I stared at him.
Then I started, “Why didn’t you—?”
I cut myself off because it felt all of a sudden likesomething was stuck in my throat and I thought it pertinent to focus onbreathing.
“Daisy?”
Marcus looked concerned.
I put a hand flat on the table and pushed through the thingchoking me.
“That was two months ago.”
“Darling—”
“Before he got to me.”
Marcus went still.
I pushed up on my hand, shoved back my seat, and took myfeet.
“Why didn’t you come to me?” I screeched.
He was out of his seat, too, and approaching me.
“Daisy—”
I scuttled back and lifted up a hand but he didn’t stopmoving so I didn’t either as I bit out, “Don’t come near me.”
“I had things happening,” he said quietly.
“You saw me.You knew you wanted to take your shot,” Ihissed.It all was coming to me, pouring over me like boiling oil.“That day.That day you were there and you left without even looking at me.You were up inSmithie’s office with Smithie.The next day Smithie gave me my raise.You sawme.You knew then.”
He kept coming at me, stalking me around the table.
“When I made my approach, Daisy, I wanted it to have my fullattention.”
“If I was Marcus Sloan’s moll, no one would even think oftouching me.”
“I couldn’t have known you’d be raped, baby.”
I shook my head, still retreating while he advanced and hedid it speaking.
“And you’re wrong.Men like that I don’t get so I don’t gethow they can do the things they do, but if he had that monstrousness in hishead, it’s doubtful anyone could have stopped him, even me.”
He was making sense and I didn’t need sense.
“I need to go,” I forced out.
“It’s not my fault.”
That made me stop dead.The words and the tortured way hesaid them.
When I stopped, he moved in.Hands cupping the sides of myhead, he held it back and bent his face to mine.
“It’s not my fault, honey.It isn’t anyone’s fault.If Icould have stopped it, I would.If I could make a miracle and go back in timeto erase it, I would.But I can’t.And you could have been mine then, andunless I had reason to put a man on you, which I can’t say I would do, not inthe beginning, it might alarm you and I would do nothing that might alarm you,he would have found his way to get to you.”
I shook my head in his hands then nodded it.
