AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“This isn’t about you,” I said to him.
“I know,” Frank replied.
“I would go to the ends of the earth for her, and if I have to climb the highest mountain to gain your approval, I will,” I said.
Frank got quiet.
“I love your daughter,” I confessed. “There’s no doubt about it, that we’re meant for each other. But I can’t be with her if you won’t accept us. What’s it going to take?”
“Her love,” Frank said. “She has to love you. Perhaps I’ve been a bit harsh on you (a bit?!), but I think that love has to win. I know it didn’t when my wife and other daughter left me.”
“Say the word,” I said, “and I’ll propose to your daughter.”
Frank laughed. “Marriage isn’t love. At least, not if it’s done wrong.”
It was the most sincere and vulnerable I had ever heard Frank. I wondered about his change of heart. Perhaps being at death’s door had something to do with it.
“The Reeds have been plotting to kill you,” I said. “When you had an issue with me being with your daughter…”
“You could have had me killed,” Frank said, completing my sentence.
“I would never do that,” I said. “You’re my friend.”
“I thought you would move mountains to be with my daughter.”
We both laughed.
“Man’s gotta have a code,” I said.
“You must really care about her, to not kill her violent father,” Frank said. He breathed deeply then sighed. “We’ll have to work out everything with the Reeds, that business doesn’t bode well with me.”
“Me neither,” I said. I had given them the million dollars, but something told me they would be greedy and at some point, come back for more. It was more than they could spend in ten lifetimes, I knew they still were hoping for the whole market. Even the rich know better than to want it all. At least, I did. Some things are worth more than money.
A life with Adriana, where I could make sure her every need was met, and I meant EVERY need, was good enough for me. There was something empty about being rich and lonely. I wanted more, and for the first time in my life, it wasn’t sex or money.
“What do you propose we do?” Frank asked. Never in my life did I think that I would fall so hard for his daughter, but here we were. The only thing I could think of was her.
Which is why, when I told him what I would propose to her, it came so naturally and fluidly.
“I want her to be my life partner,” I said. “She needs to be the one helping me call the shots. I didn’t let her in with the past million-dollar deal with the Reeds, and that was out of respect for the both of you.”
“Let me guess,” Frank said. “She didn’t take it well.”
I shook my head, and he chuckled.
“That’s my daughter,” he said. “Smart as a whip, but stubborn as a mule when it comes to calling the shots. She didn’t like being left out as a little girl. Makes sense that she doesn’t want to be left out now.”
I nodded. “I won’t let anything happen to her,” I said. “You have my word.”
Frank looked me in the eye and for a brief second, I thought he was going to blame everything on me. The attack on him, the greediness of the Reeds, everything.
Instead he said, “You’re a good man, Brody. Make sure nothing happens to her, or I’ll have to kill you.”
“That brings me to another point,” I said.
I was nervous about telling him, but Frank’s behavior had gotten out of hand, and was partially to blame for a lot of the mess I had had to clean up. The costs were well over one million dollars, because he had triggered an unnecessary war. Then again, when his daughter had been kidnapped, he didn’t help make the situation better.
“I think it’s time for you to retire,” I said. “You need to live so you can see your grandchildren.”
