Dane altogether in the hope that Deacon—satisfied that he had my total attention—would ignore him, too.
Deacon looked at me as I took the seat opposite him. “Freddie texted you?” It wasn’t really a question.
“He thought Simon would need me,” I said.
“He did. He was a wreck.” Deacon’s upper lip curled. “I don’t know why he lets the memories of that bitch get to him so much. She was nothing but a worthless fucking skank.”
“Agreed.”
“Corrine was the same,” he said, referring to my mother. “The only thing she was ever good at was fucking with his head. I’d say she eventually learned her lesson.”
Oh, Deacon had taught her a lesson all right.
His brows drew together as he glanced around the room. “I need a smoke. Fucking Maggie always throws away my stash. Smoking’s bad for you, apparently.”
“I thought that was just a rumor,” I quipped.
His mouth canted up into a small smile. He looked at my boss again. “You smoke?”
“No, I don’t,” replied Dane, his voice even.
Deacon shrugged. “I guess nobody’s perfect.” He turned back to me and gestured at Dane. “What about this guy? He good to you?”
“I wouldn’t be dating him if he wasn’t,” I carefully answered.
“True.” Deacon’s gaze cut to him again. “If you hurt her, you deal with me.”
“Understood,” said Dane.
Deacon squinted. “No, I don’t think you do really understand. But you will if you ever harm her.” His eyes met mine again. “Simon wants to talk to you now.”
I held back a sigh of relief. “Okay.”
“It was good talking to you, princess. You come to me if Mr. Boss Man here upsets you. Got me?”
“I got you.”
He nodded, satisfied. His gaze went out of focus as his head flicked to the side. His brow creased with a brief lash of pain. He blinked a few times, almost as if he had something stuck in his eyes. Then my dad was looking at me. He straightened in his seat and pulled his arms tight to his body.
“Hi, Dad,” I said softly.
He cleared his throat and gave me a faint smile. His eyes flew to Dane. “You startled me earlier.” He rose to his feet and held out his hand. “I’m Simon, Vienna’s father.”
Dane reached out and shook his hand, as cool and calm as always. “Dane Davenport, her boyfriend and her boss. My apologies for walking in uninvited. I saw Vienna run in here in a panic, and she didn’t close the door properly. I wanted to check that she was fine.”
“Understandable. I’m glad you care enough to check on her. She’s special, you know.”
“Yeah, I do know.”
Rubbing at his nape, Simon said, “Um, sit down.”
I thought Dane would make his excuses and leave, but he took a seat at the table while I made everyone drinks. They fell into a conversation that quickly turned to sports, of all things. It was as if both of them were determined to lighten the atmosphere, make the moment normal.
After handing out drinks, I returned to my seat. It was a little surreal to watch them interact so well. I hadn’t expected Dane to take my father’s disorder in stride—it wasn’t every day you watched someone switch from one personality to another. But Dane didn’t refer to it or ask any questions. He behaved as if Deacon had been a separate person who’d now vacated the room. Which, in some respects, was kind of how it worked.
“You’re coming to the barbecue on Sunday?” Simon asked him once we’d all drained our cups.
Dane nodded. “I am.”
“Good. We can talk more then.” They stood and shook hands again.
“I’ll walk you out,” I said to Dane. I wasn’t ready to leave yet. Not until I was confident that Simon was okay.
Dane nodded and followed me to the door. Outside, he turned to me. “Your father has DID?”
“Yes. You’ve heard of it?”
“A little. How long has he had it?”
“For as long as I’ve known him.” Simon had once told me he believed he’d started dissociating when he was around four or five, but I didn’t say that. Dane would only ask why he began to dissociate like that, and it didn’t seem right to relay the story without Simon’s permission.
“Who is Corrine?” asked Dane.
It took effort not to tense. “One of his triggers.” That was as much as I was willing to say on that subject for now. “I know you wanted us to talk, but it can wait, right?”
Dane stared hard at me for a long moment, almost as if he was really