Page 85 of The Ruthless and the Strong

“Okay, fine. We won’t talk about Lorenzo anymore. I hope you will come to terms with it someday and let me in, to share some of your burdens. But we should at least talk about what happened at the gym.”

I let out a tired sigh. “No, we don’t. I’m over it and you should be also.”

“Not until you hear me out,” he said, grabbing my shoulder. He moved us away from the window and nearer the stove, where he turned on the overhead light, letting out a soft glow that wasn’t too noticeable from the outside.

“I was out of line,” he said.

I held up my hand. “No need to say any more. I said something I didn’t mean as well.”

He was quiet for a moment or two. “I had thought you’d gotten over it. That you had forgiven me for the way things started with Olivia and me.”

“I was. I am. For the most part, okay? I’m glad she has you. You know the only thing I ever wanted was for her to be happy. You make her happy. That was all I wanted for you as well. I knew how the shit at hockey camp had messed you up. You tried so hard to hide it from me, but I could tell. And it was like no matter what I did, there was always this dark cloud hanging over your head. Then I saw you smile for the first time after coming back home to Chicago. I knew it had something to do with Oliva. I had suspected something was going on for the longest time, but I was afraid of confronting you about it. Of finding out the truth. But everything has worked out for the best, and I do love that you’re together with her.”

I squeezed his shoulder, offering him a small smile. Then he said, ‘“I wish you would give yourself permission to be happy as well,” and wiped away all the traces of my smile.

I pulled my hand back. “I’m content.”

“Not happy.”

“It doesn’t matter. Happiness plays such a small role in our lives that we shouldn’t put so much weight on it.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?” he asked me, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “There were some things I said at the gym that were true.”

“Yeah? What?”

“You shouldn’t have let Lizzie go. You should have grabbed onto her with both hands and never let her go, the moment you realized you loved her. You wanted to give her a chance to grow up without any interference from you. But pushing her away wasn’t the way to do it, because now, you’re both miserable. For what? Because you don’t think you deserve to be happy?”

A gasp at the threshold took our attention. I turned and found Olivia and Lizzie standing there, Emma in Olivia’s arms, while Hunter held onto Lizzie’s hand with his eyes closed.

“We came to tell you we’re going to head home,” Olivia said.

I nodded, not looking away from Lizzie. I didn’t know what the look in her eyes meant, and a part of me didn’t want to find out. Mason moved over to them, and he picked Hunter up in his arms and nodded at Lizzie once before wrapping his other hand around Olivia and walking to the front door.

The door leading to the backyard opened a few seconds later and Gage, Kiera, Logan, and Hayden walked through. I suffered through the five minutes it took them to wish me a happy birthday before taking their leave.

Then it was just Lizzie and me in this quiet house. She still hadn’t said a word to me, but she had started to tidy up around the kitchen. I moved over to her. She was aware of that; I could see her shoulders tensing a bit before she forced herself to relax and continued to pick up some of the napkins and paper plates scattered around.

I stood behind her, then reached over for her hands, grabbing her wrists and halting her movements.

“Leave it,” I said gruffly. “I’ll take care of this tomorrow.”

A tense silence moved in the space around us. I could hear her labored breathing, and I looked down over her shoulders and watched as her chest moved up and down with every exhale and inhale.

My grip tightened a bit around her wrists before I let go and wrapped my arms around her waist. I bent down and rested my chin on her shoulder, looking ahead at the garden window above the stove, to our reflection there.

I watched with bated breath when she moved her delicate hands over and placed them on top of mine.

Then she turned around until she was facing me.

“Stay the night,” I said, before I could think too much about it.

She nodded and smiled. “Take me to bed?”

“Okay.” I pulled her up in my arms, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. Then I made my way upstairs, holding on to her tightly in my arms.

I moved through the bedroom door and kicked it closed gently behind me before I laid her down on the bed and crawled on top of her, between her spread legs. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down for a kiss.

I closed my eyes and gave in to her, letting her control the pace of it, savoring the feel of her slick, warm tongue moving against mine. She moaned in my mouth when I grabbed her small breast in my large hand, massaging the soft flesh before moving to her nipple, playing with her. God, she was perfect.

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