19. Hannah

19

HANNAH

I anticipated the moment Scott would release me, tightening my core to keep from falling closer to him as desperation swept through me. Arthur was right. I was Henry’s daughter. We’d had sex. But knowing the truth about Mom and Dad made everything else feel insignificant as far as blurring the lines between having sex with my dad’s best friends. Or at least, it did for me.

Arthur’s curses assaulted my ears. “It’s unthinkable.”

Really? Hurt scored my heart and sent an ache into my bones. Scott kept holding me. I would’ve fallen otherwise as Arthur’s rant continued. I’d been so relieved to find out we didn’t accidentally commit incest that nothing else mattered.

“Arthur, I think that’s enough.” Ryland approached him and he slapped Ryland’s hands away. He looked at me before turning his back on me, his eyes filled with such disgust that tears blurred my vision.

Did he hate me that much?

“He’s the oldest and the most traditional,” Scott whispered into my ear. “This is a shift in what he considers a family dynamic.”

“I don’t understand.” My voice muffled in his chest.

“We’ve dishonored Henry.” Arthur turned back to face us. Both hands dove into his hair. He grabbed it by the handful and pulled. “If only we’d known who she was.” He couldn’t seem to even look at me, staring right past me to look at Scott instead.

“I’d still have done it.” Scott’s voice vibrated against my cheek.

I raised my head to meet his sincere gaze. One side of his mouth tipped up in a slight smile. “Thank you,” I mouthed.

He nodded once before turning his attention back to Arthur. “What’s done is done.”

“We might not be able to undo it, but we can stop it right here and now. Hannah is off limits.” He released his hair and slashed both hands through the air.

“The fuck she is.” Ryland advanced toward Arthur. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Is that so?” Arthur stepped up into Ryland’s personal space. “You think it’s right that we screwed Henry’s daughter?”

“I have a name. Stop calling me Henry’s daughter like it’s some kind of curse.” I turned in Scott’s arms and made myself look at Arthur without flinching. A beat of surprised silence snapped the air taut. My chest refused to work, the breath I needed trapped in that stillness.

“Hannah is right. And we all know that Henry might not have understood at first, but he would have been damn pleased to know that Hannah found men who make her happy, who keep her safe, who cherish her.” In an unexpected move, Ryland’s impassioned speech ended with him grabbing Arthur by the lapels and bringing them nose to nose.

“Henry never condemned what we did. He would have understood.” Scott’s hands skimmed down my ribs and settled on my hips. He held me there, comforting me and bolstering my courage as he and Ryland fought to penetrate Arthur’s condemnation.

Arthur attempted to break free but Ryland held fast. “He might not have spoken out about it, but Henry would have wanted a more traditional path for Hannah. We heard him talk about her future. He knew what he wanted for her and it most certainly wasn’t this.” He glared at Ryland. “It wasn’t us.”

Everything in me begged my body to move. I wanted to fling myself at Arthur and make him understand that while I respected Dad, it was never his decision. I stood my ground with Scott at my back. I had to say it. No one else seemed inclined. “It’s my life, Arthur. It doesn’t matter what Dad wanted for me. Even if he was alive, who I love, who I sleep with, it’s my decision. My life. My call. And this is what I want.” The truth landed loud and clear for everyone to hear it.

Arthur dragged his gaze over to me, a cold cruelty I’d never seen directed my way turning his face into a horrible frown. “I will not disrespect Henry’s memory by continuing to sleep with you.” He shoved Ryland hard enough to make him release his grip.

Ryland stumbled back, catching the edge of his knee on a chair and collapsing into it with a groan. The door slammed behind Arthur’s retreating back, carrying a piece of my heart with him, a piece I’d never regain unless he changed his mind.

“Don’t mind him.” Scott spoke directly over my head, his voice warm and affectionate. His arms were tight against my ribs. The security I felt there shocked me. Anger, hurt, and sadness swirled in my middle. My momentary relief was torn away by Arthur’s callous statements and his retreat.

I attempted to gather my flagging courage, but there was no way I could tell them about my pregnancy after Arthur’s rant. They still deserved to know, but I refused to put that extra weight on them at the moment.

Ryland pushed up out of the chair and walked over to stand in front of me. “Don’t let him get you down. Arthur’s a dick when he feels like he’s broken tradition.”

Scott’s dark laugh slipped out. “We’ve been breaking tradition for years. This is more than that. He said it himself, he feels like he’s disrespecting Henry.”

“Dad would’ve understood.” I tried to see things from Arthur’s point of view, but it annoyed the shit out of me that he came at us like that. Sure, Dad might have been worried at first. He might have been shocked, or disappointed even, but none of that mattered. “Dad’s dead.” I said the words with all the conviction in my heart. “Respecting him by ignoring what I want is a shitty way to honor his memory.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him that once he’s cooled off.” Ryland traced one finger down the curve of my jaw. “I’m sorry he upset you.”

“It’s not the first time my heart’s been broken.” I wasn’t sure it would heal this time, but that remained my little secret. “I didn’t expect him to react like that.”

“Shock. I think that’s what caused his reaction.” Scott dropped his hands from my hips. Seconds later, they rose to my hair and feathered it out across my shoulders. He couldn’t seem to stop touching me.

The feeling was mutual. I wanted them to touch me, to love me like they had before I messed everything up. “I should have been more subtle.”

“It’s fine.” Scott shrugged. “Arthur’s like that. You could have danced around the subject, leading him in the right direction for days, and he still would’ve freaked out.”

“But you’re not?” I asked before I lost my nerve.

Scott gave me his most devastating smile, the one that turned him from billionaire businessman with a heart of stone to sweet and boyish with a bit of the devil beneath the surface. “Definitely not.”

“Same.” Ryland’s breath brushed the shell of my ear, and I shivered.

“Have I lost him?” I tangled my hands in Scott’s jacket. I felt like if I didn’t hold onto something, I’d fall right over.

Scott wrapped his hands around my wrists and slid his thumbs over my arms. “He’ll come around. He needs time. Arthur’s a deep thinker. He’ll disappear for a few days to mull it all over. When he comes back, he’ll have it figured out.”

“Arthur and Henry were a lot alike in that and their traditional outlook on marriage and sex. It’s more unusual for Arthur to share, and to know that you’re Henry’s daughter puts a different kind of guilt into his head.”

“He thought it was disrespectful.” I spat the last word. “I’m okay with tradition, but damn it, I have a right to what I want.” I could understand Arthur’s hesitation, but the way he’d looked at me… I’d rather never see him again than to see that level of disgust.

“You’re right, you do,” Scott said as he hugged me, and I melt into his firm embrace. Where Arthur shot me down and made me feel guilty, Ryland and Scott comforted me. I’d never been more grateful for their presence and the steadiness of Scott’s arms.

Ryland came closer, sandwiching me between the two of them. The heat from both men covered me until the chill from Arthur’s stare faded and I stopped gulping air like I’d been deprived for hours. Scott made gentle shushing sounds, one hand stroking my back.

I tucked my cheek against his shoulder and put my nose in the hollow between his jaw and collarbone. “Thank you.”

“You’re always welcome here, Hannah. In our home, in our arms.” Scott leaned me away from him just a bit, one finger touching my chin and lifting my head. “Always.”

The reassurance bolstered my courage and I kissed him. Scott never hesitated. If anything, he’d been waiting for my green light. The instant our lips touched, my body came alive. Every part of me that touched him burned. I ached and throbbed in ways I had no words to express.

Ryland combed his fingers through my hair. I arched into the touch, silently asking for more.

Scott slanted his lips over mine, our tongues meeting in a tangled rush that further ignited my desire.

No looking back.