Page 129 of Empty Net

I turn to my mother, who has been quiet through the whole thing. “Mama, I’m sorry. I know you raised me better than to raise my voice at people, but, dammit, some of them just deserve it.”

Her lips twitch, and she rolls them together, doing her best to look fierce and upset with me as she nods, patting my hand.

“Dad, I?—”

He shakes his head, cutting me off. “Don’t need to say a damn thing to me, son. Never been prouder of you in my life.” Then he trains angry eyes on Deacon and Selene. “For the record, I agree with every damn thing my boy just said. And if you got a problem with that, take it up with me.”

Fuck, I don’t think I’ve ever loved him more. I take a steadying breath, then finally look to Lilah, who is sitting there with her mouth ajar, baby-blue eyes wide.

“I’m sorry, sugar,” I say to her softly. “I know they’re your parents and you love them, but I couldn’t sit by and listen to them degrade you again. I just couldn’t do it. Not when you’re you, always taking their licks on the chin like a champ, pretending what they say doesn’t have any effect on you when it does. They hurt you, cut you right down to the bone. As much as I admire the hell out of you for holding your head high despite that, I can’t be a willing participant any longer. You deserve better than that, and I hope one day you’ll realize that.”

I stare hard at Selene and Deacon, who have pushed their noses into the air like the snooty bastards they’ve been since the day I met them. Still, after all that, they don’t say a word.

I throw my napkin down on the table.

“This is ridiculous,” I say. “I’m not sitting here a minute longer with them.”

My parents don’t waste a second, both pushing their chairs back and gathering their coats. I look at the woman I got down on one knee for in this very restaurant just earlier this year, but she doesn’t move. Lilah just blinks up at us, never once making a move to follow.

No. Instead, she drops her head to her chest, effectively turning away from me, and it’s crushing.

It’s “Oh” level of devastating.

Hutch was wrong. This isn’t real. And Lilah just proved that.

With one last long look at her, I turn, leaving my heart behind. Mama wraps her arm around me, her motherly instincts sensing I need comforting, and my father follows closely behind as we make our way to the front of the restaurant.

“I’m so sorry, son.”

“Thank you,” I say, but I feel anything but thankful right now. In fact, I don’t feel anything at all.

“I’m proud of you, though. While you’re right—I didn’t raise you to talk to people like that—I’m damn sure glad you did. Those people are awful.”

I flex my fist, fighting the urge to turn back and lay into them more. They’d certainly deserve it.

But I don’t turn back. I keep walking, and it takes every bit of effort I have to do so, to walk away from the woman I love, the one who clearly doesn’t feel the same way.

I push open the door.

“Wait!”

I stop.

“Wait!” Lilah calls again.

When I turn, she’s standing, hands on the table as she stares after me with fear in her eyes. She looks down at her parents, whose faces are turning redder and redder by the second.

“What are you doing?” her mother chides. “Sit down, Lilah Jane.”

“No.”

Selene tosses her head back like she’s just been slapped. “Excuse me?”

“I said,no.” Lilah scoffs. “You know, I have no damn clue why I have no problem telling anyone else off, no issues speaking my mind or taking what I want, but when it comes to you two? I’m a fucking doormat. And why? All because I’m starved for your love and affection. Because I hoped one day you’d wake up and realize I’m your daughter, not your puppet. Fox was right—thisisridiculous, and I do deserve better. I deserve better parents, people who love me for me. Who don’t try to shove me into a box and make me something I’m not. Who don’t want me around just to show me off to all their friends.” She waves her hand toward the other patrons, who are all completely entranced by what’s unfolding before them. “I deserve more. I deserve…” Her blue eyes find mine. “I deserve to be loved.”

I swallow, so fucking proud of what I’m watching.

Finally!I want to shout, but I don’t. I let Lilah have her moment, because fuck, she deserves that too.

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