"What are you doing here, dad? It's the middle of the night."

Damian Hale stood stoic in front of me. At six-foot-two he was a tall and built like a linebacker. He gave off that menacing vibe to people around him. Sure it was good for business, but I was used to it so it didn't affect me much.

"Are you going to invite me in, son? Or are we going to do this in the hall?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Why don't you just use your key."

Maybe I was being a smartass, but after everything I went through with this man, I couldn't help it.

My dad narrowed his eyes before nodding his head towards the door. "Inside, Ryan. Now. We need to talk."

Yeah, sure we did. I'll get right on that.

I cursed under my breath, sliding my key into the lock to open my door. I pushed it wide and motioned for my father to go inside. I followed behind him, not caring that the door slammed.

He turned towards me with a scowl. "Haven't you any respect? Slamming doors? You're going to wake your wife."

Here we go again.

"Her name is Danielle. And she isn't here tonight."

He cocked a dark eyebrow at that. "Where has she run off to?"

"She didn't run anywhere, dad. She's spending time with her mom." I turned on my heel and started towards the kitchen. Whiskey. I needed fucking whiskey for this convo. "You see, dad, with her family, they actually like each other. They're understanding and compassionate. They show love." I downed the whiskey. "Acceptance."

"Is that how this is going to go?" my father barked. "Are you going to stand there and point out my shortcomings? I molded you into the son you were meant to be. I wasn't soft with you, Ryan, and for good reason."

I frowned and started searching through the cabinets.

"What are you looking for?"

I turned towards him. "I'm looking for a Father of the Year mug for you. Must have misplaced it."

He came at me then, shoving his long finger in my face. "Don't take that flippant tone with me, Ryan. You've caused enough trouble as it is."

"That's hilarious, dad, really. What crime did I commit? Loving someone? Wanting to be happy?"

"We all have to make sacrifices—"

"And what sacrifices have you made? Nothing. You have it all. Oh wait," I snapped my fingers, "you did give up something. Like how to be a decent human being." I shook my head at my dad. How did he become like this? "You wanted me to marry someone I didn't love, dad. I wouldn't have been happy. You have no idea how it feels to be pushed into an arranged marriage with someone you barely know."

"I know exactly how that feels," he blurted. "Because it was done to me too!"

Suddenly time seemed to stop. The heavy silence following my father's confession saturated the air around us.

"What are you talking about, dad? You married mom—"

"It was arranged," he said quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You mother and I...It was an arranged marriage."

Dozens of thoughts and images of memories from my childhood zipped though my mind. And the questions? Fuck. I had so many fucking questions.

"Sit down, son. It's time we had a talk."

I walked in a daze to the dining room table where he sat at the head. I put a little space between us and sat two chairs down. We remined in silence for several minutes. Neither of us speaking. Neither of us looking at each other.

Then finally...

"It was my father, your grandfather's, doing," he said softly. "I was brought up very similar to you. The only difference was that I was desperate for my father's affection and would do anything to please him. So I eagerly and willingly married your mother. Don't get me wrong, we were...happy. As happy as we could be. We never loved each other—not like you and...Danielle. But we cared about each other deeply."

He absently fidgeted with the candle on the table. "I met Everly, Jackson's mother, when I was visiting a friend of mine at NYU. She was a student in his class. When I was walking to his office, I accidentally bumped into her and she dropped all her books. Naturally I tried to help her pick them up, but she—"

"Wouldn't let you," I finished for him. Even this story was news to my ears, I knew Every better than my birth mom. She rarely accepted help. "Continue. Please."

My dad stared at the unlit candle. His brows dipped into a deep V and there was a tightness to his face. "She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Add in her independence and her wit? I was a goner right from the beginning."

"Is that when you got together?"

He shook his head. "No. I knew what was at stake if I strayed. So I apologized for running into her and continued on my way. A year went by before I saw her again. I thought about her constantly, wondering if I had done the right thing."

"Where did you see her again?"

When a corner of my my dad's mouth lifted in a smile, I almost gasped in surprise. The man never smiled.

"I've never believed in the whole 'things happen for a reason' thing," he explained. "I was having trouble with your mom at the time and I had a huge meeting I wasn't prepared for. I had a panic attack on the way to the meeting. I never had one before so it scared the hell out of me. Anyway, my driver too me to New York General and...there she was."

My father's eyes finally met mine. "Everly was there doing her clinicals and she was assigned as my nurse. She was surprised that I remembered her. How could I not? She haunted my dreams for a long time. I never told her that, of course."

Problems with my father aside, I really needed to hear this story. "What happened after that?"

"I wasn't going to miss my opportunity again. I couldn't. So I asked her to dinner." My father's smile turned into full blown—which scared me even more. Who was this man? "She said no at first. Naturally. So I went back there every day she worked to try again." There was light in his eyes when he looked at me. "It took me twenty five days before she said yes."

It took me a few minutes to find my voice. "I've never heard this story. You guys never talked about how you met or anything. Does mom know?"

The light left his eyes instantly. "No. She doesn't know the whole story." He leaned back in the chair. "Everly and I connected immediately. We kept it a secret for awhile, but when I found out she was pregnant..."

When my father squeezed his eyes tight, I thought it was from the pain of the memory. God, I was so wrong about that. When he opened his eyes, there was a profound love that I had never seen before.

"When she told me she was pregnant, I was—shit. I was over the moon. That's when I realized I'd fallen in love with her. Deep. I finally got a taste of what real love felt like. And I wanted it." He ran a hand through his hair. "She knew I was married the whole time we were together. She accepted it because she loved me too. But I had to give it a shot with her. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a divorce."

"Wait, what? I thought that—"

"That's the story we told you kids. That I divorced your mom to be with Everly then we got remarried. But that wasn't true. I moved out of the home I shared with your mom and moved in with Everly for those seven years after Jackson was born. Your mom agreed to stay married to me for the security, but she was free to see others as well. We both tried to hide it from my father. But he found out anyway."

There it is, I thought to myself. That heart-wrenching pain was in his voice. I was familiar with it.

"What did grandpa do?"

"I'm not going to go into details, but I had no choice but to move back with your mom. It broke Everly's heart and she took Jackson and they returned to London. The rest you know."

My head swam with this new information. My father had fallen in love with Everly. And not only that, it was the kind of love that I had for Dani. And he was in an arranged marriage?

What. The. Fuck.

"That's why you're cold to Jackson, isn't it?" I asked in a low voice. "Because he looks like her. He reminds you of her."

My father's eyes dropped to the candle again. "Jackson is my son—and I love him just as I love you. It doesn't matter that you came from a different mothers. So don't even think that. But...yes, you're right. He reminded me of what I'd lost and it was too painful to get close to him. He suffered for that and it wasn't his fault."

No it wasn't Jackson's fault. My little brother spent many days and nights wondering why our father treated him differently. Now I knew.

"I was there," my dad said suddenly.

I looked up at him with a frown. "You were where?"

"London. I was there when she—when she..."

My jaw dropped at the revelation. "When? We would have seen you. I thought you were pissed that I went."

He shook his head. "No, I wasn't. I was proud of you. Both of you. I found out two days before you did. I flew there immediately to...to say goodbye. And to tell her how sorry I was and that I still loved her. She gave me this to remember her."

He pulled something out of his shirt. It was a necklace. He pulled out a gold necklace that had a small silver ring hanging from it. It was hard to tell by the way he was holding it, but it looked like it had an emerald stone.

"It's a promise ring," he rasped. "I gave it to her when she told me she was pregnant. I couldn't believe she kept it."

"I'm sorry, dad."

I meant what I said. I could feel the pain coming off him in waves. He felt her death just as much as we had. Perhaps even more so. But that still didn't answer my original question.

"What does all this mean, dad? I still don't know why you are here right now."

When his eyes met mine again, I gasped. I had never seen that look in his eyes before. Pride. Unabashed pride.

"I'm here, Ryan, because you need to know that I do accept you and Danielle. I was jealous that you were brave enough to go after what you wanted and hold onto it. Brave enough to stand up to me when I couldn't stand up to my father. It was never about her." He reached across the table and gripped my hand. "I'm proud of you, son. And I'm here because I was wondering if you would come to dinner at our house? With your wife, uh, Danielle? I would like to meet her. Officially. And I—" His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. "I am thrilled to be having a grandchild."

Talk about a night of surprises. And revelations. Now my father was adding acceptance into the mix? What the fucking fuck was happening right now?

"So will you?" he asked when I didn't answer. "Will you and Danielle please join us for dinner this week?"

"Yeah, dad. We'll be there," I answered. "On one condition."

"Yes?"

I leaned forward and held his stare. This condition was non-negotiable. 

"Jackson and Harper have to come to. And you have to make things right with him."

My dad nodded once. "Agreed."