“I almost ruined his life, and Steele wasn’t even my father.”
I wanted to blame my mother. I wanted to put the responsibility on her secrets and her lies. But I was the one who made the decision. King told me he understood why I wanted to do it. That only made me feel worse. He said he’d forgiven me and urged me to forgive myself.
That was the hardest thing for me to do. Forgive myself when I fucked up. Taking responsibility was easy. Begging others to forgive me was simple. But letting myself off the hook wasn’t something I could do.
“What about the man who is your father? How do you feel about him?”
I smiled big as I thought about Uncle Stephen. “I’ve always loved him. And wished he were my father. I don’t know why my mother lied, and I can’t ever ask her. But at least I have him now.”
Getting to my feet and helping her up, I said, “Come on, Jackson’s going to send out a search party if we don’t get back.”
“He’s been watching us since I came out here,” she whispered.
I looked around us, there were no trees to hide behind, but I couldn’t see him. “Where?”
“You’ll never find him unless he wants to be found,” she explained.
We made our way back inside, and I went up to our room. I took a shower, changed into one of King’s T-shirts, and waited for him. Cash told me he rode off but had word he was on his way back.
I fell asleep waiting but knew it was him as soon as I felt the bed dip and his arms reach around me.
“I love you, Grace. I’ll accept whatever you decide.”
“I want to wait.”
“You do?” The surprise in his voice broke my heart, and I realized how much he would be affected by my decision. I turned around in his arms and touched his face.
“I am choosing to believe that this baby is ours until we know for sure. If it’s not, then...”
“If it’s not, and you wanted to keep him, he would still be ours, Grace. I would love that baby the same as if he had my DNA.”
“I can’t have a baby that isn’t yours, King. This might make me a bad person, but I’m not strong enough to look at a child every day and be reminded of the worst day of my life.”
“That doesn’t make you a bad person, Grace. It makes you human. But let me ask you, will looking at our baby be the same reminder? Will you always see him or her and remember the hell you went through? Because I don’t want that for you, baby. I’d rather let our child go than have you live a lifetime of pain.”
“Our baby would be a reminder that our love was stronger than anything else I went through. I would look at them every day and remember that we made them, no one else. That they were the very best parts of you and me.”
“I fucking love you, Grace.”
“I love you too, King. Forever.”
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Callum ‘King’ Montclair
Rosewood, Virginia...
It was late at night when my phone suddenly pinged. Still groggy, I rolled over and reached for it on my nightstand, squinting as the bright light from the screen nearly blinded me. Rubbing my eyes, I let out a groan and slowly sat up, waiting for my vision to adjust to the harsh glow.
Once I could see clearly, I frowned and immediately answered the call, my voice thick with irritation. “This better be good,” I grumbled.
“Just got confirmation,” the familiar voice on the other line said firmly. “They are attacking tonight.”
Flinging the sheets off me and jumping from my bed, swiftly putting on my pants, I asked, “When?”
“Now!”
Disconnecting the call, I quickly sent off a text just as a hard knock sounded at my door.
