I shook the hands of our new clients and beamed with pride. I’d had to wine and dine these men for weeks to get them to go with us, but now we had a five-year contract signed with them that would put us on the map. The hottest new game foreshadowed to come out next year was coming from my company, and if we weren’t on the map yet, we would be. I had been sure they were going to turn the contract down, especially since they couldn't overwork the employees of my company. I didn’t know what had possessed them to say yes, especially since our contract pushed out their projection date by almost three months, but they said yes and that was all I cared about.

Until I heard Kylie’s voice.

“Could I talk with you for a second?”

“Of course,” I said. “Come on into my office.”

I ushered her in before I shut the door behind her, and business quickly fell away. She looked rigid, worried, and I wondered if she was okay.

“Before you say anything, let me start,” she said.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” I said as I walked over to my desk.

“I was wondering if you could come over to my place for dinner tonight,” I said. “There’s something really important I want to talk to you about.”

I tried to bury the grin on my face as I leaned against my desk.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Oh, yeah. Everything’s good. I just…I have an answer for you. About that whole decision thing you wanted from me.”

“You know you don’t have to give that to me anytime soon. The weekend we spent together was enough for me to see things a little more clearly.”

“Will you please come to dinner, Ryan?”

I’d never be able to resist those sweet little pleas of hers.

“What time would you like me there?” I asked with a smile.

All day long, I couldn't concentrate. I thought about all the things we could do to celebrate. I thought back to my stash of wine and wondered which would be the best to pop up and usher our new relationship in with. I could take a red and a white, depending on what she cooked. Could Kylie cook? I had no idea, but I was excited to find out.

I went home to pick up a couple bottles of wine, then sped over to her place and found my way to her front door.

“Wow, you really do show up on time,” Kylie said with a smile.

“A man is always punctual when beckoned by a beautiful woman,” I said.

I reached for her and wrapped my arm around her, bending down to kiss her lips.

“What are these?” she asked.

“I wasn’t sure what you were making, so I didn’t know which wine would go better with your meal. But I don’t smell food?”

Something rush through Kylie’s eyes before the room resounded with a knock at her door.

“Who’s that?” I asked.

“Please don’t be mad. I can’t do this twice,” she said in a whisper.

I watched her walk over to the door as I set the bottles of wine down on a stray table. She opened the door and ushered someone in, and the second my eyes locked on him, I froze.

What the hell was my son doing here?

“Kylie?” Adam asked. “What is my father doing here?”

“I never took you as one for blindsiding, Kylie,” I said.

“Please don’t be upset, okay? But I can’t do this twice,” she said.

“Do what twice? You said you wanted to walk,” Adam said.

“I do. And the two of you need to listen. Okay?” she asked.

“I’ll always listen to you, Kylie,” I said.

“Yeah, yeah. Me too,” Adam said.

My eyes connected with my son’s, and I saw anger boiling behind them. I wasn’t happy with Kylie either, but I wasn’t about to allow my anger to careen out of control. Kylie took a step back from my son and every single defense mechanism I had went up. I walked over to her and stood at her side, bracing myself just in case Adam unleashed on her. I wasn’t happy with her. We’d most definitely talk later, as I didn’t take kindly to blindsides. But my son wasn’t going to attack her in her own apartment either.

“What is it?” Adam asked. “Spit it out since we’re obviously not having dinner.”

“I brought you both here because I need both of you to hear me loud and clear. I need you both to hear how I feel once and for all. I can’t do this conversation twice, not mentally and not emotionally. Okay?” she asked.

“You know it’s not all about you, right?” Adam asked.

My eyes shot over to my son, and I watched as he glared at Kylie. I wanted to step in front of her, but I respected her need to address my son face to face. But I didn't like the way he was speaking to her or the tone behind his words.

“Adam, I know you’re upset. And the flowers you sent me yesterday were beautiful.”

“He sent you flowers?” I asked.

“He did. I got them while talking to Alyssa about our weekend,” Kylie said.

“Wait a second. ‘Our weekend’? What the hell does that mean?” Adam asked.

“Look, it doesn't matter, okay? What matters is how I feel. Adam, I’m always going to love you. I’m always going to have feelings for you. You were my first love, the first man I went on a true date with. You were my first in so many ways, and I’ll never forget that. No one ever does.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Adam asked.

“Can it, Adam,” I said gruffly.

His eyes whipped over to me and widened with fury.

“Adam, back here. Look at me,” Kylie said.

“Did you invite him here with the explicit purpose of cornering me?” Adam asked.

“No. I invited him here with the explicit purpose of telling him that I’ve fallen for him while telling you that what I feel for him doesn’t erase what I ever felt for you,” Kylie said.

“Did you…did you just say you’ve—”

“Fallen for your father, yes,” Kylie said.

I couldn't believe it. I looked down at Kylie and saw how proud she stood. I saw the tension tumble from her shoulders at her admission. And a moment where I should’ve been wrapping her up in my arms and dragging her to bed to make love to her until the sun rose the next morning was clouded by my son’s rage.

But I wasn’t going to let him spoil the moment.

“Kylie,” I said.

“Yes, Ryan?” she asked.

Her beautiful eyes turned up to me and that wondrous smile crossed her cheeks.

Then my head whipped to the side. Kylie’s scream filled my ears. I was knocked off balance as a solid object rammed itself into my rib cage, and I heard Kylie scream again. I raised my head and tried to focus. I saw Kylie run and wrap her arm around something solid.

“Stop it, Adam! What are you doing?!”

Then I saw that solid object toss Kylie to the ground, and the devil reared its head.

I rose up and wrapped my son’s jacket in my fists. I barreled him across Kylie’s apartment until his back hit the front door. He raised his fist to connect with my jaw again, and I caught it in my hand, twisting it until his wrist was pinned to the door. He slammed his head forward in my face, trying to bust my nose. After he head-butted me, I moved my head to the side and felt him come down on my collarbone.

“You will never touch her again,” I said in his ear. “You will never speak to her like that, you will never send her flowers, and you sure as hell will never toss her to the fucking ground like you just did.”

“Fuck you,” Adam said. “You stole my damn girlfriend. Far as I’m concerned, you’re no better than Mom.”

I slammed him into the door again as Kylie cried out.

“What you have with your mother is something you’ll have to settle with her, but mark my words. I didn’t raise you to talk to or treat women the way you do. I didn’t raise my son to yell at women the way you just yelled at her. And I sure as hell didn’t raise a son who would ever knock a woman off her feet—no matter what. Do you hear me?”

“All I hear is a man who actively plotted to steal my girlfriend. Is that why you offered her the job? To prey on her innocent mind and work her away from me so you could swoop in for your kill?” he asked.

“Both of you! Stop!”

Kylie practically shrieked, and it ripped me from my beastly trance. I released my son and took a step back, drawing in a deep breath as I shoved my hands into my pockets. If I didn't, I wasn’t going to be able to be responsible for what I did next. Adam ran his hand through his hair as my eyes found Kylie, and I saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

I walked to her to wrap her in my arms, but she held her hand out and backed away from me.

“Get out,” she said.

“Kylie, let me stay. Let me fix this,” I said.

“Get out. Both of you,” she said.

“I don’t think we’re done talking,” Adam said.

“Oh, you and me? Finished. One hundred percent. And if you ever send me shit or show up here or call me or approach me on the street, I will smack you into next Tuesday,” Kylie said.

Her strength was astounding, and she wouldn't let me anywhere near it.

“I should have handled this better,” she said breathlessly.

Her breathing ticked up as her hands began to shake.

“Kylie?” Adam asked. “Are you okay?”

“Get out. I need you two out,” she said.

“You’re about to have a panic attack,” I said. “You need to let me stay.”

“Please get out,” she said as tears rushed to her eyes. “I can’t…I can’t look at either of you. This was a mistake. I never should have—”

Her hand rushed to her chest, and I leaped for her. But as quickly as I moved, she moved quicker. She rushed into her bedroom and slammed the door, locking it before I could get to her. I jiggled the knob and banged on the door, desperate to get her to open it for me.

“Don’t bother,” Adam said. “She won’t let you in.”

“She let me in this weekend,” I said as I shook the door. “Kylie! Let me in!”

“I made a mistake.” The words were weak, whispered, filled with tears I wasn’t there to catch.

“You didn’t,” I said. “You made the right choice for you. No one can fault you for that.”

“I made a mistake,” she said through her sobs. “Now get out.”

“Kylie—”

“Get the fuck out, Ryan!”

“Really, you should listen. Isn’t that what you’ve been telling me to do anyway?” Adam asked.

I looked back at my son and felt every urge to slug him in his jaw. He shook his head before he dipped out of Kylie’s apartment, leaving nothing but destruction and sadness in his wake. I’d deal with him later. For the moment I had a crying woman whom I loved desperately standing behind a door, too scared to open it.

At least I thought she was behind the door.

It wasn’t until I heard her shower turn on that I realized she wasn’t even there anymore.

I heard her openly sobbing in her shower and wanted to run to her, to bust down the door, strip myself of my clothes, and get in there to hold her. And yet again, I found myself at square one, holding myself to a resolve Kylie constantly tested and going against everything in my body to make sure I didn’t push her away. I forced myself to back farther from the door and straightened out my clothes.

I looked down at my shirt and saw droplets of blood on it, and I wondered whose it was. And suddenly, it hit me.

Kylie had just watched us beat on each other until one of us had bled. No wonder she wanted both of us out. No wonder she had been thrown into an emotional panic attack. She was probably in that shower thinking she had decimated a family, a sacred father-son relationship, with her simple decision to love me despite what she’d had with him.

And I couldn’t even get to her to tell her how absolutely wrong she was.

Shit.