Billionaire Boys Club 5 : Romancing the Billionaire(95)

Most of all, I wanted you to know that even though I was a terrible and absent father, I still loved you with all the capacity of my small, selfish heart and I'm so proud of you.

Your father, Dr. Phineas DeWitt

Tears blurred Violet's eyes. I still loved you with all the capacity of my small, selfish heart and I'm so proud of you. How many times had she wanted her father to say that to her as a young girl? And yet, if he'd approached her as an adult, she'd have turned away from him with scorn, her heart hardened by disappointment. She carefully refolded the letter, tears flowing down her cheeks. Then, she held it out to Jonathan so he could read it. He did, utterly silent as he paged through it, eyes scanning the words written in a shaky hand. She swiped at her tears with irritation, but they kept coming.

She was feeling so many things at this moment: sadness for her father, who'd died lonely and cut off, knowing that the choices he'd made in his relationships had condemned him; self-pity that she'd lost her father; helpless frustration at knowing her father's motives behind the choices that had screwed with her life. And a sad, sweet ache for the fact that she'd never gotten to tell her father that she'd always loved him, too, even if he disappointed her.

Most of all, she wept for the realization that she could have become her father.

She'd failed at relationship after relationship, not willing to open herself up to get hurt. Before Jonathan had pushed his way back into her life, she'd been alone, with friends at work but spending most weekends by herself and passing time by devoting herself to work. Just like her father.




 

 

Jonathan refolded the letter and tucked it back into the envelope. His gaze went to her. "Are you all right, Violet?"

She trembled, holding back her sobs. "I just . . . I was turning into him, you know? I've been holding on to grudges for so long that I refused to see him when he was sick. I almost pushed you away, too. And there would have been no letter after the fact to let you know that I still loved you, because it would have been too late." Her entire body quaked with suppressed sobs. "I wish I could have talked to him one more time."

Jonathan pulled her against him and held her while she cried, his hands soothing down her shoulders. "He understood, Violet. Your father knew you, and he knew you were hurt. I think that's why he sent you on this crazy letter hunt. That was the only way to break down your barriers. For what it's worth, I'm glad things turned out the way they did."

Her fingers plucked at the sleeve of his jacket as she sniffed. "Because we ended up together?"

"Because we ended up together," he agreed. "Everything else was worth it. All the heartaches, the misery, the lonely nights. If we could change anything, I still wouldn't, because it's allowed us to be here together, today."

She clung to him. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Violet gave another watery sniff. "Did you open your envelope yet?"

"Not yet." With his arms still around her, he tore the seal with his fingers and shook out his letter.

A piece of yellowed notebook paper, folded into one of the intricate designs that Violet had learned in high school, fell onto the grass. It was sealed with a tiny Santorini postage stamp and said TO JONATHAN-URGENT!!! on the front cover.

Violet gasped at the sight of it. "That . . . that was my letter. About the baby."

"Still sealed," Jonathan said, the ache in his voice. His arms tightened around her. "Part of me wants to hate your father for that."

"And part of you feels sorry for him. I know," she murmured. She felt the same. "But we're together now."

He nodded.

"I guess we should go get your stele."

"Since I can't break it over anyone's head at the moment? Yes, I suppose we should."

Violet gave a shaky giggle at the mental image. "You wouldn't do that anyhow."

"Wouldn't I?" He pulled her away from his chest and gave her a serious look. "Violet, you realize you're everything to me, right? Nothing in this world matters to me more than you do. Nothing at all. I'd break every stele from here to the Smithsonian if it would make you happy." 

"That would not make me happy," Violet said. "But it's sweet of you to offer."

"Then what would make you happy, Violet?"

She looked up at him, into his handsome, worried face. Worried for her. And she felt such an outpouring of love for this fierce, intense man. "I just want to be in your life. In every part of your life. Forever." She placed her cheek on his shoulder. "I have to warn you, I'm probably going to be an extremely clingy girlfriend."

"The thought of you being extremely clingy makes me extremely happy," Jonathan said. "Cling all you like. As for the rest of my life, it means nothing to me if you're not there at my side."