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“He says he’s here for me, not you.”
She was about to rise out of her chair but lowered herself instead. “Oh…that’s nice.”
She had no idea that it wasn’t nice at all. He obviously had an agenda. I was about to find out what it was. “I’ll be back in an hour or so. Where will you be?” I wanted to know where my woman was at every moment. She was officially mine, and I wanted her to be safe at all times. I had a beautiful woman to guard—and I took my job very seriously.
“I’ll shower then work at the gallery. I haven’t been open in so long…hopefully, I still have customers.”
With her kind of talent, she could close down for a year, and there would still be business. “You will, baby.”
The walk to the bar was the most awkward five minutes of my life.
We walked side by side, not making small talk. With our eyes glued to our destination, we kept as much space between us as possible. He didn’t want to be any closer to me than he had to be, and that feeling was mutual.
We walked inside the bar and got a booth in the corner. There were only a few customers there at that time of day since it was during a weekday, and lunchtime hadn’t even arrived.
We ordered our drinks, both scotch, and then faced each other.
Crow held my gaze without backing down, but he seemed disgruntled, like he didn’t want to be there at all.
Neither did I. I’d rather be at home with Vanessa, watching her paint in the living room or do the dishes in the kitchen. Everything she did was fascinating to me. When she concentrated on her work, she bit her bottom lip from time to time. Sometimes she would mouth words to a song under her breath, but she wouldn’t actually sing. I always wondered if she sang only when she was alone.
Our drinks arrived, and we both snatched the glasses and got the amber liquid down our throats as quickly as possible. We went straight for the hard liquor, skipping the beer and wine unlike everyone else in that bar.
Silence passed. It seemed to last a lifetime.
I wasn’t sure why he’d dragged me down here if he had nothing to say.
Unintimidated, I held his gaze and waited, refusing to speak first. He was the one who disturbed my day. He was the one who pulled me from Vanessa—again. This was the kind of bullshit I would have to deal with for the rest of my life, an overprotective father who wouldn’t back off.
If I didn’t love my baby so damn much…
He finally said something. “You’re right, I’m not going to apologize for the things I’ve done. I won’t apologize for taking my daughter away from you. I’ll never apologize for protecting my little girl…even if she’s not a little girl anymore.”
“Thank you for dragging me all the way down here to tell me that.”
He ignored the sarcastic jab. “I accept your hatred. In your eyes, I’ve earned it. That’s fine with me. I won’t lose any sleep over it.”
“Just as arrogant as ever.”
His eyes narrowed. “As are you.”
I drank from my glass, not denying it.
“We can’t change the past, and I’m sure neither of us wants to change it anyway. My reasons for hating you were valid. Your reasons for hating me are also valid. But I would like to put it behind us and move forward. Since you’re no longer the same man, your past is irrelevant. I’m willing to forget about it because you’ve proven how much you love my daughter. I’ve come to realize we’re very similar. I wasn’t a good man until I met the woman I love…and you have the same story.”
He wanted us to bury the past and start over, but for me, that wasn’t an option. “Look, I’m willing to put on a show for Vanessa because it makes her happy. I’ll live in Florence so she can see you all the time, I’ll come over for family dinners and shake your hand, I’ll give your wife a hug and make small talk with Conway. But let’s leave it at that. Let’s not be in the same room together any longer than that. We’re just wasting time when we would both rather be doing something else.” Maybe he felt guilty about the bullet I took for him. Maybe he felt like he owed me more because of the sacrifice I made. “All I want is Vanessa. Now that I have her, I don’t want anything else. So you don’t need to make this gesture out of obligation. I didn’t save your life for you—I did it for her.” I took another drink, letting the warm liquid fill my stomach.
He swirled his glass slightly before he looked into the liquid. It was the first time he’d dropped his gaze, abruptly ended contact with me. Maybe he felt relieved by what I said. Or maybe he felt something else entirely. “I’m not sitting here out of obligation or guilt. I’m not sitting here for Vanessa. I’m sitting here because I misjudged you, Griffin.” He set his glass down and looked me in the eye again. “I understand you want nothing to do with me, but I want to get to know you. I want a relationship with you.”
