wise woman, my grandmother. If she’d still been around when I got pregnant with Matt, everything would have been different.”
Dylan straddled the bench beside her, facing her head-on and studying every line of her pretty face. “What did your grandmother used to say?”
Penny breathed in deep, then let it go. “She said, ‘A man might hit me once … but he’ll never hit me twice.’”
He’d suspected before this—from her reaction to seeing Matt fight, among other things—but to know beyond a shadow of a doubt. Dylan swallowed down bile. “Your ex-husband,” he grated out. “That’s why you left him. He hit you.”
Giving him her profile, Penny gazed out at the garden. “A man might hit me once, but he’ll never hit me twice. Because I won’t stick around to give him the chance.”
“No second chances,” Dylan said, another puzzle piece clicking into place.
“It’s a clean way to live.” Penny touched her fingertips to the drowsy, bobbing head of a full-blown red rose on the nearest bush. “If you lie, you’re a liar. If you cheat, you’re a cheater. And if you raise a hand to your wife…”
“You’re an abusive asshole who ought to be put down like a rabid dog,” Dylan snarled.
“No second chances.” Penny murmured it like a mantra, and beneath his anger at her jackass ex, Dylan was aware of a yawning chasm of despair opening up in his chest.
All along, in the back of Dylan’s mind, he’d taken it for granted that if and when he ever came clean to Penny about who he really was, she’d be okay with it. It wasn’t as if he was hiding a wife in the attic or something—he was hiding the fact that he was a billionaire! Who’d be mad about that?
Okay, yes, he was also hiding the fact that up until he came to Sanctuary Island, he’d been a shallow, directionless playboy who’d done nothing with his life beyond partying and cultivating a bad reputation. But the billionaire thing was bound to be a plus, right?
Except sitting here now, looking at this woman who’d pulled herself out of hell and left it behind without a backward glance, Dylan wasn’t so sure.
If you lie, you’re a liar …
When Penny found out the truth, she was never going to trust him again.
But that was the future. Right here in the present, Penny had trusted him with a terrible piece of her personal history. And Dylan Harrington, who’d never had a conversation with a woman he dated about anything more serious than where to go for drinks after dinner, was damn well going to get this right.
For Penny.
“Thank you for telling me,” he said. “I know how much easier it is to shove everything down into the dark, to try and forget about it.”
Sympathy washed over her pretty face. “You get it. That’s part of what gave me the courage to open up to you. The other part, of course, was to explain that when I walked out of the Firefly and saw you with your hand raised to my child…”
“It triggered all these feelings,” Dylan realized aloud. “Of course, that makes perfect sense.”
“Once memories like these come to the surface, it’s hard to sink them deep again,” Penny said, fiddling with the hem of her simple sundress. “But I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. You were only trying to help Matt. I’m sorry.”
The yellow cotton was bright and happy against her lightly tanned skin. When she ducked her head and smiled up at him from beneath her dark lashes, Penny was like a beam of sunlight come to life.
Licking lips gone suddenly dry, Dylan swallowed down the surge of wrongness at Penny being the one to apologize to him. “I shouldn’t have assumed you’d be okay with Matt learning to fight. And, geez, I hope I didn’t trigger any bad memories for him, too.”
“Oh.” Penny’s smile faded. “About that. Actually, it would be best if you didn’t mention this conversation to Matt.”
Confused, Dylan cocked his head. “Why?”
“He doesn’t know about what happened with
Dylan straddled the bench beside her, facing her head-on and studying every line of her pretty face. “What did your grandmother used to say?”
Penny breathed in deep, then let it go. “She said, ‘A man might hit me once … but he’ll never hit me twice.’”
He’d suspected before this—from her reaction to seeing Matt fight, among other things—but to know beyond a shadow of a doubt. Dylan swallowed down bile. “Your ex-husband,” he grated out. “That’s why you left him. He hit you.”
Giving him her profile, Penny gazed out at the garden. “A man might hit me once, but he’ll never hit me twice. Because I won’t stick around to give him the chance.”
“No second chances,” Dylan said, another puzzle piece clicking into place.
“It’s a clean way to live.” Penny touched her fingertips to the drowsy, bobbing head of a full-blown red rose on the nearest bush. “If you lie, you’re a liar. If you cheat, you’re a cheater. And if you raise a hand to your wife…”
“You’re an abusive asshole who ought to be put down like a rabid dog,” Dylan snarled.
“No second chances.” Penny murmured it like a mantra, and beneath his anger at her jackass ex, Dylan was aware of a yawning chasm of despair opening up in his chest.
All along, in the back of Dylan’s mind, he’d taken it for granted that if and when he ever came clean to Penny about who he really was, she’d be okay with it. It wasn’t as if he was hiding a wife in the attic or something—he was hiding the fact that he was a billionaire! Who’d be mad about that?
Okay, yes, he was also hiding the fact that up until he came to Sanctuary Island, he’d been a shallow, directionless playboy who’d done nothing with his life beyond partying and cultivating a bad reputation. But the billionaire thing was bound to be a plus, right?
Except sitting here now, looking at this woman who’d pulled herself out of hell and left it behind without a backward glance, Dylan wasn’t so sure.
If you lie, you’re a liar …
When Penny found out the truth, she was never going to trust him again.
But that was the future. Right here in the present, Penny had trusted him with a terrible piece of her personal history. And Dylan Harrington, who’d never had a conversation with a woman he dated about anything more serious than where to go for drinks after dinner, was damn well going to get this right.
For Penny.
“Thank you for telling me,” he said. “I know how much easier it is to shove everything down into the dark, to try and forget about it.”
Sympathy washed over her pretty face. “You get it. That’s part of what gave me the courage to open up to you. The other part, of course, was to explain that when I walked out of the Firefly and saw you with your hand raised to my child…”
“It triggered all these feelings,” Dylan realized aloud. “Of course, that makes perfect sense.”
“Once memories like these come to the surface, it’s hard to sink them deep again,” Penny said, fiddling with the hem of her simple sundress. “But I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. You were only trying to help Matt. I’m sorry.”
The yellow cotton was bright and happy against her lightly tanned skin. When she ducked her head and smiled up at him from beneath her dark lashes, Penny was like a beam of sunlight come to life.
Licking lips gone suddenly dry, Dylan swallowed down the surge of wrongness at Penny being the one to apologize to him. “I shouldn’t have assumed you’d be okay with Matt learning to fight. And, geez, I hope I didn’t trigger any bad memories for him, too.”
“Oh.” Penny’s smile faded. “About that. Actually, it would be best if you didn’t mention this conversation to Matt.”
Confused, Dylan cocked his head. “Why?”
“He doesn’t know about what happened with
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