Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37885 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37885 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
“Yes, Daddy,” she says, straightening her back.
“Good girl. Now follow me, we’re going somewhere quieter.”
When we reach the roof, I have to make sure she goes out first, otherwise she would never agree to it. She kept asking on the way up if it was really all right and we wouldn’t get into trouble.
And honestly, it’s nice having my old Mina back again.
“I don’t want to go near the edge,” she says, her eyes wide. “Promise you won’t make me.”
“I’ll never make you do anything you don’t want to do, baby. You’re mine to protect, mine to love. I know I did a bad thing, letting you think we were already boyfriend and girlfriend, but it just felt so right. You are everything to me, Mina. Everything. You have been, since that first day.”
“You’ve always been everything to me. Ever since that first dinner. I met you and I was nervous because I was meeting my new family and my mom wanted me to make a good impression and I spilled the gravy and you…you made it all okay. You always make it all okay.”
I smile at the memory. I remember it so well. And now, I want to build some new memories.
“Baby. I need you. I need you with me, always.”
“But we—”
“No buts. This is how things have to be. You know it and I know it. We were made for each other, Mina, and the thought of being apart from you is the only thing in this world that scares me. I don’t ever want to face another day without you by my side. You’re my babygirl, my precious little one.” I drop down onto one knee as the traffic down below hums and roars, and the night sky stretches for the whole world in every direction. “Marry me,” I tell her, dragging out the ring I bought earlier. The one I had brought to the hotel and left at the front desk while she was doing her show. The one that will bind us together forever.
“What? I don’t—”
I laugh as she stumbles over her words. “There’s my perfect girl. My Mina. There’s only one word you need right now, baby, and that’s yes.”
“Y…yes…” she says, and a little grin pulls at the corner of her mouth. “Yes, Daddy.”
CHAPTER 14
Mina
Three weeks later
“Mom, say something.” I stare into her eyes. I was trying to give her time to process, but honestly five whole minutes of total silence is long enough.
In some ways, I know we were lucky. Thanks to their safari, nobody was able to get hold of them, and by the time they were back in the real world, things had blown over enough that nobody tried. But news channels are still discussing the ethics and practicality of a stepbrother and stepsister being romantically involved, and getting the two of them through baggage and into a car without them seeing or hearing anything was a minor miracle.
Still, we were able to do this ourselves, on our own terms, and for that I’m grateful.
“Earth to Mom…”
She reaches out a hand, a little smile playing on her lips, and places it against my cheek. “My beautiful baby girl.” I blush, thinking of the way Jackson says those exact same words. A lot less innocently. “How did I not know this was going on with the two of you?”
“It wasn’t. Not really. It all happened fast. You’re not mad?”
She shakes her head. “Shocked, sweetheart. Not mad. I just wish you’d talked about it with me first.”
“Would you have tried to talk me out of it?”
“Probably. It’s a big deal.”
I can’t argue with that. “It is a big deal. But we love each other.”
“Of course you do, that’s only natural. But there’s love and then there’s love. How do you know which one this is?”
“Oh, believe me, I know,” I say with a hint of Tina, then blush a little thinking of what we were doing in the parking lot while we waited for their plane to land. That was love. Not love. “Do you know which one it is with Allen?”
She narrows her eyes. “He’s not my brother, Mina.”
“And Jackson isn’t mine. He’s my stepbrother. We’re no more related than the two of you.”
It’s true, and there’s no backing down from this. Right now, Jackson is in another room, saying these same things to Allen, and maybe coming to blows over how much he told me about Allen’s financial issues, I don’t know. But what I do know is, this feels right. It might go against some of the less flexible rules society likes to put in place, but it’s not wrong, and one thing I’m learning lately?
Sometimes it’s okay to break the rules.
Tina had fun.
And she hasn’t completely gone into hiding.
“Mom, this is happening,” I tell her, looking her in the eye. “I want you to be happy for me, but my happiness doesn’t depend on it. Jackson makes me happy. More than happy.”