Page 49 of Tempting Her Forbidden Boss

She shook her head. A couple of bruises from a couple of punches was nothing on what she could have suffered. ‘The neighbour came over, she banged on the door and threatened to call the cops. He shoved her out of the way and ran off.’

‘Did you go to the police?’

‘No.’ They’d been too scared for that. ‘We changed the locks. Then we moved. But it wasn’t that long before she gave the key to another one—he was different, of course.’ Dani started to walk across the field. ‘I did those self-defence classes. I got quite good.’ Or she’d thought she had. Fortunately she hadn’t had to test it out.

Alex was quiet. ‘But you still get freaked in small spaces.’

‘Silly, isn’t it?’ She laughed—still too high-pitched. ‘Happened years ago. I should be over it by now. I mean, it was nothing. It wasn’t that bad. What a wimp.’

‘Don’t.’ He took her hand and stopped walking. ‘Don’t try to minimise it.’

Dani shut up at the touch of his fingers on hers, but it took a long time before she could bring herself to look at him.

‘You must have been really scared.’

‘I couldn’t breathe,’ Dani answered almost unconsciously.

‘He was going to hurt you.’ Alex’s face hardened. ‘He did hurt you.’

She shook her head. ‘No. He didn’t.’

‘He did,’ Alex said quietly. ‘Maybe not as bad as he could have, as he wanted to, but he did hurt you.’

She had no answer to that.

‘Your mum had lots of boyfriends.’ Alex stated the obvious.

So?Dani’s hackles rose and she pulled her hand away, instinctively wanting to karate chop him in the neck. Instead she took a second to breathe—and heard the way in which he’d spoken. He wasn’t judging. He wasn’t even asking. It was a plain statement of fact—nothing more. And so she nodded.

‘And every time she thought she’d found the One.’ Then she shook her head. ‘There isn’t a One. She was so naive—such a romantic fool. She let them walk all over her because she thought she loved them and she wanted them to love her. I won’t be such a fool.’

‘Not every guy wants to take advantage, Dani.’

‘No?’ She turned to face him. ‘He was still taking advantage right up ’til the day she died.’

‘Your dad?’

‘Yeah.’ Always he returned like a damn boomerang. How her mother could take him back time after time she never knew. He was—amongst other things—a convicted fraudster, how could she possibly believe a word he said?

But Dani did know why—because she had wanted to believe him too. She’d wanted him to love her—he washer father.

Instead he used them both.

‘You and your mum were close, huh?’

‘For a lot of the time it was just the two of us.’ Those were the best times. When her mother wasn’t bending herself into any shape the new guy wanted—trying to please him, to keep him, to make him love her. She’d never seemed to feel able to just be herself. Because she was loveable. Her mother had been a fun, generous, wonderful woman. But she’d also been co-dependent, believing it was impossible to be happy if she didn’t have a man.

‘So you decided to have your joy boys rather than relationships? Is that what happened?’

She wrinkled her nose. She should never have made that lot up.

‘How many were there, really?’ He bent to look into her eyes, his own glinting.

‘What is this? Are you going onMastermindand your topic of choice is the scintillating life of Dani Russo?’

He chuckled. ‘I’m betting one. Two at the most.Boyfriends.’

‘You think you’re so smart,’ she grumbled. ‘What is it you really want to know, Alex? You think one broke my heart? Put me off men?’

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