A Hot Holiday Collection

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

DANNY

I ’d worked hard all of my life, competed in sports, had a 4.0 grade average, was about to graduate summa cum laude, had aced the LSAT, and been accepted to Harvard Law in the first wave. But I’d never been more nervous in my entire life.

It had been pure fucking hell spending Christmas apart from Delia, so I’d insisted on accompanying her home for spring break. Besides, I had a surprise planned.

Her dad hadn’t been against me joining her on this trip, nor had he seemed all that happy about it. He kept looking at me in a way that made me feel anxious and as though he could see inside my head—which was impressive since we’d only met over video chat.

Luckily, her stepmom was ecstatic to see us, and Delia said she handled her husband without him even knowing it.

Still, as we walked up to the front door of a house that oddly reminded me of McDuck Manor, my hands clenched and unclenched in an effort to calm my nerves.

The door suddenly swung open, and a beautiful woman came running out, her long, curly black hair flying out behind her. Delia squealed and ran over to throw her arms around Amelia.

“Delia! I missed you so much!” Her stepmom’s brown eyes shone with happiness even as they filled with tears. I mentally groaned. Making his wife cry was not the first impression I wanted her dad to have of me. Even if they were happy tears.

The front door opened wider, and a man stepped out onto the porch. He smiled fondly at his daughter and wife, then turned assessing eyes in my direction. I fought the urge to fidget and reminded myself that I was a grown-ass man.

Delia went running to him next, causing him to trade his intense stare for a bright smile. He opened his arms wide, and she launched herself at him, laughing when he held her tight and spun her around a couple of times.

This was why I was so nervous. Normally, I wouldn’t give a fuck what the man thought of me, but Delia loved him fiercely. She was the love of my life, and I would do anything for her, so I wanted to have an amicable relationship with her dad.

I slowly made my way toward them but was stopped by Delia’s stepmother. “Welcome, Danny! It’s so wonderful to finally meet you in person!” She gave me a big hug, and I immediately returned the embrace and smiled widely. Amelia had a bright and sunny presence, just like my girl.

She linked her arm through mine as we took the last few steps to the porch. Zack turned those serious eyes back to me, and when he spotted Amelia’s hold on my arm, he frowned. I was tempted to yank my arm away but didn’t want to upset Amelia any more than Zack. I was stuck between two shit options.

“Oh, quit it, Zack Parker, Sr. Even if you didn’t have my heart and soul, I would never poach from Delia.” That seemed to mollify him some, and he looked back at me with a little less of a scowl.

When he held out his hand, I stepped forward to shake it. “Nice to meet you in person, Danny.”

“Thank you, sir,” I replied, earning myself a glint of respect in his eyes.

“Come in! Come in!” Amelia chirped. “The kids will be home in a couple of hours, and I want to spend some time with you two before the whirlwind of chaos descends.”

Delia had a younger sister and a brother whom she adored, and Amelia was pregnant with another girl. There was an age gap between her and her siblings because Amelia was quite a bit younger than Zack, and they hadn’t met until Delia was a teenager. I loved how she lit up when she spoke about them. Since I felt the same way about my family, I knew we both wanted that for our future.

We were going to wait until I was done with law school to start our family, but then we intended to have a big one. Honestly, it had been hard to make the decision to wait, but I wanted to be able to give my family more of myself than I could as a law student. Just as I’d waited for Delia until I knew I could give her what she deserved, I would do the same for our children. And because my girl was fucking perfect, she’d been the one to talk me out of starting our family immediately.

Well...having kids, anyway. I wasn’t waiting much longer to make her permanently mine.

We visited with Delia’s parents until her siblings came home from a playdate, then it was like Amelia had said, “A whirlwind of chaos.” It reminded me of home and the craziness that inevitably ensued when my brothers and I were all there. Holiday get-togethers with both of our families would be interesting.

It wasn’t until two days later that I found the right time to ask to speak to Zack alone.

“What can I do for you, Danny?” he asked as he sat in the big, leather chair behind the desk in his home office.

I cleared my throat and squared my shoulders, ready to do whatever it took to get the answer I wanted from Delia’s father.

“I want you to know that I’ve loved your daughter from the moment I saw her across campus. She is the most incredible woman I’ve ever known, and I will always do anything within my power to make her happy.”

Zack’s brows drew down, but he didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure whether it was a good or bad thing.

“I’m going to propose to her.”

There was a stretch of silence after my announcement while Zack watched me with an unreadable expression. Finally, he leaned back and said, “That didn’t sound like a question.”

“It wasn’t.”

His lips thinned, and his eyes darkened, flashing with irritation. “Then why the hell are we talking, Danny? If you’re not going to ask for my permission?”

It took a lot of effort not to fidget under his intense scrutiny. “Delia is a grown woman, Mr. Parker. She can make her own decisions. I wanted to ask for your blessing. I love Delia and intend to make her my wife, but she adores you, and I want her to be happy. But don’t mistake this for anything other than what it is. I’d like you to be on board, but either way, I will never let her go. She is my heart and soul, my everything.”

After another slightly uncomfortable length of quiet, his expression lightened, and there was a glint in his eyes that I hoped was respect.

“No one will ever be good enough for my baby girl. But if I can’t keep her single, then I want her to have a man who loves her as fiercely as I love my wife. I think you’re that man.”

He stood and came around the desk to hold his hand out to me. When I slid my palm against his, the rush of relief I’d felt at his words froze. He squeezed hard and took a step closer to growl, “Don’t prove me wrong, Holland. I have the connections to ruin your life, or better yet, I can simply make you disappear. Am I being clear?”

If the threat had come from just about anyone else, I might have laughed, but somehow, I knew that Zack wasn’t joking in the least.

“Yes, sir,” I replied.

He let up his hard grip but didn’t release my hand. “Delia told me how you waited for her until you could give her the attention she deserved”—my heart stopped for a moment, wondering just how much she’d told him about those two years—“and how you scared off every guy who tried to take her out.” I mentally cringed until he continued. “I respect that you treated her with such care. And as for the boys...it just proves my point because I’d have done the same fucking thing.”

My eyebrows rose, and he laughed before patting me on the shoulder and finally disengaging our hands. “Relax, Danny. You have my blessing.”

I nodded, a little off-kilter with how this conversation had gone. “Thank you.”

From that point, Delia’s dad and I began to build a relationship that I would treasure as much as the one I had with my dad.

When he walked her down the aisle a year later, he looked at me with pride and gave me another handshake, complete with a momentary bone-crushing squeeze that was a reminder of his threat to take care of Delia.

My bride hadn’t missed it, and she’d giggled over it for years while teasing me about how I’d be just as bad when it came to any daughters we had.

She was right.