Like someone flipping a switch, the ice melted and he was her dad again, looking so damn relieved it made her chest burn with guilt. “Aria.”
And then she was in those achingly familiar arms, tight and secure around her, and she had to close her eyes against the threat of tears.
God, she’d missed him. She should hate Killian for that, for keeping her father from her, but seeing as how the past week had proven him right in his overprotectiveness, she couldn’t quite manage it.
Yanking backward, Braden ran his hands over her arms, up to cup her face, his eyes wild with worry. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did he… has he…”
“Killian has been a perfect gentleman, Dad.” Well, perhaps not a perfect gentleman, but her father didn’t need to know about the number of orgasms his former best friend had forced on her while she’d been in his care. “I’m more than okay. I’m safe and I’m happy.”
She’d only meant to assure him that she was safe. But as soon as she said the words, she realized how true they were.
Killian O’Rourke made her happy.
What the fuck?
“Happy?” Disbelief rang in Braden’s tone. “How can you be happy? You were kidnapped and you’re being held hostage by a man who threatened to have me killed if I took you home with me.”
“A possible overreaction on my part,” Killian said, and she could almost believe he meant it. “I only wanted to keep Aria safe, but threatening you was out of line, Braden. I’m sorry.”
It was a toss-up as to who was more stunned by the apology, her or her father. “You’ll let her come home, then?” Braden asked, clearly suspicious of this sudden change of heart.
Not that she could blame him, really, since she was rather suspicious of it herself.
She turned just in time to catch the flicker of regret across Killian’s face. “I’m sorry, but no. She’s safest with me, Braden, and deep down you know it’s true. You just don’t want to admit it.”
Laying a hand on her father’s arm, Aria offered up a weak smile. “He’s right. And I’m not just saying that so you’ll stay away and not get yourself killed. I know you want me to come home, but I belong with Killian.”
“You belong at home. And at the job you worked your ass off to get. You belong in school, getting the law degree you’ve been talking about since you were sixteen years old.”
“Which is where she’ll be in the fall, if she so desires.”
Again, it was fifty-fifty on who was more shocked by that news. “Really?” Excitement bubbled up inside her, and it hit her then that she hadn’t even realized how much she’d been grieving the loss of that dream. College had seemed almost frivolous in the face of getting shot at and the father of her child almost being poisoned. “I just assumed…”
Killian smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I have no intention of keeping you from your dreams, princess. If it’s within my power to give you, all you have to do is ask.”
“You really expect us to believe you’re just fine and dandy with her going to law school?” Braden snarled. “It’s a ploy, Aria, to get you to fall in line. He’ll keep dangling the carrot in front of you and ten years down the line you’ll realize you just gave up on all your hopes and dreams for some mythical ‘someday’.”
It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption, all things considered. After all, Killian made his living on the wrong side of the law.
And yet, when she looked in his eyes, all she saw was truth. Maybe it made her the worst kind of fool, maybe she was just desperate to have her cake and eat it too, but she believed him.
Stepping back, she positioned herself beside the father of her child. And watched the light leave her own father’s eyes as she did so.
“I’m smarter and stronger than you give me credit for, Dad,” she said softly, her throat tight with unshed tears. “I want you to be a part of my life. I want my child to know her grandfather. So I hope you can understand when I tell you that this is my choice. I haven’t been bullied or coerced or forced into making it. And I hope, someday, you can forgive me for it.”
Tearing her gaze away from the stunned hurt on her father’s face, she looked up at Killian. “Didn’t you say we have a room reserved?”
“We do.”
“Absolutely the fuck not,” Braden snarled. “Aria hasn’t been properly vetted for a guest pass.”
Killian smiled, but it wasn’t as smug as it probably could have been. “We had a deal, Braden. The next woman I brought to the club gets immediate approval, no questions asked.”
A muscle jumped in her father’s cheek. “After she’s vetted.”
“You go ahead and run a background check on your own daughter. In the meantime, you know where to find us.”
It took every ounce of strength she had to turn with him, to allow him to guide her past the bar full of curious onlookers toward the private rooms. But when he stopped in front of a familiar door, any lingering doubts she’d had drained away.
