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But I couldn’t accept the man she loved.
Stubbornness was in my blood, but that wasn’t the only reason I didn’t accept Griffin.
I hated him.
I hated him so much I almost pulled the trigger. I fantasized about his blood staining the furniture in my office. I pictured the way his eyes would become lifeless once his heart stopped beating. I would give anything to go back in time and kill him before he ever met my daughter.
She deserved better.
She deserved the best.
It killed me to watch her push me away, the man she used to come to for help. But now, she’d turned her back on me, could barely look me in the eye because she was so angry. It broke my heart, to watch my daughter suffer and hate me at the same time.
But I still wouldn’t change my mind.
I loved being a father to my two wonderful kids. But this was one of the rare times when it was almost too difficult to bear. She might not understand right now, but I really was doing the best thing for her. She would find the right man to marry, and she would be grateful it wasn’t that piece of trash.
When I returned to the house, I didn’t tell Button I was home and headed straight to my study on the third floor. It was one of those rare times when I didn’t want my wife to console me. I preferred a large glass of aged scotch.
I sat behind my desk, the amber liquid the only company I wanted at that moment. I was an ugly man, bitter and angry. There was so much hatred inside me I didn’t know what to do with it. I contemplated hunting Bones down and killing him anyway. I told him to leave my daughter alone and he listened to me, but I wanted to bury him in the ground anyway.
I hated how much pain my daughter was in.
I hated how thin she looked. I hated the blank expression in her eyes. I hated the way life’s vigor had been sucked from her body and now she was empty like everyone else in the world.
I’d been watching her for weeks. I watched her make a home in the apartment above the gallery. With pride in my chest, I watched my daughter figure out the wiring in the ceiling to install two chandeliers. I watched her remodel the place entirely on her own, looking up tutorial videos and buying the tools she needed to get the job done. She never asked anyone for help, not even me. Even when she lost the man she loved, she remained independent and strong, knowing she was capable of starting over on her own.
One day, my body would fail me, and I would be buried in the Italian soil beside my parents and sister in the cemetery. Button would be alright because she would have all my wealth to take care of her. She would also have my brother and our son to look after her. But once she was gone, my kids would be on their own.
I needed to know they would be okay.
Vanessa was smart and independent and resourceful. She never gave up, even if the odds were stacked against her. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, to be a strong woman who didn’t care if she seemed bossy. She was capable of taking care of herself. But that wasn’t enough for me.
I wanted to know there was a man taking care of her.
I wanted to know he would protect her with his life, provide for her so she could paint for the rest of her life, and he was powerful enough to intimidate anyone from crossing her. I wanted this man to love her as much as I did, to love her the way I loved my wife.
That wasn’t Bones.
That man forced my daughter to please him in exchange for not killing her family.
When my hand started to shake with rage, I picked up the glass and threw it across the room. It shattered against the stone fireplace, flying into shards that sprinkled the rug and hardwood floor.
I should kill him.
I should hunt him down with Cane and slice his throat.
I shouldn’t have let him walk out of my office without any broken bones.
Footsteps sounded a moment later, and Button stepped inside. In a long blue dress with her hair in a braid over one shoulder, she looked more beautiful than royalty. With fatigue in her eyes from working at the winery all day and not a drop of makeup, she was still a gorgeous woman. Time had changed her appearance, but it couldn’t touch her beauty.
She was just as stunning to me as the day I married her.
She shut the door behind her then regarded me with concerned eyes. With fair skin and blue eyes, she was a dream. Her arms crossed over her chest, and she slowly approached the desk.
