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He leaned close and captured my mouth. I tasted the scotch he’d been sipping. The flavor of the salty tears—his or mine, I wasn’t sure. It was a sweet, loving kiss with no anger. One of goodbye. Of heartbreak.

And love.

He pulled back, pressing one last kiss to my forehead. “You have this, Maddy. You are going to be brilliant.”

And then he was gone.

CHAPTER 18

MATTHEW

Isat in the chair of my hotel room watching the sun come up over the city, the rays reflecting on all the windows of the hundreds of skyscrapers. My bag was packed, and I had booked the first flight out, sending Bentley a message that I had been called back and would not be using his offer of points after all.

I had no messages from Maddy. I wasn’t surprised, yet part of me mourned that silence.

Then I turned off my phone, not wanting to talk to anyone. I picked up my bag and looked around, making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, then headed down to the waiting Uber.

I barely recollected the journey. Arriving at the terminal. Sitting by the gate, not interested in breakfast or coffee. Once seated on the flight, I shut my eyes and left them closed the whole trip, not wanting to be disturbed.

My mind raced. Leaving her was one of the hardest things I had ever done. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to be out of her life. But I had to let her go. She was stretched way too thin, and worrying about me, about us, was too much strain on her. On me as well.

But I was going to miss her terribly.

I trudged through the airport, grabbing a cab back to my condo. I walked through the door, stopping when my dad stood up from the sofa, not saying anything.

“Dad?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”

He cleared his throat. “Bent called. Said you came home early. I thought you might, ah, I thought you might need to talk.”

I dropped my bag and shook my head. “I don’t feel like talking.”

“Okay. I get it. I’ll go.”

But as he walked past, I reached out, gripping his arm. “Dad?”

He turned, his eyes sympathetic. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

He nodded, and the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by his strong arms. Held tight in his embrace that had been offered so freely my entire life. For happy hugs, sad ones. For safety and security. For protection. To celebrate. To mourn. Sometimes just because.

I didn’t say anything, nor did he. He gripped me hard, letting me decide when to break the connection.

I eased back, and he stepped away. “If you’re up to it, dinner one night would be nice. Your mother would like that.”

I nodded. “For sure.”

“Okay.”

“Dad, can you do something for me?”

A slight frown twisted his lips. “Anything.”

“Ask Bent and Aiden—all the guys—and Gracie not to talk about this with the rest of the family, please? I don’t want to hear about it or be asked questions. It just… It didn’t work out. I know you and Mom liked her, but please don’t call her. It would upset her more. We need to leave her alone. This isn’t her fault. I broke it off.”

“Done.” He paused. “Sometimes it’s no one’s fault, Matthew. Bad timing happens.”

“Yeah.”