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Drumming his fingers on the bed sheets, he smiled. A real, honest smile. “Zayde. You’re my son, and I want you to be happy. She makes you happy. That’s enough for me.”
My eyes were wide as fuck. Since when? He’d always been about the business, always putting it above pleasure, and he’d always despised the Hydes.
A groan fell from his throat, and he pinched his brow. “I’ve fucked up more than I thought if you’re giving me that look when I tell you that I want you to be happy. Look. I know I’m not very…” He waved his hand in the air, searching for a word, eventually settling on, “Emotional. Whatever you want to call it. I know I don’t have the best work-life balance, but I want you to believe me when I say that you’re more important to me than the business. Even…even if I’m incapable of showing it. And I’m proud of you. I’m not sure if I’ve told you before.”
“Oh.”
He lifted his arm, leaning forwards almost as if he was going to hug me, but seemed to think better of it. “One step at a time,” he muttered. Then he held out his hand to me, and I took it. It was only a quick clasp, but it was firm, and his expression was determined. “We’re going to be busy over the next few weeks. There’s a lot we need to deal with, business-wise. First order of the day—Paul’s working with Arlo to get a statement out to say that we’d been doing some planned demolition work. A few falsified permits, and no one will be any the wiser.”
“Good idea.” We needed to crush any speculation as soon as possible. Creed would’ve taken care of the clean-up by now, but a body was much easier to hide than a giant fucking hole in the middle of one of the more prominent buildings in Alstone.
“But that’s neither here nor there,” he continued. “I want you to speak to Fallon and choose an evening or even an afternoon you’d both like to meet with me next week. Perhaps for a meal, or if there’s something else you’d prefer to do, I’m sure we can accommodate it. When you’ve decided,get in touch with my assistant. She’ll make sure my calendar is blocked off. I’d like to get to know the girl that my son has fallen in love with. And I’d like to try making up for some of the time I’ve lost with you.”
Fucking hell, who was this man? Had he hit his head when everything had gone down? I’d thought he only had a minor arm injury. “Is your head okay?”
His brows pulled together. “Yes, why? It was my arm that was injured, and it’s only a hairline fracture. Nothing to be concerned about.”
So he meant it, then. “Never mind. Yeah. I’ll talk to Fallon.” I attempted a smile, and it felt unnatural and strange, but it seemed like he appreciated the effort because he returned it with another small, genuine one of his own.
“See that you do.” He leaned back, closing his eyes. “I should rest now. Go and find your girl. Do something nice with her. Goodness knows you’ve both earned it.”
I climbed to my feet and crossed the room to the exit. “Bye, Dad,” I said softly and closed the door behind me.
THIRTY-ONE
“Hi, Tim.” I crouched down in front of the headstone. “I can’t believe it’s been two years since you’ve been gone. I know you’re at peace now, but I miss you so much. I wanted to officially introduce you to Zayde. I know you’ve met before, but I want to introduce him as my…well, my boyfriend?” Glancing up at Zayde, I caught his gaze, my breath catching in my throat at the soft look he was giving me.
He nodded, his lips curving up into that small, rare smile I loved so much. “Yeah. Your boyfriend.”
I smiled. “I think that if we’d managed to get over this rivalry sooner, you’d like each other. He’s amazing, Tim.” I decided not to mention what had happened with my dad and Joseph, not today. That was all still too raw, too big to come to terms with, and I’d wanted to come here to remember my brother. To celebrate his life. “Do you remember when I was obsessed withTo Kill a Mockingbirdand I carried that book around with me? I never told you, but Zayde gave me the book. I was having a hard time at school, being away from both of you. He sent it to me. It was his most precious possession, and he let me have it.” Tears filled my eyes. “I wish I’d told you then that he was the one to give it to me. I wish I’d taken the time to show you his other side, the side that I got to see.”
“Baby.” Zayde crouched down next to me, brushing my hair back from my face and tucking it behind my ear. “He knows now.”
“I know,” I whispered. “It’s just so hard. It’s been two years, but sometimes it feels like it only happened yesterday.”
“There’s no timeline on grief. There’s no one way you’re supposed to feel. Or that’s what Cade tells Winter when she’s having a tough time, and she tells him and West the same thing. If anyone knows what they’re talking about, it’s those three. You know.”
“You’re right.” Shifting closer to him, I laid my head on his shoulder. “Do you want to say anything to Tim?”
There was a long silence. I drew back from him. “You don’t have to. I promise I won’t be upset. I just thought—”
“No. No. I want to.” Swallowing hard, he inched closer to the headstone, his icy eyes filled with so much pain and regret and sorrow.“I’m so fucking sorry I couldn’t save you,” he said hoarsely, his throat working. “It’s the biggest regret of my life. I’m sorry I let the rivalry escalate so much. None of us were blameless, but Fallon was my girl, and I should’ve tried to smooth things over between us.” His gaze lowered, and he blinked rapidly, and when he opened his eyes again, I saw his inky lashes were wet.Fuck. My heart ached for my beautiful man, who wore a mask to keep his emotions locked up so tightly but felt so, so deeply inside. He cleared his throat. “I want—I want you to know that I’m going to take care of your sister. I’m going to make sure she knows just how special she is every single day for the rest of our lives.”
“Please don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault, Zayde. I’m going to keep telling you that until you believe it.” I threw my arms around him, burying my face in the warm skin of his neck. He sighed against me, his breath ruffling my hair.
“Keep telling me, angel. Please.”
“Always.”
* * *
Back at the Four’s house, we gathered in the lounge. For now, it was just the eight of us. Zayde had asked me what I wanted to do as we were leaving the hospital, and other than going back to see Tim after everything that had happened this morning, I was just craving some normality. I knew that it would be good for him to be with his friends—his family—but I knew that he got drained after a while when he was around too many people. So I’d tentatively suggested that we could see if the rest of the Four wanted to order a takeaway and hang out together. His eyes had lit up at my suggestion, and I immediately knew I’d done the right thing.
“Is anyone having this last piece?” Cassius’ hand hovered over the remaining slice of pepperoni pizza.
“Yeah, me.” Caiden swiped the piece from under him, and his mouth fell open before he retaliated, diving for Caiden and taking a huge bite out of the slice, right out of his hand.
“What the fuck?” Caiden exclaimed, and I couldn’t help it—I started laughing. There was a millisecond of silence, and then everyone else was joining in, even Caiden, who was now mashing the rest of the slice into Cassius’ face while Cassius screeched for Winter to control her boyfriend. There was a levity I hadn’t known existed, like the recent events had brought us all together, and now everyone felt like a sudden weight had been lifted. Everyone was genuinely happy and carefree, and despite everything that had happened today, it was rubbing off on me. I’d be dealing with the fallout for a long time, probably working through it with the help of my therapist and Zayde…and these guys, too, who had accepted me wholeheartedly because they loved Zayde and wanted him to be happy. And to think that I could be someone who could contribute to his happiness…that was a privilege I’d never, ever take for granted.
