Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kylie
Something was wrong.
Danny wouldn’t tell her what, exactly. If anything, he was deliberately avoiding the issue.
The day before, he’d tried to distract her with presents any time she started to talk about Addison and she’d let him, mostly to see how far he would take his charade.
Surprisingly far, it turned out, which only made her more determined to figure out what he was hiding.
Unfortunately for her, he was awake already when she woke up in his bed that morning, and he seemed even more determined than before to distract her from talking about their Mommy. It was Sunday, which meant no classes, so no rush to get dressed and down to breakfast.
Other than the fact that she was starving, which she reminded him of for the millionth time in the whining voice she knew he hated. “Danny, let’s go. I’m hungry.”
“Hold your horses, Ky.”
Annoyance fueled by the underlying fear that something was very, very wrong churned in her stomach. Folding her arms, she glared at him from across the room. “No. My horses are ready for breakfast. I’m leaving.”
“Two minutes and I’ll be ready, I promise.”
“You said that thirty minutes ago, Daniel.”
Pausing in the act of pulling a sweater down over his chiseled abs, he glanced over at her, brows rising with surprise. “What did you just call me?”
“Daniel. That’s what Mommy calls you when she’s annoyed, so that’s what I’m gonna call you when I’m annoyed, too.”
There. In his eyes. A flash of something she couldn’t quite pin down, but that had the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach growing.
“Whatever. Let’s go to breakfast.”
Grabbing her hand, he headed out the door, with her jogging to keep up. “We should call Mommy to have breakfast with us.”
“I was thinking maybe you and me could just hang out today.” He flashed a grin over his shoulder. “You know, like we used to. Playing video games, eating junk food all day.”
“We’re not allowed to eat junk food all day, Daniel. And we can’t avoid Mommy forever, you know. We have to face the music some time.”
“I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Any other day, she would have been tempted. “We’re already in big trouble. I don’t wanna make it worse.”
“No junk food, then. Just video games and hanging out.”
Inside the main building, she dug her heels in, forcing him to stop and look at her. “Okay, dude, what’s going on? You’ve been super weird since yesterday. What happened with Addison?”
His gaze flicked to the side and he shrugged. “Nothing happened. Can’t I just want to hang out with my best friend for the day?”
“Sure. After you tell me why you’re being so cagey.”
Before he could answer, though, a familiar flash of red caught her eye and she whipped around, relief flooding her veins. “Mommy!”
Across the lobby, Addison spun around and Kylie ran straight for her, launching herself into her arms. “Are you still very mad, Mommy?”
“Kylie… I’m not… we’re not…”
Strong, familiar hands gently took her arms, pulling her away from Addison, who was looking a bit like she’d seen a ghost. Then her gaze shifted to something behind Kylie and her eyes sparked with fury. “You haven’t told her yet?”
“No.” Danny’s voice was thick with emotion. “I couldn’t figure out how.”
Closing her eyes, Addison breathed deep, and the churning in Kylie’s stomach grew until she thought she might be sick.
And when her Mommy opened her eyes again, there was such grief in the beautiful green it knocked all the air from Kylie’s lungs. “Kylie, honey, I’m so sorry. I… I’m not your Mommy.”
Was this some weird practical joke? “What? Don’t be silly. Of course you are.”
“No, sweetheart, I’m not. I tried to tell you before, I’m not good for you. Or Daniel. You both deserve so much better.”
For a long moment, her brain couldn’t quite make sense of the words. But as they shifted into focus in her brain, panic tightened like a vice around her lungs. “What? What are you talking about?”
“Back in Bozeman, I realized I wasn’t being the Mommy you deserved because I was never meant to be a Mommy. I’m so sorry I didn’t put a stop to this sooner. We should have never—”
Fury pushed through the shock and pain. Whipping around, Kylie jabbed a finger into Danny’s chest. “You did this! What did you say to her?”
“Nothing, Ky.” Her own hurt and anger reflected in his eyes as he shifted his gaze over her head. “But maybe she’s right. Maybe this is for the best.”
No. No, this couldn’t be happening. She finally had everything she wanted and they were both just going to take it from her without even giving her a say?
“It’s not for the best, and you know it!” Placing her hands on his chest, she shoved as hard as she could.
She hadn’t actually expected him to move. As often as they’d roughhoused before, he’d always managed to counter her moves so she didn’t actually hurt him.
But not this time.
Eyes wide, Danny stumbled back—straight into Chef Angel.
Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as Kylie watched the giant chocolate swan take flight. And then shatter into a thousand pieces as it crashed into the tile floor of the lobby.
Chaos erupted around them, dozens of Littles yelling and crying while a few of the service subs rushed forward to begin picking up the pieces. Chef Angel simply stood staring at his ruined creation alongside Danny and Addison.
“What is going on out here?”
The thundering voice of Rawhide’s owner rose over the din, effectively silencing everyone. And then his gaze latched on Kylie, his eyes narrowing as he looked from her to the shell-shocked Danny and horrified Addison.
His expression twisted into a grimace before he turned to Angel. “What do you need, Chef?”
“I’ve got it.” But Chef Angel’s usually jovial tones were clipped as he waved to Danny and Kylie. “If you could deal with… whatever this is, I’ll handle the cleanup.”
“Of course. Have Erika get you whatever you need.” Turning back to Kylie and Dan, Master Derek crooked a finger. “You two, with me. Addison?”
Whatever protests she might have made about no longer being their Mommy seemed to die on her tongue. Jaw firming, she nodded once in agreement.
“All right. Follow me.”
Danny
Oh, man. They were in so much trouble.
Guilt twisted his stomach into a giant knot as he hurried to follow Master Derek’s long strides across the lobby to his office, Kylie scurrying along beside him.
He wasn’t even sure how it had happened.
Usually when they were playing around, he could predict her moves and counter them pretty easily so neither of them got hurt.
But she’d caught him off-guard this time and before he’d even known what was happening he’d been stumbling backward and then that damn swan had been airborne.
Honestly, if it had happened to anyone but him and if Chef Angel hadn’t looked so freaking devastated, it might have actually been kind of funny.
But it had happened to him, and it wasn’t funny at all.
And even though Addison claimed she wasn’t their Mommy anymore, his bottom cheeks still clenched at the furious set of her jaw as they made their way into Master Derek’s office.
Inside, Rawhide’s Big Daddy took his usual spot behind his desk and pointed to the two plush visitors chairs. “Sit.”
Danny started to lower himself into the chair before remembering his manners and glancing over at Addison. “Professor?”
Addison shook her head. “I’d prefer to stand, thank you, Mr. Hollis.”
Behind the desk, Master Derek narrowed his eyes. “Would someone care to explain to me what’s going on here? Starting with why the prize centerpiece of today’s wedding is in pieces.”
Fuck. That was even worse than he’d thought. “It was my fault, Sir. I–I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
Addison’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t call him out for the lie, which he was grateful for. The last thing he wanted was for Kylie to—
“Oh my god, you can’t stop lying, can you?” Huffing out a breath, Kylie crossed her arms, her chin jerking up as she met Master Derek’s furious stare. “It was my fault, Master Derek. I shoved Danny backward and he knocked Chef Angel’s swan over.”
Never in his four years at Rawhide had Danny ever seen Master Derek speechless. “You shoved him?”
“Yes.”
Kylie’s single-syllable answer seemed to shock him even more than the initial confession. “Why?”
“Because he’s a stupid jerk and—”
At Master Derek’s sharp look, Kylie’s rant cut off abruptly and she seemed to shrink in on herself. “Well, he is,” she grumbled.
“You’ve just lost the privilege of talking for the next ten minutes, young lady. And unless you’d also like to forfeit your ability to sit comfortably, I suggest you stay quiet.” Shifting his attention to Danny, Master Derek jabbed a finger in his direction. “Why were you and Ms. Nichols fighting?”
“That’s a really long story, Sir.”
Settling into his chair, Master Derek leaned back and spread his hands. “I have as much time as we need. I suggest starting at the beginning.”
What the hell. Maybe laying it all out would help him make some sense of everything that had happened.
So he did as he was told and started at the beginning, with Addison telling them she had to chaperone the field trip and giving them their additional rules for the weekend.
When he got to the part about Kylie’s mother calling and how distraught she’d been, Addison made a distressed sort of sound that had Master Derek shooting her a quelling look.
And when he told Master Derek about the argument he and Addison had, how she’d suddenly freaked out and left, saying they deserved better, Kylie sat up straighter, her expression a mix of confusion and anger and hurt.
But to her credit, she remained silent, all the way up through the end of Danny’s explanation.
“So… like I said. It’s my fault.” This time, he really meant it. Not because it was his fault he’d fallen, but because as he’d told the story he’d realized all the ways he’d so royally fucked up. “I never should have taken Kylie to Bozeman, and I shouldn’t have lied. Again.”
Turning, he reached for Kylie’s hand, relieved when she didn’t immediately pull away. “I’m really sorry, Ky. I just didn’t know what to tell you. I know that isn’t an excuse but I was just so sad and the thought of breaking your heart the way mine was breaking… I couldn’t do it.”
It felt like eternity, waiting for Kylie to respond. But eventually she nodded, slowly, her hand tightening on his. And in her eyes he saw his own grief, his own heartbreak, and he wished with everything he had he could take that from her.
“Thank you for telling me, Daniel.” Master Derek’s voice had softened considerably, and when Danny turned to look at him, so had his expression.
“I’m going to talk to your… to Addison for a bit.
You and Kylie can have a seat in the waiting area with Erika and we’ll have breakfast brought to you so you can eat something. ”
“Thank you, Sir.”
The door opened behind them and he turned to find Erika smiling sympathetically at them, leaving Danny to wonder if she and Master Derek had some kind of telepathic connection.
“Kylie,” Master Derek said, his voice once again going firm, “you still have two minutes left on your speech restriction. Erika will let you know when it’s over. ”
At Master Derek’s nod, Erika ushered them back out to the waiting area, pulling the door shut behind her. Mischief glittered in her eyes as she grinned at them. “All right. Who wants donuts?”