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Ezra’s burst of laughter took me by surprise and also struck me as out of place.
“That will never happen. You don’t have an evil bone in your body,” Ezra said when he realised I was offended.
“How can you be certain?” I demanded.
“Because I wouldn’t give a shit about you if that was possible. You’re special, Dana, and everyone can see it. Don’t beat yourself up because of those assholes. You were born into that family; you didn’t ask to be. Nothing they do is your fault. Dana, you are not responsible for them; you never were,” Ezra replied.
“What if people judge me by them?”
“Then they’ll meet me, Rage, Hawthorne’s, and everyone else who gives a shit about you,” Ezra stated.
And as far as I could tell, that was that!
Chapter Seven.
Ezra
On receiving a call from Hawthorne, Ezra had dropped everything and rushed to the offices. Dana had looked totally shellshocked when he’d reached her. Once Hawthorne said that Dana needed him, Ezra hadn’t hesitated in coming for her. Dana was as white as a ghost and heartbroken when Ezra arrived. From what he could gather, it wasn’t because of being hurt, but more along the lines of how Dana’s family had hurt other people. Hawthorne had promised Ezra the files later so he could see why Dana was so shocked and also do damage control. Ezra knew he had to distract Dana as soon as possible, or his girl would stew on shit.
He was surprised to learn that Dana had told Hawthorne to tear her nasty family down. Not because it was the wrong thing to do; it certainly wasn’t. But because Dana had the strength to weather the decision. Ezra knew they’d come after her and was fully prepared to protect her with everything he had.
Ezra had worried about Dana all the way to her house. Alert, he kept looking for any distraction in Dana’s driving, but she drove safely. It was when they got home Dana fell to pieces.
He didn’t hesitate and lifted her into his arms. Ezra’s cock twitched at the soft armful of woman he held, but he sternly told it that this wasn’t the time. Dana was falling apart before his eyes.
Ezra hadn’t even got Dana inside before she began babbling, and as Ezra was used to hearing a lot of dark shit, none of what she said was a surprise. He’d seen the worst that humans could do to one another; hell, sometimes, he’d taken part in evil stuff. But for Dana to realise her so-called respectable family was darker than night was a shock.
Ezra had no idea how that family had raised someone like Dana. It was a fuckin’ miracle Dana’s soul wasn’t as black as theirs.
Ezra did his best to calm Dana down as she sobbed the pain away. He sensed that Dana was ashamed, but he did what he could to reassure her that their actions had nothing to do with her.
When Dana finally cried herself out, she curled into a ball on his lap, and several minutes passed before Ezra realised she was asleep.
He carefully lifted Dana up and laid her on the bed.
Ezra felt a pang hit him as he took in how tiny and vulnerable Dana looked. He swore to shield her from any harm, there and then.
Deciding to let her sleep for an hour, he walked downstairs and called Hawthorne. A verbal report would do for now.
Dana
With a yawn, I woke to the scent of my favourite bubble bath and wondered what was going on. As I sat up in bed, I winced. The memory of today hit like a wrecking ball.
Shit, what a freaking mess.
The last recollection I had was curling on Ezra’s lap—and then nothing. And speaking of Ezra, had he left? I realised that was a stupid thing to question because of the smell of the bubble bath. The moment I had the thought, Ezra exited the bathroom, his eyes aimed at me.
“Saw you starting to stir, so ran a bath, baby.”
“You stayed?”
“Yeah. Of course I did, Dana.”
There was no ‘of course’ about it. I couldn’t remember a time when somebody had put my needs before theirs. Wow, it felt amazing to know someone actually cared about my wellbeing other than the Hawthorne men.
“The bath smells wonderful,” I said, nodding towards the bathroom.
“You know Lindsey? My sister? Linds has all that expensive crap, too. Not a huge surprise that I recognised the good stuff from the ordinary shit. I’ve run a hot bath and left a glass of wine there, too. When you’re ready, get into jeans and a jumper; it’s turned cool outside, babe, and then we’ll go for a ride,” Ezra ordered.
