At the time, I was young, enamored with the city, and wowed by the mystique of La Lune Noire. The fact that it stood for the opposite of everything I had come from only heightened theallure. While that’s no longer the draw, if I’m completely honest with myself, I’m still enraptured by it all. Sketchy morals or not.
“It was long before that actually,” I tack on. “This was inevitable.”
My father doesn’t argue the inevitability of the relationship breakdown because it’s the truth. “I’m not sure what’s going on between you two.” He casts one final look at Maddox. “That man isn’t who I would have chosen for you, if it were up to me, which it isn’t. Do you want to know what he said to me?”
I stare into the eyes that were so often my safe harbor, growing up, my place to find acceptance and direction, and I realize I’m scared about what I might find there now. “I’m not sure I do.”
He smiles. “That’s fair. I’ll tell you some of it anyway. He asked for a moment of my time when he arrived, told me that he hadn’t planned on showing up here, that he knew you were here, and he’d been out riding his motorcycle and couldn’t stay away. In the few minutes we spoke, he casually referred to you as phenomenal, gorgeous, and brilliant.”
My lungs constrict. I wasn’t expecting him to share anything like that. “That seems generous. I’m kind of mean to him.”
He bobs his head with a chuckle. “He said that too.” When he clocks my raised brow, he swiftly amends that statement. “He said you were strong-willed and a force. I deduced the meanness. He also told me what an incredible friend you’ve been to his sister-in-law and how you’re one of his nephew’s favorite people.”
“Oh,” is all I manage, overwhelmed by his view of me.
“I left him in the backyard and intended to tell you he was here, but then Hunter interrupted us, and I thought maybe letting you have a moment with both was important. That backfired, I suppose.” He gathers his thoughts for a tranquil beat before a muffled hum collects in his throat—a sign of himpondering something. “I just hit him with the question I’ve asked any boy or man who’s been interested in one of my girls.”
I know that question. He always asks the guys what sets his daughter apart.Why her?
Eden’s husband, John, said it was her values. That made it crystal clear they were destined for each other.
I don’t think I want to know what Maddox came up with when there was no reason to ask him in the first place, so I keep it simple. “Did you like his answer?”
His lips quirk up, like he knew I’d inquire in a roundabout way. “I understand your mother’s perspective. She has valid points, Tessy. Things you need to reconcile before you get yourself into something you can’t get out of.”
No matter what transpires between Maddox and me, it’s too late for that, but I don’t bother sharing the tidbit that my life already belongs to the Noires. Till death do us part.
“But his answer was hands down the best.” He rubs his hand over his chin, like he’s thinking back on the conversation. “I can’t imagine a better one.”
“We’re not even together.” My protest is weak. I’m struck with this urge to sprint after Maddox and coil myself around him, which is a terrible idea.
My father pulls me into a hug, his chest rattling with part chuckle and part ragged breath. “He told me that too, honey.”
Like it did when I was a little girl, his hug breaks down my defenses, and I have to fight a sob working its way up into my throat. “I wanted to be here for Violet, but maybe I should go.”
He squeezes me tighter. “Only if you promise to come back soon.”
“Of course I will,” I lie because everything about this feels like goodbye.
Once he grabs my purse from the house, I meander down the long driveway to the car I arrived in. One of the guards opens thedoor, and I slide into the back seat, pulling my phone out to find a text from earlier.
Maddox: Water balloons or cornhole?
If I’d seen that, I would have realized he was here sooner, and this whole mess could’ve been avoided.
We also wouldn’t have kissed, and that thought alone is gut-wrenching. I might not know what he said to my father, but while everyone else was shouting how I was failing, he was telling me I was enough.
“You’re stunning in that dress, as always, but it’s more. I needed you.”
“I won’t pretend in front of anyone, for any reason, that you aren’t the most fascinating, addictive, and infuriating woman I’ve ever known.”
“This is me telling you that the kiss back there was only the beginning. I want more. I’ll fight for more.”
“Tessa is a grown woman—a damn impressive one who balances both strength and compassion, which is why she’s tolerating this with far more poise than anyone here deserves.”
And he said he hid things about that horrible night from me because he didn’t want me to be scared. That’s not the controlling-bastard picture I painted of him.Fuck.
As if I conjured him from my racing thoughts, when the car rolls to a stop at the end of the street, I see him perched on his bike.
