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“No.” Daniel shook his head. “You couldn’t even protect her from yourself.”
That hit home. There was a truth to it that Michael didn’t want to acknowledge. “We couldn’t help falling in love.”
“Of course you could. Love is a choice, not an impulse. And sometimes love means making the hardest choices. If you don’t walk away, I will.”
“What?”
“She’s my daughter. I love her and Scott more than I’ve ever loved anything in my life. But I can’t watch you ruin her life. You’ll never be welcome in my home, ever. You think Grace will be able to deal with that?”
“You’ll make her choose?” Michael asked, his voice thick.
“No. You’re the one making her choose.”
There it was again, that tightness that made him feel like he was suffocating. He inhaled sharply, and it hurt all the more.
“I never want to hurt her,” he said again. But the fight in him was fading. He’d hurt women before. More than one.
“But you already have,” Daniel told him.
And yeah, he had. She was so upset when Daniel had found them and it had been his fault. He’d hurt Grace and he’d hurt his mom and he’d hurt Lainey. His personal life had never been anything but a shitshow.
And he could tell from Daniel’s eyes that the pain was in him, too.
“Daniel?” Mia said softly. Michael turned to see her standing in the doorway. “What’s going on?”
Daniel’s face softened as soon as he saw her. “I just needed to talk to Michael.”
“About Grace?”
That made Daniel wince. “Yeah, about her.”
“And is everything okay now?” she asked him. “Is everything all right?”
“I don’t know? Is it?” He looked Michael straight in the eye.
Michael nodded. He knew what he had to do.
“Everything’s okay then,” Daniel said.
“Good.” His mom beamed at them both, not understanding what was happening. “I’m so happy to hear that.”
ChapterTwenty-Seven
It was almostmidnight by the time Grace got back to her house. She’d spent a couple of hours with her mom, talking about Michael and her dad’s reaction, and her mom had promised her things would get better.
“I’ll talk to him,” her mom had promised, and she’d left with a lighter heart. She’d tried to return Michael’s call when she got home, but this time he was the one not answering. Instead, she’d tapped out a message to him, telling him to come over whenever he was ready.
Because she didn’t want to sleep alone tonight.
She wanted to curl up in his arms. Remind herself why they were putting themselves through this pain. Why he’d gone to London to close up his old life so they could be together.
As soon as she heard the car in her driveway, she relaxed. A smile pulled at her lips as she watched him climb out of the driver’s seat and look up at the house. It wavered a little as she saw his expression.
He looked exhausted. He hadn’t slept since he left London yesterday. She wanted to bundle him up and carry him to bed.
She probably would’ve if he didn’t weigh sixty pounds more than her.
She opened the door before he knocked, pulling it wide so he could step inside.
