My happiness.
I needed my family to accept him, but unless I held a gun to their head and forced them, I didn’t think it was possible.
Bones parked the truck in the parking lot then turned to me. “You need to relax, baby.”
“I didn’t say anything,” I said defensively.
“You don’t need to say anything to tell me how you feel. You’re wound up so tight you might snap in half.” He grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips to kiss it. “Be yourself. Talk to them the way you normally do. The more casual you make it, the easier it’ll be for them.”
“My father doesn’t like casual. He likes intensity as much as you do.”
“But your mother doesn’t. While your father is the head of the household, she calls all the shots. If she wants me to stay, she has the power to make it happen. Remember that.”
“But she’s probably the one more likely to say no…” She’d been the victim of his father when she was my age. It was the kind of suffering you didn’t just forget about.
“Women are more compassionate than men. But she’s also more logical than your father. She can separate emotional thinking from logical thinking.”
“You gathered all of this from being around them a few times?”
He shrugged. “They’re pretty easy to read. One thing is clear…they’re a team. Your father might be the only one in the room with me sometimes, but he definitely discusses everything with her. After all, she was the one who killed my father. I’ve been told she stashed a knife inside her stitches, and then when she was alone with him, she ripped the knife out and stabbed him to death.”
My jaw dropped. “Jesus Christ…”
He nodded.
“Fucking badass.”
Bones didn’t crack a smile, probably because his father was the victim of the situation. He didn’t get mad about it either, understanding my family had every right to do what they did. “My father actually captured your uncle. Held him as captive and asked to switch him for your mom. Crow wouldn’t do it, obviously. Your mother made the switch behind his back. She saved your uncle and killed my father all on her own.”
I knew my mother was a strong woman, but I had no grasp of her true bravery. She willing went back to her former tormentor to save my father’s brother. She killed him on her own—with no one’s help. I knew exactly where my strongest qualities came from, but now I was even more proud of them. “Wow…”
“Point is, she has as much power in the decision as he does.”
“But you’ve never tried talking to her.”
“Like your father wants me anywhere near her. That would cross the line. I would call her or stop by for a private conversation, but that would piss off your father so much that it would be counterproductive.”
When it came to my mother, my father did turn into a guard dog.
“Let’s go.” He killed the engine, and we hopped out of the truck.
Bones didn’t hold my hand or show me any kind of affection. All he did was open the door for me, and to anyone watching us, we would seem like two people who hardly knew each other—not lovers.
My parents had a table in the corner, with significant space around it as if it was a table they gave to customers who required a lot of privacy. The other tables were filled with families and couples enjoying wine and their dinner.
Bones let me walk first, and I headed to the table with dread in my heart. My father didn’t even look at me because he was too busy staring at Bones, like he suspected my lover would make a sudden movement and kill everyone in the restaurant.
It made me sick.
My mother rose from her seat and greeted me with a hug. Nothing could stop her from smiling at me, regardless of how she felt about the man standing behind me. Her eyes glowed with happiness anytime she looked at me, like she always missed me—no matter what our circumstances were. “Hey, sweetheart.”
“Hey, Mama.”
She squeezed my arm before she stepped aside so I could greet my father. She looked at Bones like she didn’t know what to do. She stared at him with her blue eyes, examining him not with hatred but reluctance. “I feel rude not shaking your hand, but I’m just not ready for that yet…”
Bones didn’t seem the least bit offended. “I understand.”
My father hugged me next, embracing me the way he always did. He squeezed me and kissed me on the forehead, treasuring me with his unconditional love. He hated the man I was sleeping with and thought I was stupid for being with him, but that would never change the way he felt about me. “Tesoro, you look nice.”