The longest minute of my life passes before Dad finally turns and shoots daggers directly at Easton. “Who the fuck does this? What respectable man does this?”
“Daddy, I’m just as much to blame,” I start as Easton speaks up.
“Your approval was never coming,” Easton relays in an even tone. “There was no way around that. But I do have respect for you, sir, and it comes from how you raised her, her core beliefs, and the incredible woman she is. Respect aside, the truth of the matter is, we both know you don’t want to know me.”
“You knew,” he clips out accusingly. “You both knew, and you did this, knowing.”
“Daddy,” I speak up in an attempt to gain his attention, and he swivels his head in my direction, his expression filled with something I never thought I’d see directed at me in my lifetime—revulsion.
“How long?” he rasps out. “How fucking long has this been going on?”
“Four months,” I admit with a shaky voice.
“How?”
“The archives,” I confess, “I was looking up old articles for the thirtieth edition and found emails between you and Stella, and so I—”
He takes a step toward me, cocking his head. “You what?”
“I know it was wrong, but I got…immersed in your love story with her, and I…” How can I possibly explain this to him now? No part of his current disposition indicates he’s capable of an ounce of understanding, but I press on as my worst nightmare unfolds. “I didn’t want to ask you about it because I know when it ended…y-you got hurt.” I catch his flinch as though every word of my confession is a physical blow. “You never told me about your relationship with her…I-I contacted Easton—”
“And started a goddamn fling with the one human being on earth I would forbid you to see?”
“Far from a fucking fling,” Easton defends in a clipped tone, “never was. That was the problem.”
Dad’s features distort in indignation as he turns to address Easton. “You’re walking a very fucking thin line, considering,” my father warns, his tone deadly.
“I understand you’re pissed, but please don’t come at me that way,” Easton grits out. “I’m trying here.”
“Daddy, I’m just as much to blame, more so even than him.”
Tension rolls throughout the room, and I can physically feel Easton begin to battle his temper as he speaks up. “At least give us a chance to explain ourselves. I don’t expect your understanding.”
“You better not expect my goddamned acceptance either!” Dad roars, upturning a nearby tray which crash lands on the floor. Broken dishes shatter while water runs in rivulets away from my newly-scattered, glass-embedded pink roses.
Never in my life have I seen my father lash out physically in anger, not like this. Trepidation fills me as he pins me with his glare. “I won’t fucking accept this, Natalie!” His eyes dart to Easton and back to me. “Is that why you married him?”
“No,” I speak up, finding strength in the truth. “Just the opposite. The night I married him was the first and only time since he and I met that I allowed myself to be with him without a single thought of you. I married him because he understands me. Because being with him makes me happy. Because I love him with every fiber of my being. Every minute we were together before this weekend, it was thoughts of you, of how you would feel, that kept—”
“But they didn’t stop you,” Dad rages. “Do you have any idea what you’re asking?”
“Daddy, I tried. I tried so hard, but Easton and I, we,” I shake my head as hot tears fill my eyes and my vision blurs. “I know you know what this feels like—”
“Don’t you dare!” Dad roars, and I jump back.
“Please stop screaming at my wife,” Easton bristles, nostrils flaring, voice dangerously low, “you’re scaring her.”
“Your wife,” Dad snarls, before immediately stalking toward him, posture threatening. “Your wife!”
“Daddy!” I cry out in fear as Easton lifts his chin, eyes darkening, posture tensing. In that moment, I don’t even recognize my father until he stops a few feet away, hands fisted just as a lethal warning slices through the commotion.
“Take another threatening step toward my son, Butler, and I’ll fucking end you.” The entirety of the room fills with a dangerous air as the three of us collectively turn toward the front door of the villa, and all eyes land on Reid Crowne.