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I swallowed hard, not liking the way he was judging me without knowing the first thing that had
happened.
“I realize what it looks like…” I started.
He tilted his head and stared at me, anger rising to the surface.
“You don’t know what the last two years have been like for her, Francesca,” Dad said.
I stiffened at his words, and at his use of ‘Francesca’ instead of ‘Frankie.’
I gritted my teeth, placed the clothes carefully on top of my suitcase so I didn’t lose my shit and throw them at him, then turned carefully so that I was facing him fully.
“I don’t know what it’s been like for her?” I asked calmly.
Too calmly.
He should’ve known better.
“Yes,” he said stiffly.
I took in two calming breaths.
“Let me ask you something,” I said. “Did Cora have someone to fall back on when she was
grieving?”
Dad didn’t say anything.
“Did Gabe? Did Ember?” I pushed.
Still nothing.
“Well, I fucking didn’t,” I snapped. “Because my man was the one that went missing. The man that
I wanted to have babies with was missing. The man that was my confidant. My best friend. The
person that I turned to when I needed something. He. Was. Gone. Gone, Dad. Cora had you. Gabe had
Ember, and Ember had Gabe. But me? Mypersonwas gone. Fucking. Gone.”
Dad opened his mouth to say something, but I talked over him.
“I’ve spent the last two fucking years thinking the love of my life was gone,” I hissed, getting
more and more pissed off. “Two and a half years, Dad. While Cora’s had you, while y’all have raised your family, while y’all have spent time with each other, I’ve been alone. I haven’t had Luca. And
then the last eight months happened. I thought I was losing my goddamn mind. I thought I was falling in love with my fiancé’s best friend. I went through grief and disgust at myself. All the while I couldn’t stop thinking about Luca. And then he finds out that the Navy fucked up. That he isn’t Malachi. That he’s Luca. So, when he asked for a few days—a fucking week, that’s all—to get his head on straight, I gave it to him. Want to know why? Because that’s what people do for the people they love. They
support them. And, if you’d get your head out of your ass long enough, you would know that you’d do the same goddamn thing for Cora if she asked it of you.”
“I think.” A deep, menacing voice sounded from behind my father. “You need to back away and
give us a few minutes alone.”
My breath hitched when I heard Luca’s voice.
Even after knowing he was okay, knowing that he wasn’t missing anymore, hearing the deep rasp
