Page 49 of How to Win the Wild Billionaire

Bay pushed a weary hand through her hair. “If you come back to me, you’d better be damn sure that I, and Liv, are a priority and not an option. We’d better be the most important people in your life because I won’t settle for anything less, for her or for me. If you come back, you’d better be prepared to commit to me, and to Liv, in every way that matters. Are you hearing me on this, Digby?”

Resentment flashed in his eyes. “You want me to be Olivia’s dad.”

She did, so she nodded. She refused to settle for anything less than everything, for even a fraction less than wonderful. “Yeah, I do. You’re living in fear, Digby, and I wish you’d realize that none of us is out to hurt you.

“If you take a chance on me, I promise I will always be there for you, that I will never willingly walk away. Apart from infidelity and abuse, neither of which are in your nature, the only way you will lose me, and Olivia, is by not letting us in. I won’t abandon you. Neither will your family—you just have to give them,us, a chance.”

She’d said a lot already; she might as well get it all out. “But I also need to be able to rely on you, to know that you are not going to freak out and run when life throws us a curveball. I want to know that I can rely on you when things get tough, to celebrate with me when things go well. You have no idea how much you hurt me by not acknowledging my winning custody of Liv. I needed to share that with you but you weren’t there for me. I was,am, gutted about that.”

Desperation and guilt flared in his eyes but Bay forced herself to ignore what she saw. “I’m also so sad that you didn’t come to me when you heard about Roisin. I could’ve helped you make sense of it but you ran and looked for attention from people who don’t matter.

“I matter, Digby. So does your family.” Bay lifted her fingers to her cheeks, cursing her tears. She lifted her hands as Digby took a step toward her and she violently shook her head.

She had to end this conversation before she lost it completely and broke down in front of him.

Finding the last of her courage, she looked at Digby, his image blurry through her tears. “Make damn sure you know what you want before you come back, Tempest-Vane. And if you don’t, no hard feelings. I found a way to live without my dad’s love—I will do the same with you too.”

Feeling a little broken, and a lot sad, Bay turned away from him and stumbled toward the door, frantically wiping her tears away.

He’d come to her or he wouldn’t. There was nothing more she could do.

Because he’d slammed down a bottle of whiskey—alone—after Bay left him, and was the architect of his own massive headache, Digby decided that he didn’t deserve painkillers.

He was regretting that decision as he walked down the path leading from his house to the hotel. The sun felt like a million acid-tipped needles digging into his eyeballs and he was fairly sure his head was going to drop off his shoulders at any second.

I promise I will always be there for you, that I will never willingly walk away.

You’re living in fear.

I wish you’d realize that none of us is out to hurt you.

Yeah, the pain was nothing he didn’t deserve.

Digby sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. After a long night and a great deal of self-examination, recriminations and kicking his own ass, he knew he had fences to mend, explanations and decisions to make. He didn’t want to do any of it...dealing with people he loved was exhausting. It was easier to pretend when he was amongst strangers. And that was why he’d run from Roisin, from Radd and yeah, from Bay.

Strangers didn’t ask questions, demand more, couldn’t force him to confront feelings he wasn’t ready to deal with. And when he was chasing adrenaline, he had to—his life depended on it—push everything else away and focus on the task at hand. If he didn’t, he could die.

He didn’t want to die, but God, he wouldn’t mind it if someone cut off his head to get rid of his headache.

First things first...

Standing on the edge of the white-to-pink-to-red rose garden, Digby pulled out his phone and called Radd. His brother answered on the third ring. “You alive?” Radd asked, sounding tense.

“Yeah.”

Radd didn’t speak again and Digby sighed. Radd wasn’t going to make this easy for him; none of them, damn them, would. “So much happened very quickly.”

It was a weak excuse but the only one he was prepared to give. “Yeah, I heard that you fell in love around the same time you heard about Roisin,” Radd commented, his voice bland.

Digby dropped his phone to look at his screen. Shaking his head, he lifted it up to his ear again. “I don’t know that I’m in love with her, Radd.”

“Of course you are, Dig. Any idiot, apparently, can see it,” Radd told him, sounding impatient. “I really like her, by the way, so does Brin. Roisin considers her to be a very good friend.”

He couldn’t think of Bay, not just yet. He needed to get his family situation sorted and then he’d deal with these churning, burning, crazy feelings he had for Bay.

“What does Roisin want from us, Radd?”

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Radd asked. “And when you’re done with that, pull your head out of your ass and go and talk to Bay.”

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