Page 23 of Red Queen (Red Thorns Crew 3)

I shook his hand. “I understand. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”

He dropped my hand quickly and didn’t respond to my sentiment. Which told me he wasn’t out here of his own volition. He peeked over his shoulder and I resisted the urge to do it too. I wanted him to know that I was fully paying attention to him if he had anything else to say. His head came back around and his eyes met mine. After heaving a heavy sigh, he thumbed over his shoulder.

“You should come back in. Danika’s been asking for you.”

I nodded. “I’ve got coffee and things to munch on, if anyone’s hungry.”

Peter snickered. “I’m sure Danika will appreciate that.”

I reached down and gathered everything into my arms before following Peter back into the room. I let the door close softly behind me, using my foot to stop its jarring movements so it wouldn't slam. Dani turned her head to me and the warm smile that crossed her face made me smile in return. I walked over and placed everything on the edge of her bed, giving her the first pick of the fruit and the danishes I had to offer.

“This looks great. Thank you, Max,” she said.

I smiled. “If there’s something here you want but don’t see, let me know. I’ll go track it down.”

Her mother giggled. “That effort extend to all of us?”

I turned my gaze to her. “Of course. Though I think I got a decent-enough spread for what they had down there.”

Peter sighed. “I’ll be right back. I need to go let work know I won’t be reachable for the next twenty-four hours.”

I peered over my shoulder. “I’ll save you a danish. Do you have a preference for flavor?”

He shrugged. “Surprise me.”

I nodded slowly as he marched back out the door, closing it a bit too hard behind him. And when I turned to face the two women in the room, Rena gave me a tight-lipped smile.

“My husband handles stress poorly. Always has. I’m very sorry if he offended you.”

I grinned. “It’ll take more than that to offend me. I promise.”

“Well, thank you for the coffee. And the food. The fruit looks fresh. Is it?”

I nodded. “Watched them cut it just before they put it out.”

“Oh, fabulous. I love a good fruit salad.”

Dani snickered. “Well, you can have it. I’d rather have a couple of those apple danishes.”

Rena rolled her eyes. “My daughter, always chowing down on carbs. You’ll lose that metabolism one of these days. Then you’ll be just like me.”

Dani shrugged. “Well, I hope Max here likes big women. Because I don’t ever plan on giving up my danishes.”

Her words brought silence between the three of us. That was such a heavy-handed statement, I didn’t know where to start picking it apart. Did Dani really see us together that long? Did she dream about our future the way I did? I saw worry cross behind her mother’s eyes and I wanted to say something to reassure her. But I figured keeping my mouth shut was probably for the best.

So I drew in a deep breath. “Rena, Peter is fine. I promise

. I get where you guys are coming from. When my own brother was in the hospital…”

She giggled nervously. “Are you sure you don’t need any medical attention yourself? Your face looks pretty…”

I chuckled. “You should see my ribs.”

Dani murmured, “Max.”

I nodded. “I’m just kidding. Kind of. I promise I’m all right. I don’t need any sort of attention. Just rest, some Tylenol, and plenty of fluids.”

Dani interjected quickly. “So, Mom. How in the world did you and Dad figure out where I was?”

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