Page 22 of Kane's Fake Relationship

He turned and smiled at her. “Yes, well, I speak highly of her as well. Trinity is a special human, and I expect the best for her.”

“I understand, sir.”

“Do you want a drink?”

“No, I’m good actually. We will head to my parents after this, and I don’t want to drink and drive.”

“Good man. Let me get you a bottle of water, then. I’ll be back.”

Trinity watched as her uncle moved to the kitchen. “That’s one way to win bonus points.”

“It’s true. I told you I would take care of you, Trinity, as long as you let me, and I’d never endanger you by drinking and driving you somewhere.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking with almost every member of her family, playing with kids and eating some of the best food I’ve ever tasted. It would have been overwhelming if I didn’t have a huge family as well. When we were getting ready to leave, her uncle asked to talk to me, so I followed him into what appeared to be a guest bedroom, much to Trinity’s dismay.

“You know, Trinity doesn’t have a father,” he started as soon as the door closed behind us.

“She mentioned that.”

“And I’m not one to take the place of another man, but I consider Trinity as one of my own girls. When my sister had her, I knew in that instant I would be part of her life forever. The two of them haven’t had the easiest time, but I try to provide for them in any way I can. Trinity puts on a strong front, but she has a soft and vulnerable heart.”

“I can see that, sir.”

“I know what she does for a living. I also know what her new business venture really is. She would hate to know that, but I’m telling you so that you understand I don’t judge her for any of her decisions. In fact, I’m proud of how far she has come. She dated someone years ago that did a number on her and her mother always worries she’ll never trust anyone again. She looks at you differently.”

I took in every word he said and nodded my head in agreement. It didn’t surprise me he knew about Trinity’s work. It would be hard for a man who has cared for her so long not to look into how she spends her time in the city. I respected him for it.

“Sir, why haven’t you told her you know? Or that you are proud of her?”

“I don’t want her to second guess her decisions and wonder what I would think. Someday I’ll tell her, but now is not the time.”

“I see.”

“Kane, I am telling you all this just to say that I hope you don’t hurt her. If you do, we will all be here to lift her up again, but she deserves better from a man she cares so much about. I know about you and your family. When she told me she hired Saint Construction, I looked into you all. Your parents have a lot to be proud of and I hope the man they know is the one that is dating my niece. Not the man who runs around town making a reputation for himself.”

“I can assure you most of the rumors regarding me are not true. I care very much for Trinity, and I have no intentions of letting her go. She is just now learning to let me in. It may take us a long time to get there, but we will.”

“That’s what I want to hear. Now you all should get going, so you aren’t late to see your family. We’ll see you at church in the morning.”

I shook his hand and found Trinity in the kitchen with her mother.

“Thank you so much for allowing me to spend the day with you, Ms. Hill.”

“Maxine, Kane… don’t forget it.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry.”

I reached for Trinity and placed my hand on her back. “If you are ready to go, we should head to my parents.”

Trinity’s mom pulled the both of us in for a hug. “We will see you at church and have breakfast tomorrow,” she said before pulling me in tighter and whispering into my ear, “She really likes you, son, don’t let her walls scare you away.”

I smiled down at the woman with a promise that I won’t give up before I helped Trinity into her coat and out to the car.

We were the last ones to arrive at my parents, but my mother didn’t seem to mind. She was enthralled with Trinity the second we walked in, and I couldn’t blame her. I had never brought anyone home for Christmas and my mother always had this crazy Christmas wish thing she did. She would go around and wish each of us would get married to whatever person she chose for the year and settle down here in Whitewood. Her guesses for me changed every year, but I had a feeling from this point forward they would always be Trinity. Ironically enough, this year Jack had his old high school girlfriend, Kyra, with him and Nick had a heavily pregnant woman at his side. He was falling all over himself to keep her comfortable, and she looked oddly familiar. I don’t remember ever seeing her at the penthouse, which had to have meant she was the sub from the club everyone was talking about. The one who went missing… and now she was pregnant. I had a feeling there was a lot more to that story than we would find out tonight.

“Hi! I’m Eve, Kane’s younger sister... well, one of them,” Eve said as she walked up and pulled Trinity into her arms.

“It’s nice to meet you, Eve. I guess you would be the one I have to thank.”

---