Page 18 of Red Queen (Red Thorns Crew 3)

Her voice sounded so defeated, and the last thing I wanted to do was leave the woman I loved with more people that would stress her out. So, as I retreated back to the door, I made a mental note to tell the nursing staff my worries about them being here.

I mean, just because they were her parents didn’t mean that they were who Dani needed right now.

“Mom, how did you find me?”

I paused near the doorway, wanting to hear more of the conversation.

Her mother snickered. “Hannah called us last night, sweetheart. She was frightened, and she said you ran off into some trouble.”

Her father murmured. “Yeah. And trouble’s got a beat-up face.”

Dani hissed, “Dad, stop it.”

Her father yelled across the room. “If you’re going to stand there and listen, mind telling me what on earth happened to Danika?”

Her mother shushed him. “Pipe down. If you get us kicked out, I’m disowning you and finding a way to stay here. I told you to calm down on the ride here. I expect you to keep your cool now.”

I slowly turned around and faced the two of them as Dani looked at me with wide eyes begging to be saved.

Her mother’s eyes slid down my body. I saw her clocking the bruises and the stitches and the bandages I had wrapped around my various extremities. I saw the tension in her father’s face. I felt it in the air as Dani tried to pull away from him. I looked at her, seeking some sort of direction. Because I sure as hell wasn’t telling these people the truth. But she didn’t look like she knew what to say, either. And I wasn’t sure if I should actually stay and talk, or simply leave.

“Well? I’m waiting,” he said.

I nodded. “I think maybe introductions are in order first. I’m Max.”

He snickered. “Peter. I’m Dani’s father. Now, what the hell happened to my daughter?”

I walked back across the room, trying to buy myself some time. I patted Rena on the shoulder softly before extending a hand to her father. I wanted to shake the man’s hand. I mean, they were the parents of the woman I had fallen for. I had to try and make some sort of decent impression.

All he did was look at my hand, though.

As if I was offering him a rotten apple.

Peter turned his body to face mine and I watched Dani’s eyes widen. I heard her mother suck in a short breath of air behind me. The man was short. He barely came up to my shoulder. But the angry glare in his eyes boasted of the ferocious worry he had flaring deep within his gut.

“Could you please afford me and my wife some privacy with our daughter? You can lengthen your coffee run, if necessary.”

I put my hand down and nodded. I should have expected the cold brush-off. Even though I was attempting to make an effort to try and defuse the situation. Had I been in Peter’s shoes with my own daughter lying in some hospital bed with some beat-up stranger lying next to her, that asshole would’ve been dead before his feet touched the floor.

Dani cleared her throat. “I don’t want him to leave, Dad.”

He whipped back around. “You, your mother, and I need to talk. Alone. Whether or not you want that to happen doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact that we’re going to talk.”

Dani snickered. “So I don’t get a say in this at all. Even though Max is the one that saved me and he’s the one that’s been looking after me all night, you’re just going to kick him out. Just like that?”

Rena paused. “He saved you? From what?”

Peter glared at me hotly again. “If he’d leave, we could figure that out. Or do I need to remove him myself?”

Dani grinned. “I’d love to see you try, Dad.”

Pride filled my chest, even though I wanted to tell Dani to stop antagonizing her parents. Something in the pit of my gut told me they’d never seen her like this before. Then the change that had occurred with her slapped me across my face. She was a completely different person with me. A person I wasn’t sure was necessarily good. I felt my mind fighting with me. I felt my heart waging war. I felt my gut trying to get in on the action and pierce through the haze of pain and fear and dissent.

“Would any of you like coffee before I head out?” I asked.

Dani nodded. “Yes, please.”

Peter held up his hand to her. “Black. Large. Thanks.”

---