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Nineteen
Crow
It was hard to believe I was happy just a few hours ago.
My son was living under my roof with his pregnant wife, and I got to see him every day. He was stuck in bed, but I still got to spend lots of time with him. We watched sports, had every meal together, and had conversations deep into the night. I also got to know Sapphire better, and of course, I grew to love my new daughter even more.
My family had avoided death, and I lived every day with gratitude in my heart.
Gratitude for the man who had saved all of us.
Then he pounded on my door and told me off.
Now I sat on the black leather couch in my study, a bottle of aged scotch on the table along with two glasses. The fireplace hadn’t been used in months because we were in the hottest part of summer. The curtains were open because the sun was about to set. The gentle light reached the inside of my study, and in a few minutes, I would have to flip on the lights because it was getting too dark.
Button sat across from me, her legs crossed and her lips pressed tightly together. She was having a glass of scotch with me, something she rarely did. When we first met, she didn’t drink much, but soon she adapted the Italian ways and drank five glasses of wine every day—at a minimum. But she’d never been a big scotch drinker.
I’d told her everything, every word Griffin said to me.
I mean, yelled at me.
Button had her hair pulled over one shoulder, her beautiful brown locks still vibrant in color despite her age. Her face was still gorgeous, despite the gentle crow’s-feet in the corners of her eyes and mouth. I saw my daughter when I looked at her, along with my son. Her body still had the signs of childbirth, old scars. But those scars aroused me because she’d given birth to my children. Her body did exceptional things to produce new life. She’d always been a warrior, and becoming a mother was a different way of being a warrior.
She stared at the cold fireplace for a while before her eyes settled on me.
I’d been looking at her the entire time, her face always giving me a sense of peace. She was the light to my darkness, the hope in my despair. But this time, her qualities couldn’t cure the anger sitting in the pit of my stomach.
Button finally said something. “What are you going to do?”
“There’s nothing I can do.” I grabbed the glass and took a drink, finishing off the scotch before I refilled it. “He meant what he said. It’s done.” Just when I thought peace had been established between our two families, I realized I was wrong. The past wasn’t buried. The resentment and anger still hovered just under the surface. “I guess Vanessa told him about Antonio…and he didn’t like what he heard.”
“Can you really blame him?” she asked. “I never met him, but Conway told me he’s a nice young man. Fully approved of him. You liked him too. Vanessa obviously did as well. If they had more time together…maybe that’s who she would have married.”
“And he blames me for that.” I stared into my glass, looking at the various amber colors within the liquid. “The only way to move forward is for me to apologize…but that’s something I can’t do.” It wasn’t because of my pride or stubbornness. I had been protecting my daughter—and I would never apologize for that. “I had every right to do what I did. Any other father would have done the same. So that’s not an option. Even if it buried the hatchet, I still wouldn’t do it.”
She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at me. “I understand. But let’s not forget what this man did for us. He saved our son. He saved you. He saved Cane and Sapphire. We owe this man everything.”
I would never forget what he did. It wasn’t something I would ever sweep under the rug. “I’ll never apologize for something without meaning it. I did apologize to him for the way I treated him, for my cruelty. But I won’t apologize for doing the right thing for my daughter. I won’t take back what I said, what I did.”
“I don’t think an apology would make a difference anyway. It doesn’t change the past.”
“Then what the hell does he want?” I took another drink and slammed the glass onto the table. The only thing he wanted was my daughter, and I gave it to him. Despite the way he lit into me, I wouldn’t interfere with his relationship with my daughter. I would tolerate him because I was indebted to him for the rest of my life. It was a small price to pay for what he did for me, saving my only son’s life.
