Grey, looking edible in a pair of jeans and a faded Tangled Royal concert tee shirt, slid onto the couch beside her.
“Are you okay, sugar?” He skimmed his knuckles down her cheek, his green eyes boring into hers.
She didn’t realize how much she’d been holding inside her until she heard the concerned tone in his voice, and she broke down. Tears came, unbidden and unwanted, but she couldn’t make them stop.
“I’m just so tired of … this.” She gestured to herself. “I want to be stronger than this. I am stronger than this.”
“Crying doesn’t make you weak. Your actions are the thing that define you, and you’re doing pretty damn good if you ask me.”
No, Avery thought. She wasn’t. But she would be. “My father called. He’s coming to talk. Apparently he’s upset that my personal life is bringing up his past indiscretions. Can you imagine that?”
Grey blew out a deep breath, managing to hang on to control by a thread despite the blood pumping hard through his veins. First she was put through the wringer by the press because of him, and now her father was blaming her for it?
“No. And I’ll make damn sure he knows if he wants to get to you, he needs to go through me.”
She reached out and touched his arm. “It’s time I handled my father.” Because she believed Ella had had a point earlier. “He needs to know how much damage he’s done to me and my life.”
Grey didn’t like letting her deal with her angry parent, but he respected her need to do it. “I’ll be by your side,” he said. “That’s nonnegotiable.”
A smile lifted her lips, and some color finally returned to her face. “Deal.”
When he’d walked in, she’d been so pale it’d frightened him. And considering he’d driven here in a panic, ignoring the speed limit to get to her, that was saying something.
“If I were a better man, I’d let you go. I’d settle in L.A. and make sure that the press and the paparazzi never had a reason to come near you again,” he said, the words taking him by surprise.
She narrowed her gaze. “Don’t you dare make those kinds of decisions for me.”
He appreciated her guts even as guilt swamped him. He’d never wanted the uglier side of his life to touch hers. But he wasn’t leaving her.
“Don’t worry. I’m not that better man,” he said wryly. “I came home and made my play. What kind of fool would I be to walk away from you now?” He chuckled but sobered quickly. “But you’re the one suffering from being with me.”
“You’re wrong, Grey.” She grasped his hand tightly and opened her mouth to continue when the doorbell rang. “We’re going to have to pick this up later, okay?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised her. If she couldn’t handle the shit that came with Grey Kingston, she was going to have to be the one to walk away.
The thought made his stomach cramp and his heart feel empty, but he refused to dwell on the negative. From everything she’d said and done so far, Avery was willing to step up and fight for them.
Starting with her father.
* * *
Avery braced herself as she let her father inside her apartment. She wanted to have a calm, rational, thoughtful conversation with her parent. One that let her explain the things she kept inside and maybe helped forge a new understanding.
“What’s with the bodyguard?” he asked, and that one question destroyed any chance for Avery to remain calm, rational, or thoughtful.
Avery blew out a long breath. “Really, Dad? You have nine children, and none of them told you what’s going on in my
life? Or is it that you only pay attention when something impacts you? Or one of Savannah’s kids?” she asked, that last part shocking even Avery.
Robert blinked, obviously startled. “Now, Avery—”
Suddenly, she felt Grey’s hand on her shoulder, his strong presence telling her he had her back. A massive lump the size of a boulder formed in her throat, and tears threatened once more. She’d had her mom and her siblings, but until now, this very moment, she’d always felt alone.
“Dad, this is Grey Kingston.” Avery didn’t know if her father remembered her high school boyfriend, and she didn’t care.
“I recognize you. And I wish I could say it’s a pleasure, but your antics are having a negative impact on my family and my business, young man.”
Grey’s fingers tightened around her shoulder. “I promised Avery I’d let her deal with you, sir, but make no mistake, if you insult her or hurt her in any way, that promise will mean nothing. So I suggest you tread lightly.”