Page 57 of Lovers' Dance

“She’s about to have a panic attack,” Dante explained, with a nasty undertone running through his words. “Hasn’t had one for years and this will be her second for the day.”

It was obvious Dante laid the blame at Matt’s feet. I focused on my breathing while peering into Dante’s chocolate eyes.

“That’s it, sweet cheeks,” he soothed five minutes later. “Nice and easy. Atta girl.”

I let out a long, shaky breath, thankful I hadn’t lapsed into a full-blown attack in front of Matt and his friend. With that thought in my mind, I managed a weak smile in Nathan’s direction.

“Hey, Nathan, nice to see you again.”

He shuffled a briefcase from one hand to the next, looking uncomfortable next to one of the filing cabinets. “Yes, I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances, Madi.”

“You suffer from panic attacks?” Matt asked, reaching over to pull me away from Dante.

“Not since I was a kid but, as of today, yes,” I bit out, mad over his blasé behaviour. I jerked back from him and stalked a few feet away. Matt followed, intruding on my personal space and obviously ignoring my mean countenance. This was all his fault.

“I’m going to sue,” I said to no one in particular. “They can’t print lies about my family. They’re making it sound as if my mom was a weed-smoking hippy who got swept up in a modern sort of civil rights movement. She wasn’t an activist, and she didn’t smoke. I know she didn’t. That picture was photo-shopped.”

Matt suddenly looked uneasy and tugged at the collar of his sweater. I liked him in that sweater. It clung to the lines of his upper body in an appealing way. I pushed my untimely, horny thoughts away and began planning my vengeance on the media. I would sue all their asses and invest all the money I won into the dance studio.Ha!

“Erm, poppet.” Matt hesitated as my gaze swung to him. He straightened his broad shoulders and fixed a neutral expression on his handsome face. “You can’t instigate litigation procedures against the press.”

I frowned. Did he expect me to allow my family’s name to be dragged through the mud?

“Erm, yes I can. I don’t know how you normally deal with the press, but I’m not letting them get away with this. It’s slander and my mom can’t defend herself—”

“It’s not slander if it’s true, Madi,” Matt said quietly.

“Say what?” Dante burst out. He’d stolen the words right from my mouth. Nathan fidgeted with his briefcase, not meeting anyone’s eyes while I stared open-mouthed at Matt.

“It isn’t,” I finally said with conviction. Aunt Cleo never mentioned anything about my mom being caught up in things like that. Then, again, she rarely spoke about my mom.

“Yes, it is, poppet,” Matt said softly. “I’m not implying she was a habitual marijuana user—”

My mouth fell open again.

“—but there is photographic proof that she…well, that’s beside the point…”

My eyes widened in disbelief. Matt cleared his throat lightly.

“She was a participating member of a few affirmative rights movements, but that was for a very brief period and she was only a young woman then. When she met your father, she left—”

“Shut up,” I whispered, not wanting to hear anymore. It was a lie. I knew my parents. This new information was fabricated. Why the hell was Matt ready to believe these things printed about them? “How can you stand there and agree with the media? How can you act like you know this is true when it isn’t?”

Matt’s sighed in resignation, then said, “I don’t want you to get upset with what I’m about to tell you, poppet.”

Nathan suddenly went over to the far corner of the room, opening his briefcase and immersing himself in whatever it contained. I arched an eyebrow at his strange behaviour, then turned my attention back to Matt.

He closed the small distance between us, grey eyes filled with unreadable emotion. “Before we began our relationship, I came into possession of information concerning you and your family—”

“What?” The word on the tip of my tongue once again being verbalized by Dante, who was no longer perched on the edge of the desk. He stalked towards Matt.

I didn’t understand at first. How could Matt know about me before we hooked up? Then it hit me.

“You bastard.” The palm of my right hand made a hard connection with Matt’s left cheek. The sound of the slap was sharp, like the crack of a whip. The only reaction from Matt was a small wince of pain.

“You ran a background check on me, didn’t you? You self-righteous, up-your-own-ass pig. How dare you!”

Matt’s throat bobbed up and down. The imprint of my palm was startling red across his cheek. “Madi, darling, I—”

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