I can hear the door open behind me, and Bob’s voice commanding, “Get lost, Veronika. You never deserved her anyway.” Hearing the love he has for me in that statement brings a smile to my face.
Veronika hesitates for only a second before she storms out of the room, leaving behind nothing more than bad memories.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The room is silent except for when the door clicks shut. No one says a word. My mind is spiraling with all the information, confusing me more than anything.
“Princess,” Kade whispers, cupping my cheek while studying my face. “What do you need?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug, unable to get a handle on my feelings. “I don’t understand. I mean, all of this because of some dude she was cheating on Dad with who left her?”
“I think she just needed a target for her unhappiness,” Dad chimes in from next to us. “She was never happy in Montana, always dreaming of bigger and better things, even as a child. Once you left, I guess you were just the easiest and closest outlet for her issues. I’m sorry—”
“Don’t you dare apologize for her,” I interrupt and turn toward him. “As my shrink keeps telling me, the only actions and reactions we can control are our own. It’s not your fault, you didn’t know. I didn’t tell anyone, because I was determined to deal with this on my own.”
“When did you become so wise?” His smile is brief before it falls and a frown is pulling his brows together. “I hope it’s okay we’re here uninvited.”
“I’m glad you are here. I wasn’t being fair on that phone call, I know that, but I wasn’t in a place to be rational, and then it was just easier to ignore everything, and everyone, and concentrate on competing. I was being—”
“You were hurting,” Lizzie joins our conversation at this point. “We know that. We knew something happened back then. We just couldn’t figure out what. And, well, you didn’t give us a chance to ask.” Her smile lets me know she’s not holding any grudges. “We all make mistakes. Family is about forgiving and learning from them.”
I jump when Dakota claps, getting everyone’s attention. “I think it’s fair to say everyone messed up in this whole debacle. But how about we let the two of them get dressed, and then we all go have some breakfast. I’m starving.”
It’s then I realize I’m dressed in only Kade’s shirt and my panties. “Yes, let’s,” I say and start tugging at the shirt, suddenly conscious of just how little I’m wearing.
There’s a beat of silence, before Dad says, “Sounds good,” and studiously avoids looking at me and Kade, like he just now realized what he walked into.
“We’ll see you two down in the lobby in fifteen,” Dakota says and starts herding everyone out of the room.
Once the door closes after everyone, a sigh of relief escapes me. I walk to the bed and fall back onto the mattress, staring at the ceiling.
I’m not surprised when Kade appears in my line of sight. I stare into the blue eyes of the man I love, who stood behind me when all the ugly shit of my life was exposed, and who I know will be my rock.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“I don’t know. So much has happened, I’m just trying to process.”
“Nothing she said, nothing she did to you, is your fault.”
“I know.” He’s right, nothing that happened was my fault, but a small part still wonders if I could have done something to stop her. It’s hard for children to see their parents as anything but good people, but there’s a point in life where we have to realize they’re flawed humans. They make mistakes, some are just bigger than others. And sometimes we come to the realization for ourselves that toxic people, even if they’re family, shouldn’t stay in our lives solely because they’re blood. Sometimes, blood means nothing.
“Okay,” he says with concern in his eyes as he searches mine for the truth behind my words. “Want me to cancel on everyone so we can go back to bed?”
I smile and contemplate saying yes to stay in bed in his arms and forget today ever happened. But then I realize that would mean she wins. That she’s destroyed the biggest achievement of my life, and I’ve let her do it.
“No, let’s go out and celebrate yesterday. I don’t want her to ruin that with my family being here to celebrate. I won’t let her win this one.”
“Good girl,” he whispers before he kisses me. A kiss filled with love and understanding, a kiss showing me that no matter what, this man loves me.
Just when I’m about to say ‘fuck it’ to going out to celebrate with everyone, and instead stay in bed and satiate the fire burning inside of me, he pulls away. I open my eyes to see my desire reflected in his. But instead of acting on it, he moves off the bed and with quick movements he throws me over his shoulder.
“We’ve got the rest of our lives to celebrate that way, but for now, let’s go have breakfast with everyone else. Wayne and Aunt Lizzie have missed you.”
“Oh, all right,” I huff, mock annoyed at him for turning me on only to delay gratification. “But you’ll have to step it up tonight.”
He laughs, carefree and happy. “Challenge accepted, Princess.” His words are accompanied with a gentle slap to my ass. “Now let’s shower.”
Needless to say, it takes us longer than fifteen minutes to get ready, as we both get carried away
