my way through the throngs of people, not wanting to crash into someone who might be holding a tray of food or drinks.
“Excuse me,” I said to one particular man, who was tall and heavily built. He slid out of my way with an apology, and then my stomach sank. Because Owen stood mere feet away, and he was staring right at me. Shit.
“Vee,” he said in surprise and swallowed hard.
I gave him a curt, awkward nod. “Owen.”
“You … you look good—”
“Daddy, I need the fork.”
I twisted to see a little girl sitting at the nearby table with a plate of food in front of her. The same little girl whose picture Owen had once shown me.
“Sorry, honey.” Owen handed her the plastic cutlery and then gave me a weak smile. “This is my daughter.”
“Hi,” I said to her, feeling super uncomfortable.
She used her fork to wave at me, her expression curious.
I forced a bright smile. “Well, you two have a good day.”
“Wait, Vee. Who are you here with?”
I sighed. “Owen, just focus on having fun with your little girl. Okay?”
“Have you realized it yet?” he asked when I tried to shrug past him.
“What?”
“That marrying Davenport was a mistake,” he said too quietly for his daughter to hear. “Because if you haven’t, you will eventually.”
“Forget about me and what’s going on in my life, Owen. Concentrate on fixing your own.”
“Did he tell you that he had me banned from o-Verve? I went there to see you a few weeks ago. I didn’t even get past the security checkpoint. He didn’t tell you, huh? Well then, he probably also didn’t tell you that he called me later that day and said he’d make sure I lost my job if I ever tried to get near his wife again. Not ‘Vienna.’ His wife. Like you’re a thing. A possession.”
I rubbed my temple. “Owen—”
“He’s going to hurt you, Vee. He probably won’t mean to. He probably won’t even particularly want to. But he’ll do it, because that’s what people like him do. They hurt. They betray. They don’t think past their own wants.”
“This again? Seriously?” I shook my head. “I’m going to go now.” I pushed past him, but he grabbed my arm.
“Wait, I—” He cut off, his lips thinning as he caught sight of something.
I tracked his gaze to see Dane heading our way, his eyes hard, his expression cold.
Owen dropped my arm and took a step toward the table at which his daughter sat, as if to protect her from the newcomer.
Dane stopped in front of me. “I came to see what was taking you so long,” he said to me, but his eyes were on Owen.
I fisted Dane’s tee and gave it a little tug to get his full attention. “His kid is sitting right there,” I told him, my voice low. “For her sake, can we just walk away?” He hit me with that unblinking hunter stare, saying nothing. Tension thickened the air, winding me tight. “Please, Dane.”
Something flickered across his face. He reached up and untangled my fingers from his tee. Instead of dropping my hand, he clasped it tight. “Come on.”
Thank fuck for that. Without a backward look at my ex, I let Dane lead me out of the restaurant.
Outside, he turned to me, his expression still cold. “What did he want?”
“To tell me it was a mistake to marry you. Did you really have him banned from o-Verve?”
“Yes. I didn’t trust that he wouldn’t harass you there. You should be able to do your job without worrying people will turn up and talk shit to you. I want you to feel safe there.”
I always had felt safe there. Until recently. Not that I’d thought I was in physical danger but, yeah, certainly at risk of being bugged by dumbass people. Thinking of said dumbasses, I asked, “Did you have anyone else banned?”
“Travis, Hope, Heather, and Owen’s soon-to-be-ex-wife.”
“Why Tiffany?”
“I doubted she’d bother you, but I didn’t want to take the chance.”
“Have any of them tried to enter since you gave their names to security?”
“Only Hope.”
“I’ll bet she was furious when they refused her entrance.” And probably embarrassed as all hell.
“She was. But I’d told her to stay away from the building. If she’d listened, it wouldn’t have happened.”
I tilted my head. “You wouldn’t really try to get Owen fired, would you?”
Dane put his face closer to mine. “You already know the answer to that.” He tugged on my hand. “Come on. You still want to see those