Dane's face went a bright red, his jaw tightening to the point she was sure it would break. He was so righteously pissed that she thought surely he would beat her and prove who was stronger.
Instead, he jerked away from her, then pivoted, giving her his back. He didn't look at her again, merely reached out and grabbed Cooper's shirt, where Lan's hand had been previously. He twisted his fist in the garment and started dragging his friend out behind him.
"Goddamn it, Dane." Cooper struggled, but nothing seemed to faze Dane. "Let me go. We can't leave her like this."
Dane merely stalked out of the room, hauling his partner along.
Alea's hands shook as she felt warm, soft fabric cover her shoulders suddenly. She looked up. Landon. He was settling her robe around her body, covering her nakedness. His face was a careful blank.
"I'll admit that I knew you were all kinds of fucked up, Princess," Lan began in that down-home Texas drawl of his.
She laughed, but there was no humor to the sound. She pulled the robe around her like a coat of armor. "Good for you, Lan. You just proved you have eyes and a brain that halfway works."
He flinched, and his face closed up. Alea fought tears. What was wrong with her? Why did she keep saying such horrible things? Why was she hurting them?
Because they terrified her. Because if she hurt them first, they might not be able to hurt her back.
"Wow. That's a good one, Princess. You know how to go for the throat. You definitely kicked Dane where it hurts the most. Did you know his ex-wife thought that BDSM was abuse? Did you know that even though he never touched her like that, when he asked her to experiment she called him a wife beater?"
She gasped. How horrible. And how terrible she felt now. Dane would never hurt a woman.
Alea closed her eyes for a moment. Sometimes, she didn't recognize herself anymore. When she lashed out like she just had, the fear and hurt talked, not her. "No. Oh, Lan, I didn't know. He wouldn't have abused her."
"Well, you have great instincts, Princess. Dane feels like he failed everyone, his whole family, definitely his ex-wife. I'm pretty sure I'm the dumbest idiot ever born, so reinforcing that is a surefire way to hurt me. Let me give you some advice on how to hurt Coop because I'm not sure you figured him out yet. He hides his insecurities really well."
"Don't." Alea felt hot tears scalding her face.
Lan thumbed away the tears, but his voice didn't change. It remained a deep, polite monotone. "Coop came from a big ranching family. When he was a little kid, the ranch hit real hard times. His family almost lost everything. Every dime they made went back into the land or to pay the mortgage, so he grew up poor. He was the youngest of seven boys so by the time the hand-me-downs got to him, they were patched up and worn and he was so skinny that the kids in his school called him Scarecrow. Call him that a couple of times and it'll cut him to the quick. Since you're not only fucked up but cruel, that should give you some ammunition. Enjoy it." He shook his head. "The way I see it, either you were always mean or you let them make you mean. Either way, it's a goddamn shame."
Lan brushed away another tear and turned, following after Dane and Coop. They were all leaving, and she'd been the one to shove them away, hurting them and lashing out because she wasn't brave enough to be kind, welcoming. That required a strong heart, and hers was shattered.
More tears fell, but the scream that was always in her throat stuck. "Landon."
He stopped but didn't turn. "What do you need, Your Highness?"
So many things. Nothing she could ask for. "Tell Dane I'm sorry. And Cooper and … I'm very sorry that I hurt you too."
He nodded and left, and she was alone again.
Alea crumbled to the floor. The gorgeous gown she'd picked out in hopes that they would notice her was lying on the tile, trampled by boot prints, ruined. What had she been thinking? She could dress up all she liked, but she was still that girl chained to a bed, waiting to die.
The only trouble now was she seemed determined to take everyone to hell with her.
* * * *
Dane let Cooper drop as soon as he'd hauled him out of the princess's quarters. He didn't trust Coop not to run back in and try to get on top of her again.
And he didn't trust himself not to walk back and have a throw down with her that would very likely end with him getting his ass arrested for laying hands on Her Royal Highness.
"You asshole." Coop was on his feet in a heartbeat. "What the fuck was that about?"
The hallway around them was quiet. He'd been afraid Tal would follow them, but it appeared he had gone back to the ball. He was fine with that because he was just about ready to start throwing punches. Caving in Coop's face might take the edge off the nasty anger building inside him.