Page 92 of Daddies' Little Troublemaker

“You’re going to get mad, probably.”

“Not at you, Pumpkin. If you want to talk about Lincoln and Caleb, I am most certainly not mad at you.”

It’s them he’s angry with, that’s what he’s saying.

“You shouldn’t be mad at them, either,” I say.

He shakes his head. “Sweetheart, they manipulated you?—”

“Dad, I’m twenty-six. Not sixteen.”

“But there’s a power differential. And Evelyn, he’s your uncle.”

“Step-uncle,” I say. “I didn’t even know him when we first met. It was at a club in San Esteban, okay? We were shocked when we met again at home.”

He looks like the last thing he wants is more details, but I press on, nervous that he’ll reject me. I imagine him getting up from this table, quietly paying the bill, and disappearing from my life forever.

“Dad, please. Lincoln tried to stay away for a long time. I kept pushing things, though. I wanted him just as much as he wanted me. Caleb, too.”

“Christ,” he says, running a hand through his graying brown hair. “The things I don’t want to think about my daughter doing.”

“Don’t think about that, then,” I say, relieved that he isn’t leaping away from me. “Think about how much I care about them both.”

I love them, but I don’t want to say that to my dad before I can say it to them—it just feels wrong.

“Do you know if they feel the same?” Dad asks. “Or is it just…you know…” He clears his throat. “Physical.”

My poor dad. He’s more uncomfortable than I am at this point.

“I don’t know if they still want to build a relationship with me,” I say, “but if they want to try, then I do, too. You want me to be happy—you keep saying it. If you can trust me enough to try this relationship, then I might believe you mean it when you say that you want me to be happy.”

“Evelyn.” His eyes look shiny and wet. “I don’t want to lose you. Not when I just got you back.”

“You won’t, Dad. I promise.”

Frowning, he adjusts his spoon, lining it up with his half-finished bowl of chocolate mousse. If he isn’t going to finish his dessert, maybe he’ll give it to me.

“I love you, Evelyn. And I do want you to be happy. If that means standing aside while you figure this out, and trusting you to make the right choices for yourself, then that’s what I’ll do.”

I get up and go around the table to throw my arms around him. “Thank you, Dad.”

“Do you know when you plan to see them again?”

“I’m still considering this job here in Paris,” I say, “but Chloe’s wedding is next week so I’ll be home and I can talk to them then. If they want to talk to me.”

Smoothing his hair down again, he says, “If the destroyed way Lincoln looked at you before we left is any indication, then yes, they’ll want to talk to you.”

I risked my dad’s disapproval for my happiness, and the world didn’t crumble down around me.

Maybe…maybe there’s hope.

26

I WANT FOREVER

Lincoln

Yesterday, I texted Mark. If you don’t answer my text, I’m coming to France, which is where I think you are. If I don’t find you there, I’ll keep looking. Please talk to me.

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