Page 67 of The Caress

"I’ll let you do most of the talking," I say, reaching for her hand under the table as I sit down next to her. "If you need me to jump in, all you have to do is squeeze my hand. And if he starts getting too nasty, we can just end the call. You don’t have to put up with his abuse anymore, baby. Not ever."

"I know." She smiles and presses the button on the laptop to connect the video call. "I’m glad you’re here with me."

"Always." I lean over to kiss her cheek just as her father appears on the screen. It’s hard not to scowl at the man who caused so much conflict between me and Ella, but I promised her I’d work on my temper, and this is going to be my first big test.

If I can get through this video call without yelling, I can handle anything.

"Did you call to apologize?" are the first words out of her father’s mouth.

God, please give me the strength to deal with this asshole.

"No," she answers, her tone neutral but firm. "I’m calling to let you know that I’m not going to be a part of your schemes anymore. You and I are going to have some new boundaries if we’re going to have any kind of relationship moving forward."

This is the moment of truth, the moment where the conversation could go very right or very wrong. I genuinely have no idea how he’s going to react to this new, assertive Ella.

But I’m eager to find out. And just for the record, I really like this confident, in-charge side of her. Then again, I like every side of her.

Unsurprisingly, her dad isn’t happy. "You have a lot of nerve talking to me like that. You think that you’re all high and mighty now that you’re shacked up with your rich boyfriend, don’t you? Well, let me tell you something, young lady. You aren’t special. He’ll get tired of you and move on sooner or later, mark my words."

Nope.

She might be taking the lead in this conversation, but that doesn’t mean he gets a free pass to be a jerk.

"You’re wrong," I say, simply. "About a lot of things, I’d imagine, but definitely about that. I’m not ever going to get tired of your daughter. I won’t ever leave her."

Ella looks over at me and offers a tiny smile before returning her attention to the screen in front of us. "Keir and I love each other. We’re going to get married someday soon. I’d like for you to be there, but..."

"I won’t be there if you keep acting like a spoiled brat," he interrupts.

"But," Ella says, raising her voice just enough to be heard over him. "I’m done letting you make demands. I’m not looking for your approval anymore, Dad. I’m not asking for it, and I don’t need it."

"And just who do you think is going to walk you down the aisle? I'll bet you’ll need me for that."

He really doesn’t get it, does he? He can’t fathom a world where his daughter won’t continue putting up with his bullshit, but he’s about to find out the hard way what I’ve known for a while—that Ella is strong enough to make it on her own when she has to.

She’s also stubborn enough to make sure she succeeds.

"I’m not worried about who will or won’t walk me down the aisle," she says, giving my hand a slight squeeze.

That’s my signal.

"We probably won’t have a big, flashy wedding anyway," I add. "We’ve talked about doing something small and intimate, with just a few friends and family there to celebrate with us. We want to do something that will be special and meaningful for the two of us most of all." I look over at her and smile. "I’m going to do things right this time. It’s going to be our day, celebrating our love for each other."

Ella's dad shakes his head, a look of disgust spreading across his face.

"You two have it all figured out, don’t you? You think you have all the answers. Just wait until things get hard. Neither one of you has had to deal with real problems or do a day of real work in your pampered, spoiled lives." He grunts and mutters something under his breath, then adds, "I have to sit around and listen to my oldest daughter disrespect me while she flies all over the world with a man who is almost my age. Have you considered how that makes me feel? Just once, have you thought of anyone but yourself, Ella?"

"I, um..." She swallows hard and squeezes my hand again. "I never meant to upset you or disrespect you. My relationship with Keir doesn’t reflect on you and doesn’t have anything to do with you, Dad."

"By God, it does!" he shouts before I have a chance to jump in. "Everything you do reflects on me. Every bad decision you make. Every failure. That goddamn sex tape! Is it any wonder that I had to pretend your sister was sick? I needed something to deflect all the negative attention. And you still haven’t sent us the money you promised. I’m starting to think you’re only going to be happy when you see Joy and your mother out on the street. Is that what you want, Ella? Because I’ll do it. I’ll throw both of them out on their asses right now."

This conversation has gone completely off the rails. I don’t know if there’s any hope of salvaging it at this point.

Ella’s mouth is hanging open, completely speechless. She isn’t even squeezing my hand anymore.

It’s way past time for me to say something. "If you kick them out, we’ll fly them out here to stay with us. We’ll take them back to Scotland. I have plenty of spare bedrooms."

"You can’t take Joy," he barks. "You’ve already ruined my oldest daughter’s reputation. I won’t let you get anywhere near my youngest."

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