I nodded my understanding. Ashlyn must be deeply upset if she’d sought two punishments today. Our control provided her with stability and comforted her when she was anxious. I would always gladly give her what she needed, but I hated that she was in pain because of her bastard father’s rejection.
“We’ll talk to him,” I announced. “All three of us. We owe it to Ashlyn to do this together. If he still doesn’t accept our relationship, then we’ll deal with it as a family. We have to at least try. For her.”
Marco’s jaw ticked, but he gave me a short jerk of his head in agreement. “You’ll have to do most of the talking. I don’t want to fuck this up by telling that judgmental asshole what I really think of him.”
Ashlyn’s father had caused her so much pain with his exacting standards for her. My fingers tightened around my beer bottle with my own rush of frustrated aggression.
No, we couldn’t fuck this up. We would give her dad one last chance to prove that he deserved to be in her life.
“We’ll call him tomorrow,” I declared. “Once we talk to Ashlyn.”
“Agreed.”
If my angel was too hurt to face her father again so soon, we wouldn’t push her. But I knew she valued their relationship, strained as it was. If she wanted him at our wedding, we’d have to convince him of our love.
And I had no problem showing my love for Ashlyn, for my family. The three of us belonged to each other, and we would be together forever, no matter what her father said.