“Yeah, well, she’s not marrying him today, baby. He’s going to wait until she’s eighteen.” Dad kissed her forehead then shot us a hard look. “She’s getting married in white. You get my meaning, boy?”

Ryan’s entire body tensed for a moment, but then he sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I understand,” he gritted out.

“Wait, what?” I stepped back from Ryan, staring in bewilderment from one to the other. I didn’t know if I should be embarrassed or angry with both of them. “Did you just agree not to…to…”

“Nova.” Dad released a heavy breath. “Look, I want you to be happy, and I know that Ryan will definitely make that happen. But this is harder for me than either of you could possibly know.” With a groan, he scrubbed a hand over his face. “Maybe when you two have your own children—your own daughter—you’ll understand. You are seventeen. I know that is the age of consent in some states, just as I know that the age of consent doesn’t stop anyone from having sex. But I’m asking you to wait. Just please, respect my wishes on this and wait until you are married.”

My anger deflated under his sincere plea. He wasn’t being a jerk about it, making demands and playing the dad card while threatening not to let us see each other if we didn’t follow his wishes. It was a genuine and heartfelt request to respect him in this one thing

“Fine,” I mumbled.

“What was that, princess?”

“I said, ‘fine’!” I half yelled before lowering my voice. “Fine. But that is the one and only concession I’m making.”

“That’s all I needed,” Dad said with a relieved smile.

“Let’s have something warm to drink,” Mom suggested, breaking the tension that had started to fill the air. “It’s getting so cold out here. I think it might snow tonight.”

My parents turned to lead the way back into the house, and I watched them go. Ryan wrapped an arm around my waist once more, pulling me in for a quick kiss. “We’ve waited this long. A few more months is nothing,” he whispered against my ear. “And there’s nothing more special than you becoming my wife.”

I nodded, trying to hide my pout, but he saw it. With a grin, he kissed it away before nudging me forward. “I love you.”

I wanted to be mad at him for giving in so easily to my dad, but I hadn’t fared any better. And those three words were enough to ease the disappointment of having to wait. “I love you too.”

29

Ryan

I lifted my head as a file was dropped on my desk. Frowning, I picked it up, barely sparing my personal assistant a glance before skimming over the top page. It had taken longer than I had anticipated to get information on everyone who worked in our security department following the office break-in.

On the surface, every single one of them checked out—including my old assistant, CeCe. I hadn’t been satisfied, however, and had Zio Ciro’s computer expert look, Desi, further into their personal lives. The man had dug deeper, going so far as to hack their bank accounts to see if there had been any unusual activities in the months before and after the break-in.