Dani bristled a bit, the first emotion she’d displayed beyond anxiety since she’d walked in. “I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”

“It’s my business if you get yourself hurt because of it. And it’s my business if people I love get hurt.”

“Dammit, that is some really sound logic,” Dani grumbled.

Zed slid his arms around her and tucked his face into her hair. “Come on, sweetheart. Tell me.”

“I told you that my grandparents basically raised me at their place in Wisconsin,” she said. “And that my dad is a selfish waste of space who disappears for parts unknown for months or years at a time?”

Zed released her, letting her sit in one of his office chairs while he balanced an asscheek on his desk.

Dani pinched her nose. “Well, dear old dad has disappeared to some ashram in India with a shit-ton of cash in his pocket. Most of that cash came from mortgaging my grandparents’ farm, twice. He took out home equity loans, lines of credit, all without me or my grandfather knowing, all with my grandmother’s cooperation, because she didn’t realize what was going on. Gramma’s dementia was more serious than we thought toward the end. She had developed a lot of little coping mechanisms to hide how bad off she was, pretending she hadn’t heard us correctly when we asked her a question or pretending she’d left her car keys in the freezer as a joke. Journey had figured it out, I’m sure, and if my dad told her she was just signing some papers to give her son a little ‘help,’ I’m sure she would put her initials on anything he handed her.”

“Holy shit.” Zed sat back on his desk. He couldn’t imagine what he would do if his own mother’s livelihood, her home, was threatened. He couldn’t imagine the strain of knowing that his own parent had put someone he loved in danger. And that Dani had been going through this alone, instead of sharing her burdens with him? Hurt blended in to that simmering anger soup, making for a stomach-churning mix.

Dani nodded. “Yep. With the fee I’m earning from this job, combined with my savings, I’ll be able to pay off the debt, keep the creditors at bay.”

“So, knowing what you’ve been worrying over, I can sort of understand why you freaked out at the idea of losing this job,” he offered.

“Thank you.”

“What I don’t get is why you wouldn’t tell me about this so I could lighten the load a little bit for you?” he asked.