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Tye looks up at me, waiting for my approval before she decides. I nod and the smile she gives me is proof that I'm screwed, because I'll do whatever it takes to put that smile on her face all the goddamn time.
"Yeah, definitely," she answers.
Grace and Tyeler start walking into the house, talking about all the things they've missed since she left. I go to follow them when Vincent stops me.
"Can I just have a word with you for a minute?" he asks.
I nod and stand back, waiting for the women to disappear inside. Once they're gone he turns to face me.
"I just want to apologize, on behalf of my daughter and myself," he says, shocking the hell out of me. "No man deserves to be lied to about a pregnancy or tricked into an engagement, and I get the feeling that's not all she did to you. That's not the way I raised her, and that's not the woman I wanted her to be, so I'm sorry for that."
"Davianna was sick," I tell him. "I know that now. It's not that she was a bad person. Mental illness is as dangerous as any other kind. I've learned a lot about that lately."
He looks down at the ground for a second. "I heard about Jace. I would appreciate it if you would extend our apologies to him. It was never our intention to send an innocent man to prison."
"I'll let him know."
"I appreciate it," he replies. "Please take care of Tyeler. She's the only daughter I have left, and that girl has been through enough in her life. There's only so much a person can take."
As I go to answer him, my eyes catch sight of Tye herself standing in the doorway. She's watching me and Vincent intently. When I smile at her, she steps outside.
Without looking away, I answer. "I think she could take on anything, but you don't have to worry about me. I'd scorch the earth just to keep her safe."
He glances back and sees her smiling at me. "I don't doubt that for a second."
DINNER GOES BETTER THANI ever thought it would. Seeing Tye around the family she chose rather than the shitty people she was given is mesmerizing. She's constantly laughing and smiling, reminiscing about the past like memory lane is a place she likes to be instead of running away from everything in the rearview mirror.
When we climb into her bed that night, opting to sleep there instead of returning to the hotel, she rests her head on my chest. I press a kiss to her hair and feel the way she smiles.
"Can I ask you something?"
She picks her head up and looks at me. "Sure."
"What rehabs were your mom talking about?" I ask.
Sighing, she lays back down and runs her finger over the lines of my abs. "After Davi died, I didn't really know how to function. I mean, the most important person in my life was just gone. I guess they were afraid I was going to do something to hurt myself, so after six months or so, they kept putting me in mental health rehabilitation centers. They didn’t help much. I’d get kicked out for fighting someone or intentionally breaking the rules. They kept trying, though.”
"Were you going to?" I question carefully. "Hurt yourself, I mean."
She goes quiet for a moment before answering. "Probably. I don't think I was ever at that point, but I would've ended up there."
I hold her tighter. Just the thought of her not being here anymore shakes me to my core. I don't think I ever want to live in a world that she's not in.
"So that's where you were between Davi’s death and Jace’s trial?"
She snorts. "How'd you know that I wasn’t just at school?"
Fuck. "I may have had Wyatt look into you, just a bit."
"You're such a creep," she teases.
Just like that, we're back to messing around and laughing with each other. And the part that matters most is she's happy. Truly and genuinely happy.
MIAMI CORRECTIONAL IS NOTa toddler's playground. As we stand outside the barbed wire fences, Tye stares at the building with nothing but pure determination in her eyes. Coming here was entirely her idea, and I wasn't about to tell her no. I've seen what she looks like when she doesn't get her way.
The check-in process is a time-consuming pain in the ass, but after jumping through hoops, the two of us sit down at a table and wait. She doesn't look nervous or like she's doubting her decision at all, and that alone makes me proud of her.
When the door opens, a guard leads in Tye's father. He's handcuffed to a belt around his waist and his ankles are shackled together for safety precautions. The second he notices Tye, his eyes widen.
