Page 52 of So Wrong It Must Be Right

“Like hell I do.” He only kept himself from jerking away from her hand resting on his arm because she probably needed comfort more than she needed his anger. But, damn, he was fucking riled now.

“Carter, calm down. He’s . . . he’s a bully and he’s lashing out.” Dinah blew out a heavy breath, her gaze drifting back to the closed meeting room.

“Yeah, clearly I missed some background here.”

Simone disappeared into the kitchen. Dinah led him downstairs, winding her way through the somewhat crowded restaurant to a little corner of the bar that was mostly empty this early in the day.

They slid into seats, and he noted Dinah looked exhausted. Back there she’d been a force, but it seemed to have leaked out of her. He took her hand in his, gave it a squeeze.

Her mouth curved, barely, the saddest attempt at a smile he’d ever seen from her. “A couple months ago my father had an affair with Craig’s wife. They ran off together and obviously . . .” She looked down at their joined hands, drawing her thumb over the bumps of his knuckles.

He wished he could offer her some other kind of comfort, but he didn’t know what to do with that kind of information. That was a pretty huge deal, not that he thought it excused Craig’s behavior.

“Craig’s never been a great guy. He’s always been a little bit of an arrogant prick, and quite frankly, so is my dad. But . . . my dad was in the wrong on this, so a lot of people are cutting Craig a lot of slack. I happen to think he’s spiraled out of control, but he lost his wife to his brother, and that’s not exactly easy stuff.”

“It doesn’t explain why he blames you.”

“I’m here. I’m in his field of vision. My mom left too, so it’s just me here for him to focus his blame on. It might not be right, but it is what it is. If I let it get to me, I lose sight of what I have to do, and I refuse to let that happen. He won’t beat me.”

“You’re allowed to be hurt by what your uncle said to you,” Carter said softly, reaching out to brush a finger across her soft cheek. She seemed so certain she had to be this impenetrable force, and he saw how that could break her eventually.

“Now is not the time for this. The vote should be our complete and utter focus.”

“Dinah.”

“I’m not talking about it anymore. It isn’t important. He doesn’t know anything about me, Carter. He’s nothing. All that matters is they vote yes. That’s it.”

He covered her hands with his, realizing with a harsh pang of regret she was perilously close to tears. “Take a deep breath.”

She jerked her hands away from him, but then she did take a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Baby, you don’t have to be sorry about that. Someone in my family said something like that to me? I’d . . . It is not right. It’s okay to be pissed.”

“No. It is what it is, and I have to accept it. I can’t change him. All I can do is take my rightful place. Once they vote yes on this, I’m one step closer to doing it.”

“You really thinkyeswill solve everything?”

She met his gaze, her hazel eyes watery, but damn if her certainty didn’t grow back like a weed—quick and twice as tough. “I know it will.”

Carter got a harsh, sinking feeling in his chest. He hadn’t realized quite how . . . Well, Dinah had some real issues, and she was very much in denial about them. He didn’t know how to deal with denial. He’d never had to fight denial, never had to see it through or prove himself. When his family left, he’d had to start over every time.

He couldn’t help wondering if when Dinah finally realized she couldn’t power through everything, he’d be left alone to start all over again.

Chapter 15

Dinah had been fine all day. Calm and in control and certain, but something about Craig’s parting shot and Carter’s reaction had jumbled her all up and she felt shaky and scared and not at all certain of the outcome.

The longer it took the board to deliberate, the longer and tighter her nerves stretched. The more Carter held her hands and told her to breathe and sweetly called her baby, the more she wanted to scream. Justscream.

When Grandmother finally appeared to summon them back, Dinah nearly sobbed with relief. Which was also scary. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so emotional.

Maybe when Dad disappeared? Or Mom decided to move? Or—

“Dinah, I’d like to see you in my office. Mr. Trask, your presence will not be required.”

“Wait. Did the board vote? What’s this all about? If they voted no, I—”

“I said I wish to see you in my office, Dinah. We will discuss the rest there.” She flicked a glance at Carter. “Mr. Trask, you are dismissed.”

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