Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
I took a breath to center myself. This wasn’t going at all how I’d imagined. I’d anticipated more disapproval and rejection. I could barely adjust to my father’s strange attitude. He seemed more upset about being kept in the dark than he was about the fact that I was marrying two men. For a moment, my heart lifted with dangerous hope.
“Marco is Joseph’s best friend,” I explained, glossing over the whole part where he’d kidnapped me and held me captive. I didn’t regret a single moment of our relationship, not even the dark parts. “I met him after Joseph and I had been dating for a month. We fell in love, too. We’re all a family now.”
My dad’s attention remained fixed on Joseph, his mouth nearly disappearing beneath his moustache on a deep frown. “You broke my daughter’s heart once before. How can I trust that you won’t do it again?” He jerked his chin in Marco’s direction. “Maybe he would be a better partner for her.”
“We don’t work that way,” I insisted, indignation making my tone a bit clipped. I didn’t need a singular partner. I needed both of my men.
I drew Joseph’s hand into my lap, tethering us more closely as I defended him. “What happened back then was a misunderstanding. We didn’t communicate what we both wanted. Marco is the one who brought us back together.”
“The separation was even harder on Joseph,” Marco rumbled, speaking for the first time to stand by his friend. “I’ve known him for most of his life, and I’ve never seen him as happy as he is with Ashlyn. He was a wreck without her. Ashlyn is his entire world. She’s my world, too.”
His attention drifted from my father on the last, and he gazed deep into my soul as he lifted our intertwined hands and brushed a kiss over my knuckles.
“All I want is to make your daughter happy,” Joseph declared, rubbing his thumb over my other palm. “I will spend every day of the rest of my life ensuring her happiness.”
My dad glanced between the three of us, taking in the tender way my men touched me, the way I clung to them with fierce determination. Finally, his head cocked to the side, considering.
“And who, exactly, are you going to marry?” he asked me. “Legally, you can’t marry them both. How will you choose?”
I pressed my lips to a thin line. He wasn’t getting it. I wouldn’t choose between them, no matter what.
“She should marry Joseph,” Marco said immediately. “Publicly, they’ve been a couple for longer. It’s easiest for appearances.”
“I don’t care about appearances,” I burst out, refusing to accept what he was offering.
Marco had sacrificed for our family so many times, and those days were behind us. I wouldn’t allow him to put himself last ever again.
Joseph seemed to have the same thing in mind. “No, you should marry her, Marco. You deserve this.”
Yes, my fierce protector deserved love and acceptance. Not everyone would understand our relationship, but if they couldn’t accept all of us, then I didn’t care what they thought.
Not even if it was my dad.
I tossed my hair over my shoulder in staunch refusal of their offers and squeezed their hands in gentle reprimand. “We don’t need a piece of paper to prove our love,” I announced. “I won’t choose between you. Jayme is going to be the officiant at our wedding ceremony, and that’s what matters. All that matters is our love for one another.”
I looked at my father on the last, beseeching. I craved for him to understand, but if he chose to walk away, my men would hold me while I cried over the loss. With their support, I could endure anything.
My father blew out a long sigh. “In my line of work, I’ve seen enough unhealthy relationships. I know it when I see a good one.” His bright gaze held mine, and my heart twisted with tentative longing. “I wasn’t expecting this,” he said gruffly. “I can’t say that this is the life I thought my daughter would have. But I love you, Ashlyn. If this is what makes you happy—if they make you happy—then I want to be here for you.” His attention swept my men. “I want to know you. Both of you.”
“Will you…” I barely dared to ask the question. “So you’ll come to the wedding?”
His chest puffed up, affronted. “I’m walking you down the aisle. I’m your father, aren’t I? That’s my job.”
“Oh!” My chest hitched on a soft sob as relief flooded me. “Thank you. You don’t know what that means to me.”
My dad was accepting me, my life choices. He might not ever fully understand me, and I definitely wasn’t living the life he’d planned for me. But he loved me. He was choosing to let go of his vision for my future and be part of my unconventional life.