ASHLYN
My stomach was in knots, and I couldn’t quite meet my father’s eyes. Guilt twisted my insides along with anxiety; I hated that I couldn’t simply be proud to show him our home. Instead, I was fighting down nausea as my stomach roiled. I didn’t think I could handle another rejection. Only my men’s strong, steady presence at my sides kept me from bursting into tears.
They had seated themselves on our massive couch on either side of me, creating a united front to face my dad where he sat in the brown leather armchair across from us.
“I’m glad I could see you while I’m in town,” he said, and surprise finally drew my eyes to his. “I don’t like how we left things yesterday.”
I hadn’t expected him to say anything like that, and the slight strain in his voice confused me further. I’d braced myself for his censure, not this…hurt?
Despite the shine over his eyes, his gaze narrowed slightly as he took in the way Marco and Joseph hemmed me in.
I tilted my chin in defiance of his disapproval and took my men’s hands in both of mine, twining our fingers together in a clear demonstration of unity.
“Thanks for coming, Dad.” My voice barely quavered with the intensity of my emotions. Marco’s hand squeezed mine, a silent promise of his pride at my show of strength. “I don’t like how we left things either,” I admitted. “But I need you to know that I love both Joseph and Marco. We’re getting married in two months in Sorrento. I want you to be there, but I…” I swallowed down the lump that formed in my throat. “I will understand if you don’t want to.”
“Of course I want to be at my daughter’s wedding,” he bit out, somewhere between offended and angry. His blue eyes flashed when they surveyed Joseph. “How did this even happen? I thought you were with Joseph. How long have you been keeping this from me? You’re engaged, and I didn’t even know. I’m your father.”
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.