Page 70 of Tear Me Down
“Daddy, don’t be mean to him,” Serena spits back, pointing a finger at her father and clearly gearing up for an argument.
“How about this?” I interject as I step to the refrigerator and grab a water bottle. “Girls, show your mom around the house, take her out back, and show her the views. Let her know you're not chained and shackled while Carter and I talk to your dad.” I slip the water bottle into Ashia’s hand and kiss the back of her head before I gesture towards my home office. “Mr. Anderson, if you'd like, the office is down this hall.” He stands and begins to walk toward thehallway, Carter falling in behind him. I take a step in the same direction when Ashia grabs my hand.
“Damien, you don’t have to explain yourself to him.” She grips me tighter and pulls me in her direction, but I don’t let her have her way this time. It’ll be better for her in the long run if we get this out of the way now, and if he’s any threat to our relationship? Well, I need to know that, too. I reach down and kiss her on the cheek as I pull my hand away.
“I asked his daughter to marry me, and he doesn’t know who I am. Yes, I do.” I kiss her cheek again before Carter and I walk Mr. Anderson down to my office—a room I rarely use, but will provide us with some privacy. We walk in, and after Mr. Anderson looks around for a moment, he takes a seat at one of the chairs in front of the desk. I walk around to the other side, where I can access my locked, oldest bottle of scotch and glance at him during the silence. Carter stands off to the side, leaning against the wall and trying to appear casual, but knowing him, his anxiety is building with every second that passes. I lean against the desk, trying to look as casual as I can for him while I pour him a drink.
“I would like to apologize for my lack of communication at the hospital. I was…very distraught.” I hand him his glass, and surprisingly he takes it—which lifts my spirits a little. “Regardless, that’s not an excuse, and I normally have much better manners, sir. So, for that, I'm sorry.” I look him in the eyes and take the first sip.
“Call me Richard, and there’s no apologies necessary. Serena had explained your relationship with Ashia, so we understood. We were also heartbroken by what had happened to her…” There’s an awkward silence. “I know I'm not her father…”
“No, you're not.” I interrupt him, not wanting him to belittle his presence in her life. “You’re much more than that. You are her dad in her eyes, and that’s all that matters. She loves and respects you, and I should have done more to include you in our lives. I'm sorry that I haven’t so far. There’s just been a lot going on, and I know that’s not an excuse, but you mean a lot to her. You and Marla both, and I can see that.” He smiles, but then it quickly fades.
“Marla and I have a lot of guilt when it comes to her past. When she was little, we didn’t get her away fast enough, and with Cooper…” he hesitates, visibly swallowing. “We didn’t notice. We just assumed that she was an adult, in a mature relationship, trying to figure out who she was… We didn’t think…”
He looks away as the remorse glazes over his eyes, and then he shakes his head in quick movements, as if to brush the feelings aside.
“She hid what was happening, and we didn’t know until Serena called us the night of her attack. Or, last attack, I should say.” He takes a small drink, the pain in his eyes ever evident. “We know the signs now, and we won’t ignore them. No matter what Serena says, no matter what Ashia says, we had to know she is happy, and that she is okay.”
“I assure you, she is,” I try to placate him.
“Is she, though?” He stares back at me, almost disapprovingly. “She was alone for so long, and then we hear that she’s seeing someone new. Only a short couple of weeks later she’s in the hospital, and not actually sick—poisoned. Even though you all lied to our faces while we stood by what could have been her death bed.” His tone grows increasingly angered. My stomach flips, and I can feel the cool whisp of my failure graze the back of my neck, raising goosebumps along my arms.
“That was for her own protection.”
“Save it, because I’m not done,” he seethes and his jaw clenches for a moment before he continues. “Then we hear that not only is she still with you, but she’s living in the same house she was poisoned in, your home, when we don’t know the first thing about you. Now my other daughter is dating his best friend? I’m sorry to say, that doesn’t ease any of our worries!”
“She said we’re dating?” Carter asks confused, and I glare at him, warning him not to push any buttons until we can ease some of this tension, but Richard turns to look at him—giving him a stare that could possibly kill him before he turns back to me.
“Regardless of whatever you call this, it’s all very sudden and odd. Nothing makes sense, especially with who Ashia is.” He stands abruptly, scooting the chair back and causing it to scrape across the floor. “Then Serena tells me Ashia is engaged, and I had never even spoken to you! I'm not her father, and I don’t have a right to ask questions about what is going on here, but God damn it, that’s my daughter! Both of my daughters!” He thrusts his hand towards the door and lets it slap back at his side. “I won’t sit back and be quiet this time!”
“May I?” I ask plainly, trying to contain my own aggravation. His concern is justified, and I can’t argue with his logic and the pain that I’ve caused her, but for him to think that I would intentionally hurt her, or Carter hurt Serena, is completely off base, and I need to settle this before it turns into a brawl of some sort. He aggressively gestures for me to continue with a circling motion of his hand. While normally that would urge me to break his wrist, I remain stoic, knowing that hurting him would be something I couldn’t come back from. “I completely understand your reservations, and I respect how you feel—especially considering Ashia’s past.” He narrows his eyes at me, trying to decipher my true intentions. “I can assure you that every choice she’s had since I met her was her own. Well, except one.” I chuckle slightly and Carter looks at me curiously as he harshly shakes his head, urging me to shut the fuck up.
For anyone else, that may be the best course of action, but that’s not what needs to be done here. Richard is the type of man that respects honesty, and who can see through layers of bullshit like they have labels. Anything less than the truth is going to make the situation worse, and while I can’t tell him about DH, I need to approach this in a way that will suffice for him.
“And what choice would that be?” Richard crosses his arms and stands guarded, daring me to continue.
“I'm an honest person, Richard, so I won’t lie to you. I didn’t give her a choice on whether she was with me or not. I knew from the moment I saw her that she had to be in my life. That choice I didn’t give her, but she chose everything else. She decided not to run from me or our relationship. She wanted to move in with me, and she chose to love me. I didn’t make her do any of that. She could’ve chosen to hate me, and I would take every show of that with grace, but she didn’t, and I'm grateful every day for it.”
“You expect me to believe that Ashia, a woman who’s practically been a recluse for six years, just up and decided to move within a few weeks of knowing you?” he asks skeptically.
“That’s exactly what I expect.” I proclaim. He draws his head back, almost in shock from what I said. “Only because it’s the truth. We have a connection people only dream of, and from what she’s told me, you and Marla know something about a connection like that. Ashia is a much stronger woman than most people give her credit for, and she’s finally let herself have something she’s always wanted. I’m just lucky enough to be the one she loves.”
The uncertainty swirls in the colors of his eyes, and I can see that he wants to continue. I knew this wouldn’t be a short and sweet conversation, but now I’m starting to doubt that there’s anything I can say to make this better.
“This is just a lot to take in. All of this, and then the fight she and Serena had, it all seemed like déjà vu. She lied to us last time, told us that everything was fine, and that we had no reason to worry. When the reality was that she was living in hell and felt that her agony was a burden to us. She thought coming to us for help meant she was a problem, that she took more from us than she gave, and I don’t ever want her to feel like that again. I want to believe that she’s truly safe and happy, but I have to ask these questions. We had to see for ourselves.”
“I understand that, too. All of this is definitely out of character for her, but she’s not that meek, scared, little girl anymore, Richard. She went so long without any control over what she could say, what she could do, and how she could feel, that I swore to never take those choices from her, and I meant it. Every other choice washers. She has finally found herself again, and I didn’t make her do that either. She just needed the room to breathe, the affirmation that someone was going to be there for her, no matter what, and she flew,” I reply honestly, and thankfully, I’m met with a nod of affirmation. It’s clear that he sees a difference in her now, just as the rest of us do, but he’s having a hard time convincing himself that it’s real.
“She seems more like herself when we talk,” he admits quietly. “I hear the happiness in her voice, and it’s not closed answer conversations like it was in the past, but it still feels like she’s hiding something… That you’re hiding something. Whatever it is just better not put her in harm’s way. No offense meant, but you are the least of my concerns.”
“I don’t need you to parent me, Richard. I have my own family for that. You should always put her needs first. Just like I do.”
He doesn’t move. There are a few moments where he just stares directly into my eyes, and I don’t falter as I stare back. Heneeds to know that I’m not backing away from my woman for anything, including him and what he probably calls ‘a stern talking to.’ After a moment, he slowly releases a breath, and some of the tension in his body starts to fade out.
“I just want her to be happy. She’s earned that,” he replies quietly but sternly, showing his clear affection for her.
“Damn right, she has. She is content with me, sir, but most importantly, for the first time in her life, she’s pleased with herself, and that means more to me than anything else. I love her more than words could ever express, and I know she loves me too. So, as much as I would like your approval and your blessing,sir, I don’t need it.” He nods at my statement, almost appreciatingly. “You have my word that she will always have a choice, and she’ll always be safe and loved with me. I will take care of her, but I won’t coddle her. She’s too strong for that.” He nods once at me as he sits back down, seemingly thinking the conversation is over.
