll make it easier to keep him subdued while you’re all in there.”

“Perfect.” I smile widely at them before looking back down at Danny. There’s a small amount of worry, but not enough to encourage him to err on the side of self-preservation.

“You wouldn’t dare-”

My fist slams into the side of his face, knocking his head back onto the porch with a loud crack. His eyes roll back just before his lids fall shut. Clenching my fingers together, I stand up and nudge him with my toe. Out like a fucking light. “That’s how you throw a punch, asshole.” I tell his unconscious form.

Snickering, Vincent claps me on the shoulder. “Let’s grab her and get this over with.”

Ethan walks over with Mina, having never set her down during our entire altercation. She’s shaking like a leaf in the wind. Her eyes fall to my knuckles briefly before back up to study my face. There’s indication of what she’s thinking. I’m worried about how she feels about my act of violence, but she’s closed off. Luckily, I don’t sense any fear, but I’m concerned she will think less of me. If she indicated she was happy I did it, I’d do it again just to try to get a smile from her.

I test my luck and hold my hand out to her, waiting to see if she’ll take it so I can lead her inside and past where Danny is currently drooling on the wooden planks. She hesitates, glancing down at my hand once more, then slowly slides her palm against mine. My fingers stretch and wrap around to the back of her hand, completely engulfing it. Giving her a light squeeze in support, I tug her gently toward the door.

Ethan follows us inside. I glance quickly at Vincent, who waves me off. I turn around once I see him pull out his cuffs and a quiet order to Singh to roll Danny to his stomach.

We stop in front of the entrance to the master bedroom. Stepping to the side so she can go in first, I ask her, “Are there any suitcases or bags I can grab? You just need to tell us what to pack up and we’ll help.”

“There are a few in the upstairs linen closet. I will only probably need two.” She looks around her bedroom, then adds as an afterthought, “I think.”

“I’ll grab them,” Ethan’s deep voice rumbles out behind us before he turns away and takes the stairs two at a time.

She twists her fingers together, looking at the room like she doesn’t know where to start. “I suppose I should just pull my clothes out and set them on the bed so I know what to pack.” Her eyes find mine, imploringly. “Should I leave everything else?”

“I think you should take whatever is important to you. Don’t worry about how he feels about it, because this isn’t just his home.”

Sighing, she moves into the room and makes her way into their walk-in closet. I follow behind because I’m not sure what to grab. There’s nothing in here that looks like hers. There are photos of Danny’s family, and some items laying around that he’s collected over the years. His clothes are strewn across the floor like a slob, but nothing that screams ‘Mina’.

Flipping the light on, I hold in a growl when I see three quarters of the closet filled with his clothing, shoes, belts, and boxes labeled with his name on them. There are a small number of women’s dresses, a few shirts, and a couple pairs of slacks hung up. Looking down underneath, I see two pairs of shoes that belong to her. There is a pair of low-heeled dress shoes, and a pair of dirty tennis shoes.

Mina begins to pull her clothes from the rod they’re hanging on and folds them over her arm. Her thin arm starts to strain when she’s halfway through her clothing, so I reach out for them. “I can take those to the bed for you.”

“Thank you… for your help and coming along.” She settles her clothes over my arm, then turns back to collect the rest of her items.

Setting her stuff on the bed, I eye the large dresser with a mirror and another taller one in the room. Calling over my shoulder, I ask, “Which drawers are yours in here? I can start pulling stuff out.”

Mina steps out of the closet and sets her load on the bed next to mine just as Ethan walks into the room. He studies the pile we’ve made, furrowing his brow in confusion, then asks, “Do you want me to grab the rest of the stuff in the closet for you?”

“Oh, no, thank you. This is it.” She bites her lip before nervously saying, “I’ll get the drawers. It’s just the bottom two in that one.” Pointing at the taller dresser, I instantly get angry at Danny all over again.

“This is it? This isallyour clothes?” I’m stunned as I look at the small mound on the bed.

“Yes?” She’s hesitant with her answer, unsure if I’m going to be pissed. My eyes lock on her and she’s looking anywhere but at me.

“Fuck me,” I mutter. “Aside from this, is there anything else you’d like to grab?”

Her eyes light up briefly before she spins and runs out of the room.Well, that was an odd turn of events.I pursue her once I tell Ethan to put her clothes in the suitcases he’s brought in. Heading upstairs, I follow the sound of her moving around into one of the guest rooms. Upon entering the room, I see her shadow moving within the closet before she walks out holding a clear tote filled with paper.

“I have this one and three more in here. Aside from this and my clothes, I think I only want to grab a few of my favorite books from the office and some toiletries from the bathroom.”

Christ. Danny hasn’t allowed her to have fucking ANYTHING.

I bite my tongue and nod, taking the tote from her hands. “Throw another one on top and I’ll run these out to the car.”

This is the most energetic I’ve seen her since we’ve had her at my home. Peering through the plastic sides, I see flattened buildings and animals and other random shapes pressed tightly together.

Four totes full of anxiety driven paper folding. That’s what she wants to bring along.

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