Page 17 of Loved By the Orc
“And why’s that?”
“Because I never actually agreed to it,” she spat. “We never negotiated punishing or disciplining me.”
Mr. Hawkins tilted his head, a frown creasing his face. “Wait, he didn’t tell you what he intended to do?”
Dana swallowed. “I mean, in vague terms, yes, but not the details.”
“That’s not what I asked,” he replied brusquely. “Did he tell you he wanted to discipline and punish you before he took you down to the play floor? Because if he didn’t, that’s a problem.” His gaze bored into her. “Ms. Aziz?”
She flicked her hand back and forth. “He… he did, but still…”
“Stop,” he countered. “If he communicated to you what he intended to do, that’s all I’m looking for.”
Dana pursed her lips then nodded.
“Fine.” Mr. Hawkins blew out a short breath. “So, knowing that, I want you to be perfectly honest with me: why didn’t you stop him, if you didn’t want him to follow through on what he proposed?”
“I would have,” Dana grumbled, “if I’d known exactly what he was going to do.”
“So, once you were at the point where it was clear how he was going to punish you, you tried to stop him, but he continued anyways?”
“N…” Dana’s voice faltered.
“Ms. Aziz.”
“No. I didn’t,” she answered softly.
“Because at some level, deep down, you wanted what he did, didn’t you?”
Anger tried to flare back to life. “That’s bullshit. I… I?—”
“You what?”
“I…” And the flame died along with her retort.
“Let me be clear to you”—Mr. Hawkins pointed across the room—“that man is going to walk out of your life if you can’t figure this out. And after what he’s told me, I wouldn’t blame him. You can only watch someone being self-destructive for so long before a line has to be drawn.”
“I’m not self-destructive,” she replied sullenly. “That’s nonsense.”
“Is it? Because I’m pretty sure there’s more than a few folks who see things a bit differently.” Mr. Hawkins cocked an eyebrow. “Let’s look at this from a different angle: if Kurt had an opioid addiction, would you just silently stand by while he suffered, or would you try and help him overcome it?”
“That’s a ridiculous comparison. I don’t have a drug addiction.”
“But you do have a problem.”
Dana waved her hand dismissively. “Kurt’s the one who has a problem.”
“Yes. He has a problem watching you do things that could get yourself hurt, or even worse, killed.”
“I haven’t?—”
“You didn’t break two ribs in South America going where you were expressly told not to?” Mr. Hawkins shot her a challenging look. “You didn’t get trapped in my mine the other day being where you shouldn’t have been?”
Dana looked away, taking a slow breath. She didn’t owe Derek Hawkins an explanation for anything, and there was no reason she should feel as defensive as she did right now.
So… why are you still sitting here? Get up, tell the man to fuck off, and leave.
But she didn’t. Instead, she turned back to him. “And I suppose discipline will cure me of that.”
