Page 85 of The Bossy One

The endearment sliced my anger, leaving my heart bloody and exposed. I’dtrustedhim.

I’d complained about my bossto my boss.I’d vented about my loverto my lover.I’d talked about my blogto the man who built Snug.

Now that I thought about it, every time I’d complained to @DBCoder about some glitch or bug on Snug, it had been magically fixed within a couple of days.

“Is this some weird quality control thing?” I asked, trying to make sense of things. “You befriend Snug bloggers anonymously to do some sick form of customer research?”

“No,” Declan said, taking a step toward me. “I have an anonymous account so that I can enjoy the site as a regular person without anyone trying to impress me, or get funding, or bitch at me. And yes, using the site as a regular person gives me insight into how to improve it. But that’s notwhyI do it.”

“And you just, what, stumbled across my little book blog? Out of all thewaymore popular blogs on Snug?” I felt a sick sort of laughter building in my chest. Rationally, I knew it was probably nothing more than coincidence. After all, I’d been chatting regularly with @DBCoder long before I’d actually come into Declan’s life. But it felt like the universe was mocking me.

“I told you how I found your blog. I was searching for books to send Catie.”

I remembered his first message, all those months ago.Hi, love the blog. Just wanted to say I bought “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?” for my niece, and she loved it. Got any other recommendations for a little girl that’s into bugs?

I felt like I was looking at our past on a split screen. On the one side, all of my memories of striking up a friendship with a charming stranger on the internet. On the other side, Declan alone in this empty mansion, clicking through my reviews, looking for books to send Catie. Declan, one of the most powerful men in the tech universe, sending funny cat videos to cheer me up on a bad day. Declan’s online persona coaxing me through those first few bad days in Ireland, even as his real-life self made my life hellish.

Declan, asking me for advice because he liked a woman who worked for him.

I scrubbed my hands over my face. “This is too confusing.”

“Which is why I didn’t tell you,” Declan said. He closed the gap between us and gripped my shoulders. “Would it really have been better for me to dump all this on you when you were naked and vulnerable and falling asleep in my bed for the first time?”

No, I thought.Yes. Maybe.

I shoved myself out of his grasp. “That wasn’t your decision to make. I thought I could trust you, but now I don’t know if I can. I feel violated, Declan.”

“Now you know how I feel about you keeping everything Seamus said a secret,” he snapped.

“Oh, that isnotthe same thing.” I jabbed a finger in his chest. “I was trying to protect you. You were trying to manipulate me.”

“Damnit, I wasn’t trying to manipulate you. I was trying to control the situation.”

Angry tears snagged in my throat as I realized an uncomfortable truth.

Declan Byrne was always going to try to control every situation he was in. It was what made him formidable in business. It was what made him a rock his family could lean on. And yes, it was part of what made him so magnetic, so devastatingly hot.

But it also meant that he and I could never really meet as equals in a relationship. I couldn’t trust him not to try to control everything about our situation—including how much of myself I gave to him.

He couldn’t help it. It was how he was built.

I refused to let myself cry, so instead I placed my hands on his chest and shoved.

He didn’t move an inch.

“Damn you, Declan Byrne,” I swore.

“Stop fighting!” Catie cried from the doorway. Panic made her voice rise and break. “Stop fighting right now!”

Declan and I sprang apart. We exchanged a guilty glance before we both shifted into problem-solving mode.

Declan sank to his knees in front of Catie. “It’s all right, love. Sometimes adults fight. But we still respect and care about each other.”

Do we?I thought peevishly, even though I knew he was right. I pulled a few tissues from the tissue box and joined Declan on the ground so I could wipe at Catie’s welling tears.

“He’s right, hon. Everything’s okay.”

“B-but the last time you fought he, he fired you and youleft,” Catie said, stumbling over her words in her distress.

---