“Yet,” Ryan stressed.
“Yet,” I agreed to soothe him, stroking my fingers up his back underneath his coat and T-shirt. “But Ryan and I are getting married in November.”
“Really?” Mom squealed, bouncing from one foot to the other.
“Don’t go getting excited, woman. The bet was a ring on her finger,” Dad reminded her. “No ring means I win.”
“Shut up, Jet,” she scolded. “I don’t care if you won or not. Our baby just said she’s getting married. That’s something to celebrate.”
“We knew they would get married one day anyway, Felicity. It was just a matter of when the boy would pull his head out of his ass and tell the girl how he felt.” Dad glared at Ryan over my head. “He’s lucky he smartened up sooner rather than later, or I would have had to find somewhere to bury his rotting corpse.”
Ryan didn’t even flinch under the unrelenting deadly gaze of the biker. A million years ago, before Dad got his own head out of his ass and told Mom how he felt about her, he’d been the Angel’s Halo MC president. Then a fellow brother had attacked Mom, causing her to miscarry their baby. Dad had gone to prison for manslaughter after he’d killed the man, and Mom had left to heal her heart. It wasn’t until a few years later that Dad was even able to chase after her, and he’d dragged Mom home.
I was sure there was more to the story, but that was all either of them had ever told me. Every time I would ask Mom about it in the past, she would get this haunted look in her eyes that tore at my heart. She always changed the subject quickly, and eventually, I’d stopped asking.
“Mr. and Mrs. Hannigan.” Ryan cleared his throat, his fingers flexing on my hip. “I humbly ask for your blessing to marry your daughter.”
“Blessing, not permission?” Dad asked with a lift of his brow.
“Yes,” Ryan confirmed in a steady voice. “Your blessing. I love your daughter more than any other person in the world. I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure she only knows happiness. I don’t need your permission to do that. But we would both appreciate your blessing.”
Respect flared in Dad’s eyes, and he thrust out his hand. “Time and time again, you have proven to me that you will protect her, at the expense of your own life, if needed. When she’s with you, I never have to worry whether she’s safe or happy. You are the only man I would ever give my blessing to, son. No one else deserves her more than you.”
I heard Ryan swallow hard. Grasping Dad’s hand, he gave it a firm shake. “Thank you,” he choked out.
Mom sniffled loudly, and I tore my gaze away from Dad to find her smiling as tears spilled down her face in rivers. Tears stung my own eyes. “Mom, don’t cry!”
She waved her hands in front of her face. “Sorry, sweetheart. I can’t help it. I’m just so happy for you right now. I’ve known you two were supposed to be together practically from the time you were both babies. It’s a blessing that you get to spend your entire life with your soul mate.” Dad wiped her cheek with the back of his index finger, and she leaned into his touch as she looked up at him. “I know she’s only seventeen, but that makes it even more special in my eyes. That means she gets to be with him longer, love him longer.”
“Yeah, well, she’s not marrying him today, baby. He’s going to wait until she’s eighteen.” Dad kissed her forehead then shot us a hard look. “She’s getting married in white. You get my meaning, boy?”
Ryan’s entire body tensed for a moment, but then he sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I understand,” he gritted out.
“Wait, what?” I stepped back from Ryan, staring in bewilderment from one to the other. I didn’t know if I should be embarrassed or angry with both of them. “Did you just agree not to…to…”
“Nova.” Dad released a heavy breath. “Look, I want you to be happy, and I know that Ryan will definitely make that happen. But this is harder for me than either of you could possibly know.” With a groan, he scrubbed a hand over his face. “Maybe when you two have your own children—your own daughter—you’ll understand. You are seventeen. I know that is the age of consent in some states, just as I know that the age of consent doesn’t stop anyone from having sex. But I’m asking you to wait. Just please, respect my wishes on this and wait until you are married.”
My anger deflated under his sincere plea. He wasn’t being a jerk about it, making demands and playing the dad card while threatening not to let us see each other if we didn’t follow his wishes. It was a genuine and heartfelt request to respect him in this one thing
“Fine,” I mumbled.
“What was that, princess?”
“I said, ‘fine’!” I half yelled before lowering my voice. “Fine. But that is the one and only concession I’m making.”
“That’s all I needed,” Dad said with a relieved smile.
“Let’s have something warm to drink,” Mom suggested, breaking the tension that had started to fill the air. “It’s getting so cold out here. I think it might snow tonight.”
My parents turned to lead the way back into the house, and I watched them go. Ryan wrapped an arm around my waist once more, pulling me in for a quick kiss. “We’ve waited this long. A few more months is nothing,” he whispered against my ear. “And there’s nothing more special than you becoming my wife.”
I nodded, trying to hide my pout, but he saw it. With a grin, he kissed it away before nudging me forward. “I love you.”
I wanted to be mad at him for giving in so easily to my dad, but I hadn’t fared any better. And those three words were enough to ease the disappointment of having to wait. “I love you too.”
29
Ryan
I lifted my head as a file was dropped on my desk. Frowning, I picked it up, barely sparing my personal assistant a glance before skimming over the top page. It had taken longer than I had anticipated to get information on everyone who worked in our security department following the office break-in.
On the surface, every single one of them checked out—including my old assistant, CeCe. I hadn’t been satisfied, however, and had Zio Ciro’s computer expert look, Desi, further into their personal lives. The man had dug deeper, going so far as to hack their bank accounts to see if there had been any unusual activities in the months before and after the break-in.
The only thing that had stuck out was that CeCe had a great-uncle in Ireland.
Normally, where someone’s distant relative lived wouldn’t be something I was concerned with. But considering the particular city the uncle lived in, that set off warning bells for not only me, but Pop as well. Just to play things safer, Desi had been asked to look into this great-uncle of CeCe’s. Since the man lived off the grid and was untraceable even on the dark web, it had taken time to get any intel.
“That will be all, Eduard. Thank you,” I told him dismissively before turning my full attention to the file.
My gaze fell on the name I’d been dreading seeing by the time the door quietly clicked closed behind my male assistant. Just reading that last name made my skin feel uncomfortable. Too tight, too itchy…too scarred.