Page 52 of Love Without Control

Then the male interviewer asked, “How are you and your family doing, Mr. Bouvier?”

His smile held no humor whatsoever. “Chloe is upset, of course. Auburn has been my rock. He’s stronger than any twenty-three-year-old has a right to be, but it’s hard for him. He adores Evie.”

“And your younger son, Monty?”

My father shook his head. “Monty and Evie are so close in age, so this has been really hard on him. He’s… not doing well at all with this.” I gritted my teeth against the ripping ache that was building inside me.My poor Monty.

The female interviewer patted his hand. “What about you, sir?”

“Me?” Dad shook his head and stared down at his lap for a long moment before looking back up with damp eyes. “I’d like to say I am doing okay, but that would be a lie. Evie has been my sunshine since the day she was born, and I—”

His voice broke, and a waterfall of emotion welled up in me and escaped in the form of tears that tracked down my face. “Daddy,” I whispered, bringing the phone closer to my face so I could see him better through the torrent.

“I don’t know what to do without my Evie,” he finished.

“I understand you’re offering a million dollar reward for any information regarding your daughter?” the woman asked, her voice kind. A hiccuping gasp escaped my lips.A million dollars?

The camera zoomed in on my father’s face, and he looked directly into the lens, speaking to the viewing audience. “Yes, I am. If anyone knows anything, please call the tip line. I’m begging you. And forget the million dollars. I will give you every last penny I have if you’ll just… bring… my baby girl… home.” The last words were delivered in a series of broken heaves as his face crumpled with raw pain.

That’s when I shattered like I was made of glass and someone had just sucker punched me in the sternum. Doubling over at the waist, I buried my face against my knees and finally let out everything I’d been holding inside. All the worry about my family had come to a head and popped with an explosion of anguish.

I cried. Hard. So hard I was worried I’d crack a rib or two. And I kind of wished I would. Maybe then my physical pain would override the pure misery inside my heart.

Heaving breaths expanded and then deflated my lungs, over and over, until I became aware of my father’s voice again. Lifting my head, I yelped when I found Dane sitting on the floor of the veranda in front of me, his gaze on the screen of my phone.

He looked up and… the fucker smiled.

“You like seeing me like this?” I snapped, rubbing harsh lines up and down my face to dry my tears. My cheeks were heated as much from embarrassment as from my crying.

“Actually, I do,” the evil spawn replied, and I huffed out a sound of outrage. “But not for the reason you’re thinking.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Then why?”

He looked back down at the phone for a long moment before turning it off and setting it on the iron table beside me. “You’re very lucky to have people who care so much about you, Eden.”

My forehead crinkled when I remembered he didn’t have a dad like mine. No, his father had tried to kill him. “I’m sorry your father is a piece of shit.”

Dane’s lips quirked up on one side. “You don’t know the half of it. Luca thinks I’m dead, yet he’s not even having a memorial service for his own son. Fiero said he told everyone I moved to Italy.”

My fingers itched to reach out and stroke his face like I’d seen Jamie do so many times to Robert. But that seemed way too intimate, and this man was not really my husband. He was a person though, no matter how much I despised him, so I reached for his hand and squeezed.

“That’s horrible, Dane. Your life should matter to him.”

“Well, it doesn’t,” he said, holding tighter to my hand when I tried to let go. Sensing he needed the human contact in that moment, I allowed it. “And I hate seeing you cry, E. But I am happy to see you finally showing some emotion. You’ve had so much shit happen to you recently, and you never cry. You needed to let all that out.”

He’d called me E, and I kinda liked it. “I feel like crying a lot, but I’m trying to be brave.” As if summoned, a rogue tear escaped down my left cheek.

Dane’s face softened and he shook his head with a wry smile. “You are brave, sweetheart. The bravest person I know.” He reached up with his free hand and swiped a thumb over the wetness on my face. “You’ve been through a kidnapping, been told you and your family are in danger, had to change your hair and your name. Fuck, you even had to learn to put contacts in to make your eyes brown.”

“That might have been the worst part,” I said with a half-laugh.

His hands were still on me, one gripping my hand and the other resting against my cheek. “The point is that you shouldn’t hold all that shit in, E. You need to release it from time to time. I promise I’m not judging you. I just don’t want you to…”

He paused, and I found myself needing to hear what he was about to say. “You don’t want me to what?”

Dane’s eyes shifted away, staring over my shoulder as his gaze seemed to defocus. “My mother killed herself.” His voice was barely audible.

Oh. God.

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