Page 111 of Impending Consent

I almost fucking laughed because I didn’t need the privacy but apparently he did. According to TJ, their mother didn’t like the way we ended up here but she was being supportive, which meant a house divided. She was also giving him shit about the way he pulled up on Sail with the information about my ex and so were TJ and Sky. They were on my side.

I followed him through the foyer into his study.

"Drink?" he offered, moving to a crystal decanter.

"No, thank you. This won't take long."

He poured himself one and settled into a leather chair, motioning for me to take the one opposite. I remained standing.

"I need to clear up a few things with you because I think you have shit fucked up where I’m concerned.“

He lifted his drink and watched me over the rim of his glass. "I assume this is about the information I shared with my daughter."

"Information you deliberately dug up and handed out without out having context or understanding of what the hell it was," I corrected and kept my voice even when I was fucking pissed. "You could have asked me about Armesa if you really thought it was an issue."

He set his glass down. "I presented facts. How my daughter interpreted them was her choice."

"Are you fucking kidding me? You knew what that would do and I’m still confused on how you even got that shit. It wasn’t filed…”

“Ms. Taylor’s father wasn’t a fan of yours either.

I chuckled dryly and shook my head. Her father hated that she even considered someone like me. My commitment to care about his daughter didn’t matter because my pockets didn’t meet his approval. A man who worked hard to provide didn’t check the box for him. “Nah he didn’t and I’m guessing you don’t either based on this shit.”

Armesa had the licenses. Her father was a judge and she could have easily given it to him, which would have made it easy for Addison to get his hands on. This man wasn’t above calling in favors and Armesa wasn’t above complicating my life. She wasn’t exactly happy about me ending things. It’d fucked with her ego.

“I care about my daughter and that means protecting her when she’s too naïve to do so.”

“You don’t care about Sail.”

“Excuse me.”

“I said you don’t fucking care, because if you did, you would look at her and see she’s happy. I’m good for her, she’s good for me, and that’s all that matters. You wanted her to believe I had ulterior motives for being in her life..."

"And did you? The similarities are very convenient."

"I love Sailor and not because I think she’s a knock off of someone I wanted in the past.”

"So you say."

"So I know. I understand you're protective of her. I respect that but what you did wasn't protection, it was interference. You saw that she was happy and opening herself up to something that you couldn’t and that fucked with you."

His expression tightened. “You’re assuming a lot about my motivations, Mr. Hassan."

“Nah, but I recognize patterns too? TJ is doing his thing and so is Sky. Sail was the last one, and I get it, you want more for them than you feel they want for themselves, but if they’re happy, what does it fucking matter?"

He stood and his height matched mine. I didn’t want to put hands on Sail’s father but if he took it there, oh-fucking-well. "You don't know anything about my family."

"I know I love your daughter and she loves me. That’s the only thing that matters."

"And you’re here to what, check me?"

"I'm here to make something crystal fucking clear," I said, taking a step closer. "Sailor is my wife. I respect that you're her father, and I want us to be cool, but if you ever try to come between us like that again, or hurt her, you'll deal with me."

I half-expected him to throw me out but instead he smiled. It was tight as fuck but still held a sense of approval.

"You're not what I expected.”

"In what way?"

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