Page 117 of Dearest Protector

I’d spent the day getting to know my father through my uncle.

I now believed that my fatherhadn’tknown about me, and that if he had, he would havewantedto be in my life.

Really, that might be the reason that my mother had never wanted me to know the truth.

She had apparently wanted to be back in Florida after her career in ballet was over.

My father had obviously belonged in New York.

Having parents in two different cities that weren’t close geographically would have jeopardized my ability to focus on ballet, which had been my mom’s only goal for me.

Much as I wanted to hate her for taking away my chance to know my father, I couldn’t.

She’d raised me.

She’d provided shelter and food for me.

She’d provided for me as a single parent.

She’d worked hard to help me achieve goals.

There was no way I could know exactly what was in her head while I was growing up or why she’d done what she’d done.

Ultimately, all of her choices had led me to this current life that I loved, the people I loved, and the man that I loved and could never live without now.

I knew in my heart of hearts that things had worked out exactly as they were supposed to be.

Life was filled with pain and joy. One didn’t exist without the other. If I had to go through all the pain of my earlier life all over again to end up where I was right now, I’d opt to do it all over again the same way.

Nevertheless, Iwasgrateful to have answers about my father and to discover a biological family that I wanted to get to know.

“Yes, I got my answers and my closure about my father,” I finally answered Ben happily. “He was incredibly talented, and maybe it’s weird, but his art actually tells me a lot of things about him as a person, too. I can almost sense what he was like by looking at his images. It was generous of Ernest to offer me one of my father’s paintings that he owns. I think I’m going to enjoy having dinner with him and Olivia before we leave on Sunday.”

Ben and I planned on exploring the city for the next few days.

Yeah, I’d lived in New York for years, but I’d had so little time to reallyseethe city.

I’d taken pictures of things I’d passed by on my way to career obligations.

Mostly, I’d danced here, but I’d never really investigated most of the sights and amazing things this city had to offer.

Monday, we’d both go back to work, but until then, I’d enjoy every moment I could get soaking in the atmosphere of New York City with Ben.

“So, this was a good surprise?” he asked as he took my empty wine glass, put it on the end table, and then lifted me onto his lap.

“A very good surprise,” I told him as I snuggled up to him. “Thank you for this. Thank you for this entire month. You’ve taken a lot of time off just to be with me.”

We hadn’t taken the entire month off, but we had blown off work a lot to spend time together.

“And don’t you dare say that I don’t need to thank you,” I warned.

He smirked. “I think I did tell you that I might let you thank me in other ways someday.”

The mischievous expression on his face made my heart flip inside my chest.

Ben smiled much more often these days, and he appeared to be more relaxed than he’d ever been since I’d known him.

I knew he and Ian had gotten a lot closer, too, and their relationship was more lighthearted and tighter than it had been for years.

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