Danny smirked. "Do you stay apart often?"
"No, this is only the second time in a year." Apparently, my happiness was a letdown for him. It was hard to reconcile the man who took me in when I was pregnant and alone with this cold creature sitting across from me. "Do you have something to say to me, Daniel Seymour?"
He stared at me until I raised a brow in challenge. "Fine. I think it was a mistake to marry him. I hate that he's got you so wrapped up in his lifestyle you don't see how you're a different person."
Resting my fork on my plate, I leaned back in my seat. "I know I'm a different person, Danny. I'm confident, educated, and assertive."
"You're a criminal," he muttered.
At that statement, I snarled, "Excuse me?"
"I said, you're a criminal!" He pushed away from the table, standing to tower over me. I stood as well, matching his tone if not the volume.
"I've never broken the law, asshole. If you can't even be civil, why did you come?"
"To see the changes for myself. I hoped I would find some similarity to the girl I used to know, but she's not in there anymore."
Brenda rose, pushing on Danny until he sat back down. "You need to shut up and leave her alone. We are not those people, Daniel. We don't decide for others, just like we don't allow them to decide for us. To each their own, remember?"
Sitting, I picked my fork back up. "For the record, I'm not a criminal simply because of who I married."
"Isn't there some law against aiding and abetting? Harboring a fugitive?"
I was seconds away from stabbing him with my fork. Perhaps it would please him if I turned into the criminal he accused me of being. "He's not a damn fugitive, for God's sake. If you can't control your tongue, then you can get the hell out of my house."
"It's not even your house!"
Brenda slammed her hand on the table, rattling dishes. "That's it! You, not another word!" She pointed at Danny. "This is Kinsley we're talking about, and we love her and support her no matter what."
Though he grumbled, he said nothing else.
Wyatt came into the room at the tail end of Brenda's yelling. "What did I miss?"
"Oh, just catching up," I said dryly, glaring across the table.
"Is that what we're calling it?" Wyatt sat next to me, watching Danny carefully.
"I don't believe we've met. I'm Brenda."
"Wyatt. Daisy has mentioned both of you." He piled a plate full of food and tucked in.
"How long have you worked for Kinsley?" Brenda asked.
"Oh, I guess it's been about a year now. When she first moved into the house in Boston."
"What did you do before?"
"I was Carson Gallagher's personal assistant. Burke reassigned me."
"He's a Godsend, honestly." I smiled at him. "Just ask Daisy."
Brenda laughed. "Oh, I know. She talks about him nonstop."
Wyatt actually blushed. "She's an amazing woman."
I didn't precisely relax, but I felt more comfortable with another person in the room to deflect Danny's ire. Wyatt was fairly easygoing, and he made conversation effortlessly. Danny didn't say anything else during lunch and sat quietly on the couch next to Brenda once we moved to the living room.
It wasn't until Finn woke from his nap that Daniel truly thawed. Before my eyes, he returned to the man I'd known for most of my life. He sat on the floor letting Finn climb on him, banging him in the forehead with toys, and generally making a fool of himself.
