My father looked at the table as he gathered his bearings. After a deep sigh, his shoulders sagged, and he looked at me again. “You’re absolutely right, princess. It is my fault. I shouldn’t have been so arrogant. I should have been more cautious. Now I’m leaving you with nothing… It’s terrible.”
Hearing his admission didn’t make me feel better. It didn’t give me any satisfaction to be validated. The pain was exactly the same.
“I’d do anything to take it all back…”
I knew he would. My father had made a mistake, but he wasn’t evil. “I know…”
“I wish this wasn’t happening. I wish you weren’t marrying a man you don’t love. I wish for a lot of things…but wishing doesn’t get you anywhere.”
No, it doesn’t.
“But Maverick is a powerful and honorable man. He’ll keep you safe.”
I wasn’t looking for a man for security. I was looking for a man for love.
He saw the disappointment in my eyes. “I understand if you hate me.”
His actions were enough to garner that reaction, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel that way. “I don’t. I never could.”
His hand moved on top of mine, like that meant the world to him. “Princess, there’s something I have to tell you…”
My eyes lifted to meet his. So much terrible news had been dumped on my plate already. Could there possibly be more? Why couldn’t the universe give me a break? Why couldn’t life be fair…the way it used to be.
He squeezed my hand as he took a deep breath, wincing like his words were painful before they even came out of his mouth. “I have cancer…and I don’t have much time.”
8
Arwen
Just when I hit rock bottom, I fell a little further.
Now everything was numb, ice-cold, and fragile. My fingers were frozen to the bone, my heart stopped beating with the same vitality, and my legs weren’t strong enough to hold my weight. The idea of marrying Maverick killed me…but this was so much worse.
So much fucking worse.
I couldn’t show my tears, not when my father was the one who had to die. My job was to be there for him, to help him through this difficult time and make him as comfortable as possible. He only had weeks left, so I put aside our issues and was the daughter he needed.
I stayed at the house, cooked all of his meals, watched TV with him, and helped him with anything he needed. We watched his favorite movies, looked through old photographs, and tried to remember happier times.
But when he was asleep, I let myself cry.
Let myself sob into my darkest night.
I sat at the dining table with a cup of hot tea in front of me, watching my tears splash into the steam. When my father left this world, I would be the last of my line, the last of my kind. With no brothers or sisters, I was completely alone in this world.
Maverick would be my only family…by name.
I still didn’t want to marry him, but my father’s demise made me understand how alone I truly was. He wouldn’t be there for advice. He wouldn’t be there for guidance. I would be completely on my own—with vultures following me.
Perhaps Maverick was my savior after all.
My phone rang, and Dante’s name popped up on the screen.
I answered it, tears audible in my voice. “Hey…”
He sighed when he heard my sadness. “I’m so sorry…”
“I know.” I wiped my tears with the back of my thumb and willed myself to stop crying. Crying wouldn’t change anything—but I was so devastated.
“Is there anything I can do?” His deep voice came over the line, carrying the weight of his sorrow.
“No. But I’m going to stay with him until…it’s time.”
“I understand. If there’s anything I can do, just let me know.”
“Okay…” I stared into the hot tea in front of me, wishing this were a nightmare I would wake up from. I wished this were just a bump in the road. But the harsh truth was my reality…and it was unbearable.
“So, it’s still happening on Saturday?”
“Yeah…” I really had no choice now. There was no going back…but there was nowhere for me to go. Dante certainly couldn’t keep me safe. He would be murdered with me. “You told me how you feel about it, so I understand if you want to stop seeing each other…” The last thing I needed was to lose the only comfort that I had, but I knew he couldn’t fix this for me. No one could.
“No…I’m not ready for that.”
“Good.” I needed a man to get through the dark nights I was about to face. “Me neither.”
When I opened the large mahogany door, I looked up into the face of Maverick.
With his dark hair, coffee-colored eyes, and the shadow of hair along his structured jawline, he stared at me with that stony expression, as if he had no grasp of what a smile was. The bright sunshine of the summer behind him brought a darkness over the front of his body, matching the dark blazer he wore and his dark jeans.