Page 69 of Forbidden Dark Vows

“You obviously have your reasons,” I say.

I have no desire to speak to the man, but I can’t even begin to look at the menu with my stomach roiling like someone cranked up the heat inside me.

“So perhaps, rather than coming at Harry like a bulldozer, it might be better if you explain them, so that he can make a decision armed with all the facts.”

Karl shakes his head, his eyes fixated on the slim vase and single white daisy in the center of the table. He avoids eye contact with everyone, but watching him closely, I’m almost certain that he hasn’t looked at me once. Not tonight, or the first time I met him in Harry’s office.

Eventually, he says, “There’s nothing to tell. Business is business. Your father couldn’t hack it.”

A flush creeps up my mom’s neck and into her cheeks. “Where’s the water when you need it?” she mutters under her breath.

On cue, the waiter returns with the water and four tall glass tumblers. The atmosphere at the table must be tangible, because he keeps his eyes on the tray, his body poised to make a hastyretreat should we start slinging insults at one another in his presence.

Harry pours. He slides the first glass in my mom’s direction. She swallows a huge mouthful without thanking him.

“My dad has given us his blessing,” I say.

Something is niggling away at the back of my mind. He told me to go with Harry before he knew that he was a Weiss, but even after he knew the truth, after his second stroke, he was still adamant that I should marry Harry. That’s what he said:Go marry Harry.

Or was it?

I sip my water. My mom is unnaturally quiet, and that worries me more than if she was her usual vocal self. Why isn’t she defending Dad? Is she scared of this man?

Like all bullies, I get the impression that he’s a coward underneath the bravado.

A sinister smile twists the corners of Karl’s mouth. He raises his hands and claps them slowly, three times, the sound dropping onto the table like dead flies. “Very gracious of him. So, what, you thought you could invite me to dinner and change my mind? Convince me to see things your way? You have a lot to learn, girlie.”

“Dad!” Harry’s eyes have darkened as if a thundercloud has settled above his head, throwing him into shade. “That’s my fiancée you’re talking to. I am going to marry her, with or without your blessing, so you either accept it and we all learn to get along, or you walk away now.”

“I haven’t eaten yet.” Karl picks up the menu and raises it in front of his face. “I’m not traveling all this way without being fed.”

Harry clenches his fist on the table, and I place my hand over it, surprised to find him trembling. This was a mistake. I don’t even know why they came when neither of them has anything constructive to say.

But seeing the disappointment etched on Harry’s face, I give it one last shot. “Please, Mr. Weiss. It would mean the world to both of us if you would leave the past in the past and allow us all to move forward.”

He lowers the menu, his eyes finally grazing mine. Briefly. As though he’s staring directly into the sunshine and is afraid of being blinded. “What makes you think that I haven’t already left the past in the past?”

“I-I don’t know. Why are you so opposed to us getting married then?”

“The answer is simple. I don’t want anything more to do with your family.”

“But…” This all happened so long ago, and he wasn’t even the loser. “Why do you hate us so much?”

He scoffs, and the mirthless smile is back. “I don’t hate you.”

I’m confused. “Then why…? Why can’t you just be happy for us?”

“It’s okay,” Harry murmurs, entwining his fingers with mine. “He isn’t going to listen to you.”

“On the contrary.” Karl sets the menu down in front of him. “I’m listening to every word.” He turns to me. “So, you want me to be happy? Correct?”

It wasn’t exactly what I said, but I’m not prepared to play word games with him. I won’t give him the satisfaction.

“What will make me happy is for you and your family to stay in Chicago where you belong and let me get on with my life.”

Tears well in my eyes, and I blink them back. I won’t cry in front of him either. I don’t understand his hatred, and if he isn’t prepared to talk about it, Harry and I will just have to get married without him. Only, I don’t want to start our lives knowing that I came between him and his dad.

“Okay, Dad.” Harry squeezes my fingers, letting me know that he’s alright. “You’ve had your say. Now, I’m going to have mine. I love Ruby. I know that she’s the one for me, and nothing you can say will ever change that.”

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