Page 57 of The Billionaire and His Forever

Ford grunts noncommittally. “Well? Aren’t you going to let me in?”he says.

I don’t like his tone. I can’t tell if he’s merely furious that his daughter got arrested, and possibly blames me, or if he knows about the wedding and he came here to confront Abbie about it. Maybe it’s both. Or maybe it’s something else entirely.

Regardless, I take a step back and open the door wide.

“Been a while since I’ve seen the place. Looks good,” he comments as he saunters in and glances around, eyeing the living room with interest. He’s giving off the energy of a ticking time bomb, which I’ve seen in him plenty of times—but now, it has me on edge.

He pours himself a tumbler of whiskey from the bar cart without asking and then drops into an armchair. “This place is immaculate. Natasha always did have good taste, though.”

“Money can buy many things, including interior design,” I say, bristling. This man knows more about my fallout with my ex than anyone, and here he sits, flattering the devil. “Look, Abbie is at a meeting and I’m not sure how long she’ll be. Why don’t you come back this evening?”

“What, no time to chat with your oldest friend?” he asks. “I’m practically your god damn father-in-law now, aren’t I?”

Ah. Finally, he’s shown his hand. He’s pissed about the engagement he didn’t hear about and the wedding he didn’t get invited to. Fine. I can handle this.

I square my shoulders. “You’re upset about us getting married. I can understand that—”

“Upset? You left Abbie for the sharks when the tabloids ran that salacious story about you two. I’m the one who had to convince you not to kick her out of your house so you wouldn’t damage her reputation and yours, remember? But then you decided that wasn’t enough to cover your ass, so you moved your ex-wife back into your house with my daughter along for the ride—which was a brilliant plan, wasn’t it? Until Natasha OD’d, at which point you did a full one-eighty and decided Abbie was suddenly wife material? What in the actual fuck? Upset doesn’t begin to cover it, Graham. No wonder the press is eating you two alive.”

The way he’s boiling down our relationship to all the paltry bits, glazing over the intricacies of the drama, lights a fuse within me. “I apologize that there was a need for discretion, but it’s not the way it looks. Abbie and I…we fell in love.” I try to keep the venom out of my voice. This is his daughter, after all. I can get defensive all I want, but how can I compete with the fierceness of a father’s love? “Things have just been a bit complicated between us.”

“Youfell in love?” Ford lets out a derisive laugh. “She had a crush, a silly infatuation. But you, old man, should know better.”

I take a breath. “Why exactly did you come here to see Abbie? Was it for the sole purpose of trying to break up our relationship? Because it’s not going to happen—”

“Relationship?That’s what you call sneaking around with my teenage daughter all summer and then trying to have a secret wedding behind my back? I can only imagine the lies she told you to convince you not to invite me and my wife. She must’ve painted herself quite the little victim—”

“She did nothing of the kind.” I draw myself up to my full height. “And it wasn’t a secret wedding. As I said, there was a need for discretion, given the circumstances—”

“So you’re saying my invitation got lost in the mail?” Ford eyes me over the edge of his whiskey glass as he drinks deeply, and then adds, “Funny, though, I’m not sure how you got lost asking my permission for my daughter’s hand.”

Guilt squeezes at me, but I shove it away. “She’s a grown woman, Ford. She can make her own decisions. And the truth is, she did call to tell you, but then decided she didn’t want to ruin your vacation. I respected her choice. I wasn’t trying to disrespect you in the process.”

“Bullshit. You know what ruins a vacation? Finding out your daughter’s been arrested for attempted murder. On her secret wedding day.”

“As I said, the police let her go. My legal team is working on her defense around the clock. We’re all working as hard as we can to prove her innocence. I’m handling it.”

“I doubt that. If you recall,Iwas the one who savedyourass when you were accused. Now my daughter is in the hot seat, and I’m supposed to believe you’re ‘handling it’? And then what? You think you’re going to get her off the hook and you two will just ride off into the sunset together? Wake up, Graham. Your life is a shitshow, and you’re not going to drag my daughter down with you.”

He slams his empty glass down and gets up. My body goes tense as I brace for a physical altercation, but Ford just walks over to the window. He takes in the view, heaves a sigh, and turns back around to face me.

His voice is softer, calmer, downright lawyerly as he says, “Look, buddy, man to man, this is what I’m saying: You need to call off the engagement. Give her a chance to marry someone who can provide for her properly without dragging her name even deeper through the mud. Don’t be selfish. Don’t ruin her. She still has a chance to do well for herself. Thank God the police intercepted the wedding before you two could make it official.”

All I can do is shake my head. “She will be my wife. But I swear to you on all that is holy, I will take care of her. I willalwaystake care of her. She won’t be ruined. That is a promise.”

“You need. To end it,” Ford repeats.

My fists clench at my sides. “We will be married, with or without your approval. I love her and she loves me, and we’ve committed to each other. There’s nothing more to discuss.”

He coughs out a laugh and shakes his head. “You know, I almost feel sorry for you.”

“I don’t need your pity.”

“Oh, but you do, old friend. More than you know.” His expression is gleeful and mean.

“Do you know why I sent Abbie to you to begin with? No, you don’t. Because your head’s too far up your own ass to even consider that someone could put one over on you.”

My blood runs cold. “Explain. Now.”

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