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Then Lucy happened.
That was how I explained our relationship. It happened.
I took her home one night from a strip club, and she never left.
It wasn’t love at first sight or anything like that, but she was the first girl I’d brought home who I was more than just a girl I fucked the night before. I got up the next morning, and she was cooking breakfast for my brothers. The lot of them were sitting around the table that at the time had belonged to Rook, laughing, eating, and having a good time.
She made them happy. And that made me happy.
That was enough for me to ask her to stay again. And again. And again.
And within a year, I was holding Calli in my arms, learning a whole new lesson about a different kind of love. The kind I knew neither of my parents had for me because the second I became her father, I knew I would do everything humanly possible to protect her from anything that might hurt her.
Which was why I had to fight every urge to lock her up in a tower and keep her from the world. I’d managed to restrain myself when she went off to college in Pittsburgh, and I was about to do it again when she flew away the next day, headed to New York City.
When we reached the lounge, Calli pulled back, both falling into the soft, cushiony sofa. Calli wiped at the tears dripping down her cheeks and breathed deeply. “I dunno why this is making me so emotional. It’s only for three months. Then I’ll be back again.”
“That’s if they don’t see how fucking amazing you are and offer you a full-time job,” I added, knowing full well there was a chance it could happen. “Then you’d be moving to New York permanently.”
She was already shaking her head. “I don’t think—”
“Cut it out,” I ordered, poking my finger into her chest. “You’ve got what it takes, Calliope. They will see it. I promise you.”
It wasn’t often I saw Calli’s confidence waver. She usually kept her self-doubt smothered underneath, but it was there, peeking its ugly head from the shadows. That was how I knew exactly what the internship meant to her because, while she was so excited about this opportunity, the fear of losing it was becoming more intense, too, and it had her scared.
“You have to do something for me too.”
I instantly squared my shoulders, ready to take on whatever she was about to order upon me, although, from the way she was tapping her foot nervously, I had the feeling that it was going to be something I didn’t like. “Okay.”
“I want you to be happy,” she said, confusing me.
My brow pinched, and I pulled back. “I am happy.”
“I mean with someone.”
I almost choked on the laugh that burst from deep within my gut. “Calliope, I’m sure you must be old enough to realize I’m not just some old man who sits around alone. I’ve been with plenty of fucking someones.”
She rolled her eyes and scrunched up her nose. “I mean someone special, Dad,” she practically spat. “Not some biker bunny from the clubhouse.”
“I’m getting old now,” I told her, sinking back into the sofa. “I’m set in my ways. No one wants to come in here and deal with this bullshit.”
She got up off the sofa and held her hands out. “What do you mean, bullshit? You keep the house tidy, you cook really well, you raised a daughter all on your own. Dad, you’ve got freaking abs. You are a catch. Someone out there wants a man who doesn’t have much to say, frowns all the time, and wears the same thing every day.” I sat forward, reaching for her, but she leaped out of the way, cackling with laughter. “I’m not even joking.”
Getting to my feet, I finally hooked my arm around her neck and pulled her in, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “While I appreciate the pep talk, I’m okay being on my own.”
It wasn’t a complete lie, but I knew she’d see through it because I was never on my own. I kept myself busy with club stuff, and one of the boys was always around.
She looked up at me, the smile on her face fading. “Mom would want you to find someone.”
I pulled back, my eyebrows shooting up. “You think so?”
She frowned, walking over to a picture on the wall beside the window. The photo itself was grainy as hell, having been taken on someone’s digital camera in the early 2000s and blown up to fit the frame. But it had always been Calli’s favorite.
It was of Lucy and me sitting next to a bonfire at the clubhouse. She was on my lap, her head tucked in under my chin, and our eyes were closed.
“I think…” Calli paused for a second, inhaling long and deep before turning to face me with tears in her eyes. I wanted to go to her, wrap her up, and hold her tight, but she had something to say, and she obviously wanted me to hear it. “I think the way you love your family is so rare. It’s strong. It’s protective. It’s above all else.”
She was right. It was above all else. I guess that’s one thing I had The Valley to thank for.
