Dreams (Part One) (Dreams #1)(40)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

Then she heard the screen door slam with sickening fury and Diana’s relief turned to dread. The last thing she needed right now was Colby’s anger.

Sensing genuine rage, Specter changed his familiar growl of protest into something much more serious. But Colby ignored the dog. He came down the hall in three long strides, and his glittering eyes went straight to Diana. His face was a mask of hard fury as he came toward her.

For an instant Diana felt as if she had slipped back into an ancient past to face an implacable male. The warrior’s anger was fully aroused. He would not tolerate her defiance. He would not rest until he had subdued her.

“You couldn’t resist, could you?“ Colby stopped in front of her and hauled her to her feet. “You just could not resist. I told you to stay out of it. He’s my son, goddamn it. My son. And you knew I didn’t want him meeting that old bitch. Damn you, Diana. You had no right to get involved. No right. Who the hell do you think you are?“

It was too much to deal with. Coming on top of the shock she’d had earlier, Colby’s fury was too much. This was always the way it was. When the chips were down, you could depend on no one but yourself. A woman could not afford to rely on a man. Only a fool would believe that any man would be there when you needed him.

“Let me go, Colby.“ Her voice was low and tight. Specter crowded close, teeth showing.

“You deliberately set it up for them to meet, didn’t you? You went behind my back and planned the whole thing.“

“No, Colby, I didn’t plan it. It just happened.“

“The hell it did. It wouldn’t have happened if I’d been there, you can bet on that. Christ, lady, you introduced them. Brandon told me exactly how it worked. You introduced my son to that old she-devil who has totally ignored him for nearly twenty years. I trusted you, damn it. I thought you were on my side. It never occurred to me you’d go behind my back like this.“

Diana strove to keep her face expressionless. His hands were like steel clamps on her arms. She looked up at him and knew that it was hopeless. “I’m sorry, Colby.“

“Sure you are,“ he bit out scathingly. “I’ll tell you who’s sorry. I’m the one who’s sorry. Sorry for trusting you.

Sorry for believing you were different from other women. I was a fool, but it was my son who paid the price of my damned idiocy.“ He released her with an angry gesture and stalked to the window. “I don’t know what the hell made me think I could trust you just because you’re good in bed.“

Diana wrapped her arms around herself, withdrawing from Colby’s anger and the insult he’d offered. Specter huddled closer, whining softly. His massive body was a source of comfort m the storm. She could feel the tension in him. It occurred to her that Specter was the one male on earth she could rely upon.

“He bought her a cup of coffee. Can you believe it?“ Colby slammed the palm of his hand against the windowsill.

“He bought Margaret Fulbrook a cup of coffee and sat there talking to her while you blithely went grocery shopping.“

“Colby…“

“I heard she sicced that stupid ox, Harry, on the two of you. Tell me, what would you have done if that creep had taken a swing at my son? How would you have felt then?“

“Brandon handled him very well. There was no fight.“

“No thanks to you. You must have thought you were being so damned clever.“ Colby raked his hand through his hair in his characteristic gesture.

“You’ve said enough, Colby.“

Her low, cold, utterly formal tone seemed to get through to him. His head came around swiftly and he gave her a seething look.

“What don’t you want to hear?“ he asked far too softly. “That you’re so accustomed to playing lady executive that you can’t resist the opportunity to power-trip in someone else’s life? That you think you’re smarter than anyone else? That you’re better equipped than others to make the kind of decisions that will affect people for years to come?“

“Colby, I said that’s enough. I get the point. I think it’s time you left.“ It took every ounce of her self-control to hold herself in check. She wanted to cry – to scream abuse at him for not being there for her when she needed him. But if she had learned anything in the business world, it was how to control her outward emotions around a man.

“I’ve got a lot more to say to you, lady.“

She closed her eyes, clutching herself more tightly, holding herself together as she had always held herself together in front of others. “You probably do, but I’d rather not hear it. Now will you please go away, Colby? You’ve told me what you thought of me. I swear I won’t get involved with you or Brandon again. You have my word of honor.“

“What the hell is your word of honor worth?“

Diana opened her eyes and looked straight into his smoky gaze. “Believe me, Colby, in this case, you may rely on it completely. If you like, I’ll give you a money-back guarantee that I won’t see either you or your son again. Now will you leave?“

Specter reinforced the quiet command with a rumbling growl. He stood braced at Diana’s feet.

“Yeah, I’ll leave, Diana.“ Colby started past her toward the door. “You’ve done enough damage. No point hanging around to see what other tricks you’ve got up your sleeve.“

He slammed the screen door more loudly on the way out than he had on the way in.

“He didn’t even notice the hall table,“ Diana observed to her dog. Then she sank back down onto the sofa and let the pent-up tears flow.

The most frustrating thing had been watching her withdraw into herself. She had reacted to him as if he had been some wild, dangerous force of nature. She had battened down the hatches, erected the barriers that would keep her safe and secure and then stood there and let him rage.

She had handled him the way she probably handled every other male in her life. She had retreated behind that cool, collected, untouchable facade and waited for him to do his worst.

He realized he had wanted her to react somehow. He wished she had cried, or shouted, or pounded on him with her small fists. Anything would have been preferable to that cool retreat.

He’d been angry and she was to blame. Colby had wanted a fight, and she had refused to enter the lists. That riled him as much as the original reason for his anger.

Colby snapped the Jeep around the last hairpin turn in River Road and then slowed the vehicle and turned into the parking area below Chained Lady Falls. He switched off the ignition with a violent twist and then sat, arms braced on the wheel, staring at the foaming water pouring down the cliff.