Page 83 of Bound By My Father's Best Friend

Wind whistled around us, and I gripped on to him even tighter. “What if … he never forgives me?”

As much as I wanted to sayscrew him, as much as I wanted to say that I didn’t need his approval, I so, so, so, so, so, so desperately wanted it. I wanted Dad to be proud of me. I wanted him to love me, to accept me. He was my father, my blood.

“There is nothing he needs to forgive you for,” Hector said. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I slept with you,” I whispered. “I love you.”

Hector scooped my chin into his hand and forced me to look up at him. “Is that wrong?”

I swallowed hard, realizing what I had just insinuated, and shook my head. “No, but?—”

“But you’re an adult. I’m an adult. We both can make our own decisions about who we love and who we want to be with. There was nothing non-consensual that happened between us, so he has nothing to forgive you for, okay?”

After wiping my tears with my sleeve, I nodded. “Okay. I just never wanted to hurt him.”

Hector pressed a gentle kiss to the top of my head, his lips a whisper against my hair. “I know, and he’ll understand that too. But I promise you that no matter what happens, I’ll be by your side. You’re not going to face him alone. You’ll never faceanythingalone.”

CHAPTERFORTY-EIGHT

HECTOR

From the kitchen,I watched Heather bundle herself up in blankets and plop down onto the couch, tears still heavy in her eyes from tonight. While this was a problem that we would both have to face, I didn’t quite care about the consequences of Jacob finding out about me and his daughter. At least not as much as Heather cared.

After turning the stove up to high, I slipped a pan onto it.

What pissed me off the most was the way he had talked down to her.

She had always told me that Jacob was hard on her, but I had never seen it. I had believed that he might put her under pressure, but it wasn’t until I’d heard the tone of his voice tonight that it really hit me.

I tossed some food onto the pan and drenched it in olive oil, my mind racing. I had snapped that man’s finger without a second thought about the consequences to protect her, and, God, I would do it again.

Heather sat on the couch, bundled in three blankets and whimpering softly to herself. Moonlight flooded into the room from the large windows, shining off Heather’s silky hair. The doorbell buzzed, and Heather raced to it.

When she pulled open the door, Heather’s mother and Sierra rushed into the room. Steven, who was dating Sierra, waltzed in after them and shut the door quietly behind himself, peering over his shoulder to look at me.

“Did you talk to him?” Heather asked her mother.

“No, sweetheart, but please calm down.”

Heather burst out into tears. “He’s so disappointed in me!”

Heather’s mom hugged her. “Your father loves you, and he’ll come around eventually.”

“No, he won’t!” Heather cried.

Sierra gently rubbed her shoulder.

While I wanted to console her, Steven found his way to the kitchen. He wasn’t much of a cook, but he grabbed the spatula from me and shooed me out from behind the stove.

“So much for you being a good cook.” He chuckled. “You’re burning this.”

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed heavily. “It’s been a bit of a night.”

He cracked half a smile that didn’t make it to his eyes. “Sierra filled me in.”

After placing my hands on the counter, I leaned back onto it and stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t care that he knows, but she does, and it’s fucking tearing me up on the inside. I hate seeing her cry.”

“How’d he find out?” Steven asked.

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