“You’re right. I don’t.”
Kat’s father studied him a moment before taking another sip. “I suppose I deserve that. Nevertheless, it’s true.” He drew in a weary breath before asking, “Do you have any children, Matthew?”
“No.”Hopefully, I will soon, though.
The thought came out of nowhere, but oddly, it didn’t freak Matt out like it probably should have.
“Well, when you do, you might understand a little better why I did what I did.”
“What you did was wrong, Marsh. No way around that.”
“You’re right. But my reasoning behind it wasn’t.”
Matt rolled his eyes as the asshole kept talking.
“As you know, Katherine’s mother died very young. What you don’t know is the last promise I ever made to her was while she was on her death bed. She was lying before me, struggling for every breath, and her only concern was that of our daughter’s well-being. I promised my wife I would do everything in my power to protect Katherine. To make sure she had the best life had to offer for as long as I lived. Now, at the time I was misguided. I believed money equaled happiness. And more than anything, I wanted my daughter to be happy.”
“She was happy,” Matt growled. “With me.”
“I know that, now. I also know that, while Katherine married Brian to help him save face with his father, she also married him to protect herself, too.”
“From being hounded by you. She told me.”
“There was more to it than that, Matthew. Katherine married Brian because she knew she’d never truly love anyone else the way she loved you. Had no desire to…give herself…to another man the way she had you.”
As twisted as it made him, the primal part of Matt wanted to puff his chest and holler to the rafters. Instead, he made sure Thomas Marsh knew exactly where he stood, as far as Kat was concerned.
“She won’t ever have to worry about that again. Not as long as I’m still breathing.”
The man smiled, the shocking sight nearly knocking Matt on his ass. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Despite the man’s sudden turn of heart, Matt glared back at him. “I want the fucking pictures, Thomas. Now.” His gut was screaming the man still had them.
Sure enough, he watched as Marsh walked over to a picture on the wall. Sliding the heavy frame aside, Marsh entered a digital code into the safe concealed behind it. Pulling a large envelope from between a small stack of other papers, he secured the metal door and righted the frame before walking over and handing Matt the envelope.
“I know you and I will probably never be close.”
You fuckin’ think?
“But I want you to know I truly am sorry for the way I handled things. You have my word, I will never do anything to stand between you and my daughter, ever again.”
Still fuming, Matt unwound the twine wrapped around the envelope’s enclosure and began to pull its contents out.
As if he’d been transported back in time, Matt stared down at one of several pictures of him and Kat making love in the boathouse. At the time, these images could have easily been seen as nothing more than evidence. Proof that Marsh’s allegations would have been accurate.
Looking at them now, however, all Matt saw was proof of their love.
“Those are the only copies,” Marsh’s voice broke through. “My investigator was too concerned about being charged with child pornography to keep pictures such as those.”
“But you weren’t?” Matt’s brow rose.
“Frankly, no. My lawyer would’ve argued parental concern, and he would’ve won.” The arrogant son of a bitch went on. “At first, I held onto them as leverage. I kept them after the statute of limitations ran out because I think…”The man cleared his crackling throat. “I think deep down, I was hoping this day would come.”
Matt’s guarded gaze rose to his, but he remained silent.
“I’ve wanted to have this moment to talk to you. To explain my reason for forcing you two apart.” The man’s shoulders fell, and suddenly Marsh looked much older than when he’d first opened that door. “Truth be told, I wanted to look you in the eye, man to man, and tell you I was sorry.”
Too little too late.“I’m not the one you should apologize to.”
