Boone looked up and found Dani among the crowd. His eyes pierced hers for a moment, and a knot slowly twisted inside of her. She saw the decision in his eyes, and he pushed all his money into the pot.
“Oh. My. God.” Kate barely breathed. “Winner takes all.”
“He’s walking.”
“What?”
“He’s walking away.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“Yeah, I am.” The dealer flipped the last card, and the crowd gasped. The clapping started a beat later. There was a one second delay as everyone realized what happened.
Boone’s chair scraped against the floor as he stood up.
“That could’ve played out for another hour, but man, I haven’t seen something like that since Tilly Wade launched herself across the table at Harry Hubbard’s.” Kate laughed. “Harry never walked the same again.”
Jake grinned from ear to ear as his money was collected. He moved to the winner’s table. Dani twisted around, looking, and she saw the back of Boone as he was going up the stairs. Her stomach knotted again. She didn’t want to have this talk, but it was time. She headed after him, pushing her way up the stairs.
Boone was leaving the kitchen. She headed after him, following him all the way until he turned down an empty hallway.
“Boone.”
He paused.
“Can we talk?”
He had no reaction. He didn’t look surprised, as he stated, “The back porch was empty earlier.”
The crowd’s rumble faded to a soothing murmur in the background as Boone led the way out there. He didn’t open the door for Dani. He went in and crossed to the far side, sat down on a couch there. He hunched over, just slightly, sliding his hands in his pockets.
She closed the door behind her, but didn’t move farther into the room.
The windows were closed over the screens, but it was still cold. The furniture was bare. A table was pushed against a wall. A pile of chips, soda cans, and cookies were on it.
Dani had to move closer, or she wouldn’t be able to hear anything. The rain was almost deafening.
“You left that game. You knew what Jake had, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Why’d I leave the game?”
“Yeah.” He was being difficult. “You walked. Why?”
Boone shook his head, rubbing a hand over his tired face. “Because I remembered why I came to this party. It wasn’t for poker.”
She knew. Her throat grew thick. “Why’d you come?” she asked anyway.
“It really pisses me off that you’re here. It pisses me off that my brother still thinks he can order me around. And it pisses me off that I couldn’t not come tonight.” He pushed forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He gazed down at the floor. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to start this. I was so angry when I found out that you lived here.” Boone took in a ragged breath. “I came here to get over you, but I can’t do that because I’m so fucking angry at you.”
Dani expelled a similar sounding ragged breath. “I’m sorry I left you the way I did. I shouldn’t have done that. There shouldn’t have been a note. I should’ve been honest when you proposed, and I should’ve ended things that night. I snuck out. I’m truly sorry that I did that.”
He regarded her with stricken eyes. Pure agony flared over him but he turned away again. “I still love you. And that’s the kicker. I will probably love you for a long, long time.” His jaw clenched. “I didn’t know what to do after you left, so I went home. Drew’s been trying to get me back into the business. I used to be the head hunter for them. It’s somewhat ironic that they pulled in Bannon’s father considering,” he glanced to the door, “everything.”
“You were a head hunter?”
She had a type. Apparently.
“If my family has a problem sealing a deal, they used to call me in. I assess what the problem is, and I deal with it.” The side of his mouth lifted in a twisted half-smile. “Everything was fine until I dug too deep on a job. I fell for ‘the problem’s’ daughter. I was done after that. Drew kicked me out, said I needed to go on a sabbatical and clear my head. I was supposed to figure out what made me tick, then come back better than ever.”
Jenny mentioned a girl. “Did you love her? The daughter?”
“No.” His eyes held on to mine, for far too long. “I fell in love with you. She just opened my eyes to what else was going on. I looked around, took surveillance, and realized I didn’t like what side I was on.”
Dani had no response to that. She looked down to the ground.
The door opened. Conversation, yelling, and music filled the room suddenly. Bubba walked onto the porch, then stopped. “Oh.” He blinked in surprise. “Sorry.”
“Did you come for more of these?” Dani grabbed some soda and chips. She held them out for him.
“Thanks.” He took them, then smirked. “Fancy Nancy.”
Dani rolled her eyes, but waited until Bubba shut the door behind him. “I’m sorry for what I did.”
“You ripped my heart out.”
“Boone.” She looked down at the table, pulling her hands to her lap. She hunched over.
“You looked like you were drowning after the storm, and I thought I was giving you a future. I didn’t know that I was handing you a nightmare instead.”