Chapter 15 #2
I don’t want to leave. I want to stay and make sure this doesn’t turn into another fight. But the look on my dad’s face tells me there’s no room for arguing right now. I glance at Rook one last time. He gives me the smallest nod, like he’s telling me it’s okay.
I follow my mom into the kitchen, but I don’t go far. I stay close to the doorway, heart pounding as I strain to hear. For a few seconds, neither of them speaks. Then I hear my dad’s voice, quieter than I expected. “You’ve been like a son to me for almost twenty years.”
Rook doesn’t answer right away. When he does, his voice is steady. “I know… Fuck, Piston. I didn’t plan for this to happen,” Rook says. “It wasn’t some long game. I didn’t even look at her that way until she came home a few months ago.”
“You should’ve come to me the second you felt anything for her,” Piston growls. “Instead you snuck around like a coward.”
“I wasn’t sneaking because I was ashamed,” Rook replies, voice firmer now. “I was trying not to want her. I didn’t want to fall for your daughter. I tried to stay away, I fucking tried. But I couldn’t do it anymore. I knew how you’d react and I wasn’t ready to lose either of you.”
There’s a long pause. I can’t see them, but I can picture my dad standing there, staring at Rook like he’s trying to decide if he still recognizes him. “You really love her?” Piston finally asks.
The question makes my breath catch. Rook doesn’t hesitate. “Yeah,” he says. “I do. More than I probably should. More than I know what to do with, but she’s everything to me.”
Another stretch of silence. Then my dad speaks again, voice low and tired. “I don’t know if I can ever be okay with this.”
“I’m not asking you to be okay with it right now,” Rook says. “But I’m not walking away from her either. Not unless she tells me to.”
I press a hand to my chest, trying to steady my breathing.
My mom stands beside me, quiet, but I can feel her watching me. Whatever happens next between them… it’s going to change everything. I press closer to the doorway, barely breathing.
“If you hurt her,” my dad says, voice dropping into something dangerous, “I will end you. I don’t care what we’ve been through. I don’t care how long I’ve known you. If this goes sideways, if she gets hurt because of you—”
“She won’t,” Rook cuts in, firm but calm. “I’d burn this whole fucking world down before I let anything happen to her.”
The conviction in his voice makes my eyes sting. My mom gently touches my back, like she can feel how hard my heart is beating.
“I need time,” he mutters. “I can’t even look at you right now without wanting to put you through a wall.”
“I get it,” Rook says. “Take the time. But I’m not going anywhere.”
He sighs. Then a moment later, “Scarlett. Jenny. Get out here.”
My mom and I walk back into the living room. Dad is standing near the fireplace, one hand gripping the back of the armchair. He looks exhausted. When his eyes land on all three of us, he jerks his chin toward the couch. “Take a seat, we have to talk about something.”
We do. I sit between my mom and Rook. Dad stays standing for a long moment, staring at the floor like he’s trying to find the right words. When he finally speaks, his voice is rough and low. “Jenny, do you remember about twenty five years ago when I was a witness in a murder trial?”
She looks up at him, “Yeah, why?”
“I found out tonight, Samuel Cross, was released on a technicality.”
My mom tenses beside me. The name doesn’t mean anything to me, but the way he says it makes my stomach drop.
He looks up, eyes moving between me and my mom then his jaw tightens. “He’s the one who followed us on our ride. He’s been taking pictures of us. Following us around. He’s been watching long enough that he’s got pictures of you, Jenny, and Scarlett, even some of me and our house.”
My mom’s hand finds mine and grips it tightly. I can feel her shaking but I’m just numb. I look over at Rook. His jaw is clenched so tight I can see the muscle jumping. He doesn’t say anything, but I can tell he’s putting pieces together in his head.
My mom is the one who breaks the silence. “What do we do now?” she asks quietly.
Dad finally lowers himself into the armchair across from us.
He runs a hand over his face before answering.
“We find this fucker before he decides pictures aren’t enough anymore.
” His voice is low, tired, but there’s steel underneath it.
“Until then, nobody in this house goes anywhere alone. Not you, not Scarlett. I don’t care if it’s the grocery store or the goddamn mailbox. Someone is with you.”
He looks at Rook then, and even though his expression is still hard, some of the fire from earlier has burned down into something heavier.
“You want to be with my daughter?” he asks.
“Then you protect her. That’s the deal. You don’t let her out of your sight unless one of us is with her. You understand me?”
Rook doesn’t hesitate. “Yeah,” he says. “I understand.”
Dad stares at him for another long second before nodding once.
He looks exhausted. Like the weight of everything that happened tonight is finally settling on his shoulders.
“I’m going to bed,” he mutters, pushing himself up from the chair.
He pauses in the doorway, not looking back at any of us.
“Rook… you can stay tonight. Couch. But don’t push it. ”
Then he disappears down the hallway. The second he’s gone, the air in the room shifts.
My mom lets out a long, shaky breath and stands up. She leans down and presses a kiss to the top of my head. “I’m going to check on him,” she says softly. “Try to get some sleep, baby.” She gives Rook a small, tired nod before heading upstairs, leaving the two of us alone in the living room.
For a moment, neither of us speaks. Rook shifts closer on the couch until his knee bumps against mine. I don’t pull away. I just lean into him, resting my head against his shoulder. His arm comes around me carefully, like he’s afraid I might break. “You okay?” he asks quietly.
I shake my head against his chest. “Not really.”
His hand moves slowly up and down my arm. “We’ll figure this out.”
I pull back just enough to look at him. His face is still bruised and battered from fighting my dad, but his eyes are steady when they meet mine. My throat feels tight. “I’m sorry.”
Rook’s brows pull together slightly. “For what?”
“For what happened tonight. For my dad saying those things to you. For… all of it.”
He’s quiet for a second, just watching me. Then I say it, my voice barely above a whisper.
“You said you loved me.”
Rook goes still.
He stares at me for a long moment, something unreadable flickering behind his eyes. Then he finally nods, slow and certain.
“I do.”
Before he can say anything else, I see it in his face, that look he gets when he’s about to pull back and protect me from something. He opens his mouth again, and I already know what he’s going to say.
“I know it’s fast,” he starts, voice low. “And I don’t expect you to say it back or feel the same way yet. I just—”
I don’t let him finish.
I reach up and cover his mouth with my hand, stopping the words before they can come out. His eyes widen slightly in surprise, but he goes quiet under my palm.
I look at him, my heart pounding hard against my ribs.
“I love you too,” I say, soft but clear. “I don’t need more time to know that.”