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Jana sniffled again. “You. I mean, my dad told your dad to keep you away from me.”
The breath left Knox’s chest. “Because…” He was pretty sure he knew the reason, but he needed to hear it confirmed. He needed to know exactly what he was dealing with here.
“Your reputation,” Jana said. “You know how parents can be. Things are so extreme for them.”
Knox rubbed a hand over his face. His past continued to rear its ugly head. And the stuff that happened in high school was just teenage drama, but still… “I wish my dad would have told me. I don’t know why he didn’t.” Did his mom know? Did Holt?
“It’s in the past, Knox,” Jana said. “And it should be water under the bridge, but apparently, my dad still has strong feelings.”
“I’ll say…”
“There’s more.”
Knox closed his eyes, his heart hammering.
“I told him we’re dating.”
He exhaled. “Good.”
She was crying again.
“Jana?”
When she didn’t answer, he said, “Where are you? I can come to wherever you are. I hate that you’re feeling like this. You know your dad’s actions are his, not yours.”
She seemed more calm when she spoke. “I told him to cancel the grant request. He has the power to do it, but he told me he would on one condition.”
Knox knew it was coming before she continued. “Please tell me you didn’t.”
“I did,” Jana whispered. “I told him I’d break things off with you if he’d break things off on his end.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. “I don’t care about the grant, Jana. You’re more important. Holt and I will find another solution.”
“Don’t you see, Knox?” Jana said. “I can’t be the cause of your family’s livelihood being compromised. I already promised my dad, so I think it’s best for everyone and everything to call us quits. It was probably too good to be true, anyway. We can’t go back and pretend nothing happened.”
“I’m not trying to pretend nothing happened during those years we didn’t speak,” Knox said, his shock and disbelief turning to anger and desperation. “And things aren’t too good to be true. They’re real, Jana.” He took a steadying breath. “At least on my end. I’m not dating you for a fling. I’m all in, sweetheart, and I’ll do whatever it takes to prove that to you.”
“I don’t need proof,” Jana said. “I know you believe we can make it through all of this, but our fathers apparently hate each other. I just found all of this out, and I’m reeling over it, but I can see one thing clearly.”
Knox wanted to break something. Punch a hole through the hotel wall. Anything that would stop the pain of his heart tearing in half.
“Knox, I’m really sorry,” she said softly. “I do care for you, and maybe there was a tiny chance things would work out between us, and we’d survive the weight of our pasts, but—”
“You mean the weight of my past,” Knox said. “Your dad wanted me to stay away from you back then, and he still wants that now. Why is he the one who gets his way? What about you, what about me? It’s our lives now, not his.”
“We’re talking about your family’s livelihood, Knox,” she said in a near whisper. “I can’t have this on my conscience. If I don’t agree to my dad’s demands, then what do you think our future will be? Full of fighting and guilt. That’s no way to have a relationship. You should know.”
She’d just described his marriage to Macie, and they both knew it.
Knox’s throat hurt, and his eyes burned. “Jana… I love you. Does that count for anything?”
A heartbeat passed, then two.
“I love you, too, Knox,” she whispered. “But this has to be goodbye.”
