And you, my sweet Charlotte, you must promise me something, too. Find a love like the one I found with your mother. The kind of love that sets your soul on fire. A forever love. Don’t settle for anything less. Live boldly, love deeply, and letyourself be happy. Take risks, chase your dreams, and never let fear stop you.
I love you more than words could ever say, and I am so goddamn proud to be your father. You’re my heart, Charlotte, always and forever.
With all my love, Dad
Oh god.
Teardrops wet the paper and blot the handwrittenloveat the bottom of the stationery.
“Elizabeth?” Fallon calls out, his voice faint but audible.
I didn’t hear his car pull up or hear him knock.
Quickly getting to my feet, the anger of betrayal rises swiftly. Ryder orchestrated a choice that should have been mine to make.
Growing up, I allowed everyone to control my choices because I thought it would make them happy. All it did was make me miserable, and the bad stuff happened anyway. I swore I would never let anyone control me like that again.
Fallon didn’t come back because he wanted to. He didn’t come back for me. He came back because he made a promise to Ryder. And knowing that desolates me.
My fingers curl around the beige paper, crumpling it in my grasp. Fuck them. I’m not some damaged, fragile thing that needs to be fixed, and I sure as hell don’t need a man stepping in to take care of me or my children.
“Elizabeth, you here?”
Thankfully, my kids aren’t home to witness me lose my shit. Storming out of Charlotte’s bedroom, I catch Fallon just as he’s about to head into the kitchen. The smile gracing his mouthwhen he sees me disappears when I indignantly shove him. It’s like trying to force a mountain to move.
“Why would you go along with that? You lied to me!”
I shove him again, but this time, he snatches my wrist, his grip unrelenting, and it just makes me madder because I want his hands on me. I crave his touch and the yearning it evokes. I want to feel his fire and be burned by it.
It’s been so long since I’ve felt desire of any kind, and I hate myself for it because Fallon doesn’t want me like that. I’m the pathetic, lonely widow whose dead husband told another man to take care of her.
“The front door was unlocked, so I let myself in. You didn’t answer when I called.”
Fallon pulls me to the side, his arctic-blue eyes surveying me with concern, and I go from mad to livid when I see it. I hate that the guilt he still feels over what happened forced him into agreeing to Ryder’s asinine request.
Slapping the letter flat to his chest, I seethe, “Whatever promise you made to Ryder, it ends here. Now get out.”
Fallon grabs the piece of paper before it falls to the floor, his brow furrowing as he reads. When his eyes lift, my knees almost buckle from the heat I see roaring behind them.
“You’ve got it all wrong.”
“Do I?”
“Yes.”
Growing frustrated, I snap, “I don’t need you to take care of me. I can do this on my own. I’ve been doing it all by myself for over three years.”
Fallon suddenly advances on me, but I don’t retreat. Never from him.
All the air gets knocked out of me when he physically backs me up until my spine hits the wall. One muscled arm shoots out, caging me in. Pressing in close, he pounds a fist to his chest.
“ButIneedyou. This fucking thing doesn’t beat without you. And I’m tired of living life without you. You’re my home, Kitten. You always have been.”
I want to believe him, to trust his beautiful words and rush forward into their embrace, but Ryder’s letter won’t let me. I’m just an obligation my husband passed on to his friend. And my children knew about it. Now I know why they insisted I take the trip to Italy. Well-intentioned manipulations are the bane of my existence, and I wish everyone would stop thinking they know what’s best for me.
I glare up at him. “I don’t want your pity.”
His expression twists as if he’s in pain. “That’s what you think?”
