ROYAL ROCK(151)

But at least I had him. I looked over at Nathan and he smiled at me, squeezing my hand.

“I know, Jonathan,” he said. “It wasn’t something we planned.”

Dad sighed and looked down at his hands. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now. The divorce is only a matter of time.”

“I know, Dad,” I said softly. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Damn right, Jonathan. Lucille is a complete wreck of a human. You had no chance.”

He nodded thankfully at Nathan. “Well, I guess I can’t stand in your way. What do I know about love?”

My heart suddenly swelled. It wasn’t the glowing endorsement I had secretly hoped for, but it also wasn’t the total freakout I had really expected.

“Thank you, sir,” Nathan said. “And believe me when I say this: I love your daughter more than anything. She’s safe with me.”

Dad gave him one long look. “You know,” he said finally, “I never did ask you what happened with Joshua and his people. They just disappeared one day.”

“I figured you didn’t want to know.”

“I heard some rumors, some salacious stuff. Nothing that could be true.” Dad paused and smiled slightly. “You wouldn’t know anything about them, would you? About some psychotic ex-Marine, or maybe he was a Navy SEAL? Either way, he took out a bunch of guards and saved some poor kidnapped girl.”

Nathan smirked and shook his head. “Sounds completely made up, sir, like a stupid fairy tale.”

“Well.” Dad smiled broadly. “We haven’t been bothered since that day, at least.”

“And I hear your hotels are doing better than expected.”

“Damn right they are.”

We all laughed, and I felt my entire body relax in a way it hadn’t since the moment I first met Nathan.

So much had happened since that day in the warehouse, and yet it felt like nothing had changed at all. I’d gone back to school, and Nate had been called up on a mission. We spent a few months apart, and then suddenly he was back, waiting on my doorstep. It was horrible living without him, and every day I imaged that he had been shot to death in the desert somewhere.

I’d never forget what he said to me when he appeared out of nowhere: “I’m back, princess, and I’m not going anywhere for a long time.”

He hadn’t been lying. I didn’t know what had happened, but he found an apartment near mine, and we didn’t go a single day without seeing each other. We had still been hiding our relationship from our parents, right up until the divorce was all but final.

Dad seemed to take it well over the phone. Nate said he had tried to tell his mother, but she didn’t answer his calls, and he didn’t give enough of a shit to force it. He figured she’d find out eventually.

Dad stood up, and we followed. “I guess I’ll leave you two kids alone.”

“Thanks so much, Dad.” I walked around the table and gave him a hug.

“You’re sure about this?” he whispered in my ear. I could hear the slight disapproval in his voice.

Dad had always expected me to end up with some rich business executive just like him. He wanted me to be taken care of, to never have to worry about money. He wanted what was best for me, and I completely understood that.

But Nathan was the best thing for me. Nathan made me feel safer than anyone else in the entire world. Without him, I could have been taken much sooner and kept for much longer. I would never forget Nathan breaking into the room where I was being held, covered in blood, looking like he felt a fury unlike anything I’d ever witnessed before. He had looked like a demon from hell, and yet I loved him.

“I’m sure, Dad. He’s the right thing.”

Dad nodded and pulled away. “I’m happy for you two,” he said.

“Thank you,” Nate replied.

They shook hands, and then Dad left.

“Hold on a second,” Nate said. “I’ll be right back.”

“What are you doing?”

He grinned at me, kissed my cheek, and then ran out the door after my dad.

I shook my head to myself as I collapsed down onto the couch. Nate was always doing stuff like that, making up his mind in a split second and following through with his decision. He was the most decisive person I’d ever met, though sometimes that meant he did some unexpected things.

It didn’t take him long before he returned, grinning ear to ear.

“What’s the matter with you?” I asked him, laughing.

“Nothing, just had some business with your father.”

“What kind of business?”

He ignored my question and sat down next to me. “Are you happy here?”