Page 45 of Grimm
“Time is all we have on this earth, and a lot of it has been taken away from you.” The judge removed his glasses and focused on my father. “Mr. MacDaniel, on behalf of the State of Nevada, I sincerely apologize for the gross injustice done to you and your family. The case against you, sir, is dismissed.”
Although Angus was wheelchair-bound, they still had him shackled at the feet and his hands cuffed like he could escape. Rage roared inside me, but I pushed it down. There was no point. He was coming home. The bailiffs removed the shackles from his feet and the cuffs from around his brittle hands.
“Sir, you are free to go. This court is adjourned.”
The judge rapped the gavel against the bench, and the courtroom erupted in cheers from the club members, celebrating the release of our club’s founder. Cameras clicked and flashed. While I hated the attention his release brought to the club just as his incarceration had, nothing could bring down my high.
I escorted my mother to where my father sat, and his face softened when his eyes landed on her. While Angus had wanted to hide his illness from her, my brother, and my sister, I’d told them. Even though we didn’t have the best relationship growing up, there was no way a man in his last days should have to go through the battle alone. He needed his family. All of us.
“Let’s go home,” I said, and the smile that crossed my father’s face was nothing short of amazing.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
REGINA
“Why are you nervous?”
I looked at him like he’d lost his damn mind. “I know you did not seriously ask me that, Tav.”
Today was the day I was meeting Angus MacDaniel, the man I’d helped to wrongfully convict. I’d met Tavish’s mother and sister briefly, His mother seemed accepting of my relationship with Tavish. Tavish’s brother and sister were more skeptical. I understood they had reason not to trust me, but I wouldn’t let it affect my relationship with Tavish. What we had was something I’d fight tooth and nail for.
He smirked. “You have nothing to worry about, doll. Angus isn’t as ruthless as he used to be. Those years behind bars and his sickness have mellowed him some.”
“But I’m the one who took his life away, Tav.”
He pulled me closer to him, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “He doesn’t blame you for doing your job, Gina. Of course, he’s a little wary because of who you are, but he doesn’t blame you for what happened. Anyway, we’re here. It’s too late to back out now.”
We arrived at the MacDaniel residence for what Tavish called their traditional Sunday dinner, although, since we’d been together, he hadn’t attended one.
“Why haven’t you gone to one of these things since we’ve been together if it’s something y’all do every weekend?”
“My family does this every weekend. I do not. The last time I came was to explain why we’re together.”
“So, you weren’t hiding me?”
He stopped and slowly turned to me, anger covering his face. It should have been a crime how beautiful this man was. Even in his anger, I’d never seen someone more beautiful.
“Why the hell do you think I would hide you?”
He looked offended. Tavish was a badass in every way, but he was also a family man. He loved his family and his brothers, and I was the one who’d wrecked the life he could have had, had he not taken over Sin City. His mother would still have her husband and his siblings, their father. Angus would have still had his club as their president.
“Because no matter what we were trying to accomplish, I took eleven years of your father’s life, and not just from him but everyone important to him.”
“Bullshit, Gina.” Tavish shook his head furiously. “You did your fucking job with what you were given. That shit ain’t on you. I won’t let you carry that because it’s not your cross to bear.”
A smile pulled at the corners of my mouth. I cupped the side of his face, and he leaned into my touch. I wasn’t even sure he realized he’d done it.
“Do you know how much I love you, Tavish MacDaniel?”
The smile that crossed his face was enough to make me want to say it to him a million times over. “I do. But not as much as I love you, doll.”
“Are you two done with the fucking love fest out here?” Amelia asked, breaking through our moment. “Some of us would like to eat sometime today.”
Tavish groaned, causing me to giggle. “Be there in a minute,” he said without taking his eyes off me.
She stomped off, mumbling under her breath, and Tavish pecked me on the lips. “You are my home, Gina. You are my family. They will learn to accept it because nothing’s changing.”
“And if they don’t?”
