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I didn’t pick it up, choosing to watch him in my periphery. The time I spent with Crow taught me a lot about him, about the way he thought, about the man he was behind the information I’d gathered about him. I’d dug up every piece of information I could, but I never uncovered the depth of his feelings for his family.
For his daughter.
Conflicted, he couldn’t stop hating me, but he also couldn’t order Vanessa to stop seeing me. Every time he took a step forward, he took another step back. His love and hate balanced him out, bringing him to a painful stalemate.
I respected him for the way he loved Vanessa, for the way he wore his heart on his sleeve whenever he was around her. He wasn’t afraid to show weakness, absolutely unashamed to love with all his heart. That was a sign of a truly powerful man, of someone so invincible that perceived weaknesses didn’t make him weak at all. “Tell me what to do.”
He stared straight ahead.
“Tell me what you want from me. I’ll do it.”
He rested his fingertips against his lips. “Disappear.”
I didn’t feel the pain from his insult, even though he meant the word with every fiber of his being. “If I disappear, Vanessa will suffer.”
“Yes. But she won’t suffer forever.”
“But she’ll never find a man who will make her forget about me. You don’t see it, but what we have is real. I can hear her when she doesn’t speak. I can feel her pain as if it’s my own. Loving her is like having my heart exist outside my body. She’s taken everything from me, and I’ve willingly given her everything she’s asked for. Give me a chance to love, protect, and honor your daughter. I’m not the kind of man to ask for acceptance or approval. If someone doesn’t like me, I don’t give a damn. You’re the last man I thought I would ever work so hard to prove myself to. But here I am, practically on my knees, doing whatever it takes to make this work. Because I will take whatever insult you throw my way so I can have Vanessa. If you want to beat me to within an inch of my life, fine. If you want to shoot me, go ahead. Whatever you want, I’ll do it.”
“My hatred for you goes behind the flesh, Bones.”
“Then hurt me in some other way. I don’t care.”
“The best way to accomplish that is to take my daughter away from you…and I’m very tempted.”
“That wouldn’t hurt me,” I whispered. “That would kill me.”
He finally turned my way, his green eyes boring into mine.
“Don’t question my love for her. You have every right to hate me. I would judge you if you didn’t. But my love for her is genuine. I don’t want her for any other reason. Women are plentiful to me, whether I pay for them or find them in a bar. Vanessa gives me something no other woman ever has. She gives me something I can’t live without. I would do right by her, always be faithful to her, and make her a very rich woman.”
He stared into his full glass again. “I’m not blind to the fact that my daughter is beautiful, smart, and full of so much life that she’s a beacon that can be seen miles away. You aren’t the only man who would fall madly in love with her. She could have anyone she wanted. It just baffles me that she wants you.”
“I’m not that bad, Crow.”
“Not that bad?” he asked with a scoff. “You’re my worst fucking nightmare.”
“I’m not my father.”
“But you want to be,” he spat.
“Not anymore. I’m Griffin—just Griffin.”
“You told me the terrible things you did to my daughter.”
“And I left out all the good things I’ve done for her.”
He turned on his stool, facing me with his elbow on the bar. With a challenging gaze, he asked, “Then tell me, what have you done for her?”
After every terrible thing I did to her, I made up for it by being the man she could always rely on. I was always there for her, even if she couldn’t see me. “She acts like she doesn’t need someone to take care of her, and for the most part, that’s true. But I know she wants a man who can handle her. That’s me. I always watch her, even when she thinks I’m not looking. She tried to push me away and get rid of me because she despised me, so she went out, drank too much, and walked home alone in the dark.”
Crow’s nostrils flared slightly, and his eyes filled with disappointment.
“Some guys pulled over to the side of the road, did some catcalling, and when she told them to fuck off, they got out of the car to grab her. But I was there, watching her. I stepped out of the shadows and scared the boys away with a simple look. Then I picked her up and carried her the rest of the way home. She’s a smart woman who doesn’t usually put herself in stupid situations like that, but she was so upset with me she wasn’t thinking clearly. But I was there for her. I’m always there for her.”
