Page 17 of The Dragon's Captured Heart
“If I do let you help, there’s a good chance you’ll be in harm's way.” As he spoke, Callum picked up his chair and brought it back to the table so he could sit next to me and keep eating.
For a moment, peace reigned between us.
“I was in the military,” I reminded him. “I can handle the concept of danger. Don’t expect me to beat any of your people up, though. But I won’t crack under pressure if that’s what you mean.”
What the hell are you thinking? Why are you doing this? You don’t even know this guy!
It was true, but there was something about how he’d reacted to this news. The pain in his voice as the truth sank in had tugged at something in me. I wanted to help.
After all, I knew about loss.
“Okay, I guess.” Callum dug into his second sandwich. “Thank you. I think.”
“You’re welcome,” I said around a mouthful. “Besides, what else am I going to do, right?”
He just nodded.
“I don’t understand how anyone else didn’t tell you this,” I said abruptly. “Are you just an idiot, and everyone knew but you? Or did they hide it from you? What about your family? None of them ever brought this concept up?”
“No,” he said. “They did not.”
I snorted. “Well, that’s kind of nice to hear.”
“How so?”
“Oh, not really. I just enjoy knowing I’m not the only one who has a messed-up family that never properly talks.”
“Excuse me?” Callum asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Just that everyone assumed you knew, I guess, and not one of them actually thought to make sure, especially after, what, two years? I mean, come on. Someone should have saidsomethingto you, but they didn’t. That’s a bit dysfunctional, don’t you think?”
“No,” he said, standing up abruptly. “I don’t, actually. My family is fantastic, and considering you don’t know a damn thing about them, you shouldn’t be insulting them.”
“Calm down.” I watched him warily. “It’s no big deal, really.”
“Calling someone else’s family dysfunctional is actually really rude. I’m surprised nobody else has ever told you this,” he said. “Is this how humans all treat one another?”
My spine stiffened at the derogatory arrogance present in that question.
“Don’t act so superior,” I said, pushing away from the table and walking into the middle of the open area. “You have problems just like we do. Neither of us is perfect.”
The look on his face made his thoughts on that clear. I almost pointed out that his dead andmurderedmate was first-hand evidence of that imperfection but stopped myself. Some things, while perhaps accurate, were off-limits. That was one of them, and despite my anger at everything happening to me, I intended to be better than that.
“I think you know there’s some truth to what I’m saying,” I said, keeping my words firm but not sharp. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be quite so upset over it. But don’t worry, I get it.”
Callum made a face that clearly said he wanted to know what I meant.
“My family was messed up, too,” I admitted, steering away from the painful memories. “My brother and I both knew it. It was obvious for just about anyone to see that things should’ve been done differently.”
“Like what?”
There was a hint of curiosity in his voice. Did he really want to know more? Or was he patronizing me? I couldn’t tell.
“My parents hated one another,” I said with a vague gesture of one arm as if that explained everything. “They pulled the whole ‘let's stay together for the kids and keep it hidden from them until they’re eighteen’ bullshit routine when they shouldn’t have.”
“That’s a thing?” Callum asked in disbelief.
“Right,” I said. “You look human, but I guess you don’t really get that.”
