I heard one of the brothers say, “Preach.”
“I want to be lifted up, not torn down. I want to walk into a room and see someone’s eyes heat with need and want. But most of all... I want to be loved. And I get all of that from the man at my back. So, if you think I would ever leave him and what he gives me just so I could perform like a trained Seal for the family who never wanted me... then you’re fucking delusional.”
Then, like my mother was prone to be dramatic, “Kimber, will you please stop?” My mom asked as she rubbed at her temples.
“Are you serious? No. Are you actually fucking serious?” Merlin growled.
Then, to show she was being dramatic, she stopped rubbing her temples and growled, “What?”
Merlin lifted a brow, “Your daughter is telling you things that are important to her, and you have the audacity to ignore her?”
My father stepped forward then and sneered at Merlin.
And that... ladies and gents... is when I’d had enough.
“No,” I growled in a low tone and ripped away from Grey’s hold.
Then I got toe to toe with my father and growled, “Merlin is a better man than you could ever dream of being. He’s the kind of man I wish had been my father. He’s the kind of man who wouldn’t dare step out on his woman. And he’s the kind of man who wouldn’t blame his child for his fuck up. You don’t deserve to even breathe the same air that he does.”
My mother stepped forward and glared, “How dare you?”
And then I looked at my mother, who was exasperated at me, and said, “Go fuck yourself.”
She gasped.
Then at my father, I sneered, “Get your nasty ass self out of my sight and stay gone.”
Then I looked over my shoulder at Grey and asked, “Honey, will you take out the trash?”
He winked, stepped forward, then pressed a kiss on my forehead, “With fucking pleasure.
Mentally, I pivoted on my heel and walked away for the last time.
I smirked as I watched my parents leave.
The fucking audacity of them.
Then I was wrapped in someone’s arms.
I knew it was Merlin.
He whispered into my hair, “Doll, be fucking honored to be that for you.”
I squeezed him back, “Good. So... if Grey pops the question. Want to walk me down the aisle?”
He pulled back, and then I saw it.
Tears were in the corners of his eyes, then he inhaled and swallowed, “Be fucking honored.”
I smiled up at him and waited for Grey to get back.
The moment he did, he introduced me to his brothers.
Wolf and Merlin, I had met.
Then he formally introduced me to Nuke.
He winked at me.
