He hesitates as though suddenly uncomfortable. “Financially, socially. He’d cripple you to the point of bankruptcy and utter ruin. Blacklist your parents from ever working in their fields again. Knowing the money and connections he had, I couldn’t take the chance that he was bluffing. Not that time.”
I gasp in horror. “What father would do that to his son?”
“That was Vincent Bennett. Always used to getting what he wanted, and was willing to play dirty to get it.” Scott pauses. “I didn’t want to give in, but I didn’t want to lose you either. But I knew that if I didn’t do as he said, you’d suffer. I was scared you’d blame me over time.”
I shake my head profusely.
He looks at me with sad eyes. “You would have eventually, Lyla, because even your college scholarship was on the table.”
All I can do is listen and feel tears sting my eyes. “So you left.”
Tears fill his eyes, too.
The room tilts. I press a hand to my chest. The more I piece together, the more everything starts to make sense. Why he vanished as if into thin air, why I never heard of or from him ever again. I’d spent ten years wondering what happened. And just as long convincing myself I wasn’t worth an explanation and would have been better off to have cried, hurt, and bled alone.
“W-where did you go? Where have you been after all this time?”
“I joined the Marines.”
“You what? How long?”
“Ten years. Spent about six months after I left home in boot camp and SOI training. Then deployments for the next one hundred and fourteen months.”
I sit there in disbelief. You can’t make this shit up. “Why didn’t you send me any letters? Call me?”
He takes both my hands in his. “I couldn’t be sure what my father would do if he found out I’d made contact with you.”
“Then…why are you here if you’re worried about my safety like this?”
His mouth forms a genuine smile. “He’d died six months ago. I’ve been back in Dallas for four months.”
I’m shocked even further. “He died?”
He nods. “I made arrangements to get back to Dallas the same day I found out. Got out two months later. Imagine my surprise when I found out I’d inherited everything.” He shakes his head as though still in disbelief by that piece of information.
“So you’d been in Texas for four months and didn’t think to at least call?
“Until I got a call about the show, I was still trying to figure out how to approach you without a door slamming in my face, much less you blocking my number if I called.”
I stand up, anger flaring. “You could spend ten years of your life as a Marine, but you couldn’t find the courage to at least call me for four months once you knew he was dead?”
He crosses his arms. “I didn’t think it’d be exactly romantic for our first time in ten years seeing each other to be over FaceTime.”
“Everything I’ve done, from the moment I left, was to get back to you.” His voice is low, rough. “You think I wanted to do that? You think I wanted to leave you for ten years just to reunite with you on some fucking reality show?”
“Regardless, you chose the outcome of our relationship for me.” Even as I ache to touch him, this fact is something I can’t deny.
“There were so many times I wanted to come back, consequences be damned. But I knew I couldn’t. If it’s any consolation, I’d found ways over the years to at least know what you were up to. I was so proud of you when you graduated college and started Clark Events. The boys even made fun of me for throwing a small party. And when I got back into Dallas, I did what I could to make sure you were taken care of.” His eyes meet mine—raw, open. “But then I also realized that you’d built a life. A business. Friends. I didn’t want you thinking I just wanted to drag the past back in and ruin everything.”
“You spied on me?” The words taste bitter. “That’s sick.”
His expression turns blank. Clearly, he hadn’t thought through telling me that fact.
“I didn’t do it for any kind of perversion. I did it because it was never over for me. And as far as I’m concerned, it still isn’t.”
Tears burn behind my eyes. Not from anger this time, but from the sheer weight of everything he’s telling me, everything he’s carried alone for my sake.
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out at first. Then, small and broken, I blurt out the words I never thought I’d get to tell him as I place a hand on my stomach.
