Page 32 of More Than A Feeling

But it was too late. Brian and Lenora went through the report that Malone's PI had put together. It had dates and times of when Malone and Sabine met and where—which he'd done to prove paternity if the situation arose, he'd told me. There was the illegally acquired medical report about Sabine's abortion. There were printed text messages between Sabine and Malone.

"Sabine," Lenora whispered.

Brian shook his head.

Their favorite daughter was falling from grace. A part of me felt triumph, revenge for what these people had done to Fleur—but a larger part just felt sorry. I knew that Fleur would not approve of what I'd done and how I did it. She wouldn't want to hurt her family because she had a big fucking heart, one I'd not taken care of.

Sabine’s eyes filled with tears, and her voice broke. "It was a mistake. Seamus was so kind about it, and we were going to make it work. We were. And then...he died."

"Liar," I snapped. "He told you that he wanted to divorce yourfine ass."

She sobbed hard, but this time, neither Brian nor Lenora comforted her. In the past, the waterworks always worked with me, with Seamus, with her parents, and probably with Malone as well.

"I can't believe this," Brian spoke softly. "How could you do this to Seamus? My God! He loved you. He must have been broken up about this and—"

"This is all Fleur's fault," Sabine burst out.

"How do you figure?" I asked, positively curious about how she was going to blame her sister for her cheating on her marriage.

"She was always hanging around Seamus, trying to steal him, and I was just acting out to get his attention."

My eyebrows rose. This was pretty far-fetched, and even her parents, who usually accepted and ate up all her bullshit, had trouble with it.

"Seamus would never cheat on you," Lenora murmured. "And Fleur could never steal your man."

Brian ran a hand through his hair. "I'm disappointed, Sabine."

"And, I'd like to let you all know that Fleur knew. She overheard Seamus and Sabine talking. Seamus asked her to promise him not to tell anyone, that he'd deal with this his way."

I left that out there for everyone to know that Fleur had known this horrible thing about Sabine and had not revealed it because she'd made a promise to a dead man. That was a spine of steel and platinum-strong integrity.

"She knew?" Lenora's eyes were wide with shock.

Sabine wasn’t shocked. Malone had mentioned that Sabine suspected Fleur knew, and I figured that was why she’d tried so hard to isolate her from her parents.

"Yeah, and she never told me—not even when you were trying to take me from her."

Self-loathing twisted inside me. Fleur was soft, loving, and I had bulldozed right over her feelings. But I’d do better. When she got back from D.C., I’d love her hard every single day, show her how much she meant to me, and make sure she knew I’d never let her down again.

"It appears we owe Fleur an apology." Brian looked at me, remembering the time when he'd almost hit his youngest daughter because he thought she was being selfish and not supporting Sabine.

"What?" Sabine screeched. "I told you she was trying to come between me and Seamus, and this proves it. She knew about the affair, and—"

"Stop, Sabine." Lenora sounded tired and sad. "Just stop it. You've been blaming Fleur for everything for years, and we've done the same. I think it's time for all of us to think about who we are as a family and how we've been behaving."

Sabine looked at me accusatorily. "This is all your fault."

"I wasn't fucking Malone Collins without protection," I smirked. "Now that we're done with this part of the conversation, I want y'all to know that I'm in love with Fleur."

I really, really hoped Fleur would give us a chance to beusagain because she made me happy, and I knew I could be a better man who did the same for her.

Sabine rushed to me and slapped me hard. "How dare you?"

"Sabine!" Her father pulled her away from me. She embraced him and began to cry.

"Oh, baby girl, don't cry," Brian comforted his daughter.

I sighed and didn't even bother to rub my cheek.

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