Carey wraps his arms around me, holding me tight. “Mac, don’t cry. Please don’t.” I claw at his shirt, badly needing an anchor so I don’t get pulled out into the ocean and lost forever.

“He hates me,” I sob.

“He loves you. That’s the problem.”

“No, he loved me, and I ruined everything.”

Carey smooths my hair back out of my face. “Why did you choose Dad?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t. I just wanted to explain things to him. Apologize. Hunter didn’t do anything wrong, Carey, but I did. I was in a relationship. And to me, that means something. I should have done the right thing, but I didn’t. I just wanted to apologize for that.”

“Oh, Mac! Men don’t think like that. In this one situation, you should have taken his hand without hesitating. You could have explained everything else later. But now you’ve broken his heart.”

It takes me a while to calm down enough to be able to go back inside the house. I go to the bedroom and put on some clothes before I walk into Carter’s office.

“I’m sorry,” I say without preamble.

He snorts mockingly. “Like I’m interested in what a whore has to say.”

I take a deep breath. He’s hurt, so he’s saying things he doesn’t mean. He’s a good person. He is. “I didn’t want to hurt you, Carter.”

“Don’t worry, you haven’t. I knew from the beginning what kind of a woman you were. You were only in this for the money. And then you seduced my kids. Tell me, bitch, did you fuck Carey when he was fifteen?”

I gasp. “No, of course not! What are you thinking?”

“I think I’m going to sue you for seducing minors.” He stands and comes closer, and I take a step back. “I invited you into my house, my life, and how do you thank me for it?”

Without another word, I turn and walk for the door. There’s a psychotic shine in his eyes that’s really scaring me. I’m already out through the doorway when he grabs me by the hair and slams me against the wall.

“You thank me by fucking my children!” he yells. “Back then, they were still minors! Carey was fifteen!” As I struggle back to my feet, I see Carey standing at the top of the stairs.

But before I can say anything, Carter raises his hand and hits me in the face. Bam! It feels like my head is going to explode.

I can hear Carey running down the stairs, and then he’s standing in front of me, before Carter can raise his hand again. “Dad! What the fuck is wrong with you? Don’t you dare touch her again!”

Carter wakes up from his trance and looks around himself, almost disoriented. He sees me on the floor, my lip bleeding.

“Oh, no,” he whispers softly. “Mackenzie, I’m sorry. Sweetie, I’m sorry…”

He reaches out for me, but Carey doesn’t let him. “No way, old man. You’re never going to touch her again. And you better pray Hunter doesn’t find out you hit her. If he does, he’s going to kill you.”

Carter goes chalk-white and gives me a sad look. “I loved you…”

I nod. “I loved you, too, Carter. But neither of us made our relationship a priority. And this is the result. I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t mean to. But you hurt me, too. I found a thong in your pocket when I was doing laundry.”

Though I didn’t think it possible, he went even whiter. Then he nods slowly. “I’m sorry, too. Mackenzie, I never wanted this… I’m… I’m so sorry. It’s unforgivable, but I hope you can forgive me at some point.”

Carey grabs my arm, gets my purse from the coat stand, and walks me out to his car. He puts me in the passenger seat and climbs into the driver’s seat. As he starts the car, he asks, “What do we do now Mac?”

“Hunter?” I whisper.

Carey shakes his head. “He’ll take a while to come around. We’ll wait to go to him next week. First, we need somewhere to stay.”

“Shane,” I say.

“Shane,” Carey repeats and starts the car.

As he drives us to Shane, my thoughts are with Hunter. How is he? Is he going to forgive me for not taking his hand? Or have I ruined everything just by acting rationally when I should have reacted emotionally? God, please give me another chance! I don’t want to lose him. Not now that I’ve finally realized I love him. That I’ve loved him for years.