I was hoping you would drop in to see your dear old dad. After all, it’s not every day that my oldest daughter is hauled out of our local hangout by an arrogant man, one whom she’d professed to despise.” Titus’s lips quirked up in a stealthy grin as he reached for Tara and pulled her into his arms.
Tara leaned against his strong body as she had so many times in her life and was surprised to feel tears burning the backs of her eyelids. She managed to swallow the sob that caught in her throat and looked up to meet her father’s concerned gaze.
Underscoring the frown that had taken over his face, he held her chin, forcing her to look up at him. Tara couldn’t help but remember how often Griffin had insisted that she look at him, often when she least wanted to.
“Hmm, I wasn’t sure what to expect from you, Tara, when you returned from your adventure. But I have to admit I had hoped it wouldn’t be tears.” As he spoke, he rubbed at the errant tears on her cheeks. “Please tell me that you are all right.”
Tara stepped back, then shook her head fiercely. “No, Dad, I’m definitely all right. It’s just that . . . I guess I’m emotional . . . ”
Allowing her words to trail off, she sought to reassure her protective father, who she now knew was more aware of what had been going on in her life than anyone. Except, of course, Griffin.
Before she could try to explain, Titus led her over to the chair across from his high-backed leather chair and sat her down. “Given that it is almost five o’clock, I hope that you will join me in what I hope is a celebration of sorts. Will Jameson do the trick for you? Help to settle some of those nerves that have to be challenging you?”
Tara laughed. “You know me too well, Dad. And yes, by all means, Jameson is more than welcome. And don’t worry about the time. Your outrageous youngest daughter was plying me with booze at eleven o’clock this morning. To tell you the truth, I was glad she did. If you think my nerves are a little on edge now, I was pretty much a basket case when Tanya hit me up.”
A soft smile tugged at Titus’s lips as he handed her a glass of the tawny liquor and then took his seat across from her. “Ah yes. It won’t surprise you that I’ve been bombarded by my inimitable deputy who was more than eager to bring me up to date on your exploits.”
At Tara’s shocked gasp, Titus reassured her. “Relax, Tara. Remember, daughters assume that their over-the-hill father gave up on sex years ago so that he could concentrate on being their father. No, being the excellent ‘lawman’ that she is, Tanya’s most explicit tales were how she almost arrested the motorcycle speed demon who happened to be transporting her big sister home from her surprising abduction. At least that’s how Tanya is still describing your untoward departure from the Bitter n’ Twisted.”
Tara laughed and agreed. “That’s not too far from the truth, Dad. At least that’s how I felt when Griffin summarily captured me and stuck me on the back of his motorcycle and drove off to God-knew-where.”
“Yes, so he did.” Titus took a hearty drought of his whiskey, then raised an inquiring brow. “Would you like to tell me why that compelling man found it necessary to, as you said, ‘capture’ you? From under the noses of her sisters and father, no less.”
“Given that you know a heck of a lot more than you are letting on, Dad, I will tell you, in retrospect, that I gave Griffin more than enough reason to pirate me away. Not that I admitted it at the time. Rather, at the time, I was as angry with him as I have ever been with anyone in my life.”
“Can I assume that the indomitable Mr. Black was able to convert some of that anger to even more powerful emotions?”
Knowing that her cheeks were flaming, Tara laughed. “Good God, Dad, are we really going to talk about my sex life?”
Titus chuckled. “As you girls would no doubt say if I broached the subject of my sexual life, TMI.” He quickly added, “Suffice it to say, your shining eyes and what I know about Griffin kept me from sending out a search party for you no matter what my indomitable deputy was champing at the bit to do.”
“Thanks for keeping Tanya contained. I can understand why she was concerned. If it had been anyone other than Griffin, I’m assuming between the two of you, you would have engineered a search party the likes of which our county has never seen.” At her father’s smile and agreeing nod, Tara decided to broach the unspoken issues between them. “But then, unlike Tanya, you do know Griffin. At least you know more about him than I’m sure most people do.”
As if testing her knowledge, Titus shrugged. “Hmm, perhaps. Could you be a little more specific, Tara?”
“Well, for example, you know that I likely would have gone out of my mind in that crazy elevator if Griffin had not been there. But true to form, Dad, rather than asking me or telling me what you planned to do, you went to the source.”
“Yes, I did. I hope I don’t have to tell you how upset I was to see you as shattered as you were that morning. It brought back some very challenging memories. It was critical to me that I confront Griffin Black, who, up until that time, I knew only as the arrogant man you’d declared your archenemy. I needed to let him know what would happen to anyone, no matter how powerful, who hurts one of my daughters.”
“But . . . that wasn’t what he did.”
“No, Tara, he didn’t. To my surprise, instead of an imperious, authoritative man, I met a man who was as powerful as I’d assumed he’d be, but was also caring, even surprisingly humble. Which is how he described his reaction to your terror. To say that was reassuring to me can’t be overstated. He also told me a bit about his personal life that, in surprising ways, mimicked my own.”
“In that he was also challenged by how he allowed his relationship with his former wife to harm his children?”
Titus shot her a troubled gaze and nodded.
Tara leaned over and reached for his hand. “Dad, you need to know. You were not responsible for what my mother did to me. She was an evil, sick woman. You didn’t know—”
Titus held up his hand, stopping her in mid-sentence. “You’re correct, Tara. I did not know what your mother was doing to you. But you need to understand, the fact that she could have suffocated you or caused you irreparable harm is a burden I will bear for the rest of my life.”
Shaking her head fiercely, Tara disagreed. “No. Please hear me. You did what you did because you thought it was important for us three girls to have a mother, even as disreputable as she was. The instant I told you what she was doing to me, she was gone. You made that happen.”
Titus held up his hands, a defeated gesture, and said bitterly, “And you were left to deal with emotional scars that could have ruined your life.”
“But they didn’t. Because of you.” She waited until he finally nodded in semi-agreement, then continued. “I want to tell you more about Griffin, Dad. What is going on in his life at the moment. You were right about him. He is a much more complicated man than he allows people to know. For example, the first night that we were together, he left for an emergency. I only later learned that his ex-wife had tried to commit suicide. Not only did she do that, but she did it in front of their children, ensuring that they would find her suicide note. In that note, she said she was killing herself because she couldn’t bear for them to leave her and go to their dad.”
At Titus’s hard frown, Tara continued. “Hopefully, that is exactly what will happen. That because of her egregious actions, Griffin will get custody of his children. His former in-laws convinced a court to prevent Griffin from seeing his children, insisting that he had caused their daughter’s suicide attempt. Thank goodness, a higher court has agreed to hear his appeal. In fact, even as we speak, he is flying to New York, and if all goes as he hopes, Griffin will be able to plead his case before the new judge tomorrow afternoon.”
Titus shook his head. “I’m grieved to hear what Griffin has been going through. As I told you, when I went to see him, I met a more complex man than I expected. I also met a man who was clearly moved by you.” Titus rose to his feet, then strode to the bar and retrieved the bottle of Jameson. Without asking, he refilled her glass as well as his own. Sinking back down on his chair, he was quiet for a long moment. Then, facing her, he said carefully, “It appears that a very complicated and, I might add, powerful man has come into your life, Tara. In addition to being exceedingly wealthy, he has accumulated that wealth doing what you have labeled ‘raping pristine lands.’ Which in my mind, is an overstatement. However, without question, he is an arrogant man. He is clearly accustomed to taking what he wants, apparently believing that is his right. While I’m not asking for details, he is also an experienced man—as it relates to male-female relationships. No doubt, he has had a hundred times your limited experience in that problematical arena. To add to that ambiguous equation, he has a much more thorny personal life than even I was aware of. He has an ex-wife who, along with her wealthy parents, is determined to make him pay for, I presume, the fact that he divorced her. In addition, he has two minor children who have become pawns in their parents’ challenged relationship.”
Titus leaned back in his chair and took several quiet sips of his drink. Tara waited, knowing her father well enough to know that he wasn’t finished with what at least on the surface appeared to be quite an indictment. The fact that his expression had darkened, become more brooding as he catalogued Griffin’s professional and personal attributes, should have been cause for concern to Tara.
Fortunately, after he studied her for a long moment, his frown cleared and he actually smiled. “Given that we’ve already discussed the way that he peremptorily strode into the Bitter n’ Twisted and hauled you away and that you are one of the three people I love more than anything in the world, I need to ask you an important question. One that only you can answer. Tara, how do you feel about the inimitable Mr. Black?”
Tara wasn’t surprised that the tears she’d fought when she first came to see her beloved father had once again surfaced. After all, the question he asked her was an exceedingly important and challenging question. After a long moment, she swiped at her tears and then gave her father a watery smile. “I don’t know how else to say it, Dad, except that in some crazy and wonderful way, I love him.” She added softly, “And what’s even crazier and more wonderful is that he loves me.”