"You can explain what? Were you just in your bedroom with my daughter?"
"Yes," Cane says, "I was."
Samantha pulls in a sharp breath. "Lex," she says, "maybe we should–"
Lex shakes his head. "Samantha, I've got to take care of this."
Samantha presses her fingers to her mouth. "Oh dear," she says.
Fiona walks upstairs right then with Flynn. "Is everything okay?" she asks. "I heard some noise upstairs and was wanting to–"
"No, everything is not okay," my father says. "It turns out your father was just fucking my daughter."
"Daddy," I say, "don't say something like that. You don’t know what I was doing."
My dad looks at me. "Do you care to clarify?"
My face goes bright red. Cane, though, says, "Lex, that's more than enough. This is really none of your business."
"None of my business?" he says. "This is my daughter."
Samantha clears her throat. "Who is an adult," she says, "a grown woman who can make her own decisions about her body."
Lex frowns, clears his throat. "Damn it," he says. "Fuck, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He steps back.
Tears fill my eyes and I step closer to Cane. He wraps an arm around me. I'm mortified in more ways than one, but my dad suddenly looks mortified too.
"Fuck,” he repeats. “I'm sorry to everyone involved. I don't know what just happened there. I feel like I went back 10 years in time. You're right. This is inappropriate of me. Whatever you are doing with my daughter is none of my goddamn business. But..." Samantha shakes her head. "Never mind," my father corrects himself, taking cues from Samantha.
And hello, who the hell is Samantha? Because apparently, she's one badass woman.
"Never mind," my dad repeats. "Cane, I'm sorry. I don't need to intervene. This is your life, your home, your business. And Lucia, I just... You're my little girl. I want you to be safe and happy and healthy."
"I am, Daddy," I tell him. "I'm in love with Cane and–"
Fiona gasps. "Oh my God. So this is really happening?" she says.
Cane groans. "Oh God."
"It's all right," I tell him. "We've already talked about this."
Cane's eyes widened. "You and Fiona talked about you and me?"
I nod. "Yeah. I mean, of course. I wanted to make sure my best friend was okay with me sleeping with her father before we did."
My dad groans. "So you actually did sleep with Cane?"
Samantha kicks him in the shins. "Lex," Samantha says, "you can't ask questions like that."
"I know, it's just, Cane and I have been friends for ages. It's a little odd, right?"
Samantha laughs. "No, it's not odd. I mean, it's their own lives. They're grown-ups. They can do what they want, sleep with who they want. Isn't that what we were just trying to do, go have sex somewhere in his house?"
Lex groans now, too, and a laugh bubbles up inside me. "Wait, you were about to go have sex somewhere in Cane's house," I ask my father, "yet you’re judging me for doing the same thing?"
"Well, Samantha's not half my age."
Samantha smiles. "So, what if I were? So, because I'm 45 and not 25, I get no eyebrows raised for sleeping with a stranger? I'm pretty sure your daughter has known Cane a lot longer than I've known you." At this, Fiona chuckles. Her husband Flynn does too.
"I mean, at this point," Samantha says, "can't everybody do whatever the hell they want? And it's not just because it's Christmas. It's because it's the 21st century."
Cane grins. "My daughter was right. You are a pretty badass woman."
Samantha smiles. "I guess there was a reason it was never going to work out between us, isn't there?" she says with a grin, looking over at me.
I smile. "I've kind of been crushing pretty hard for a few years." Cane squeezes my hand. "I guess we were just waiting for our Christmas miracle before we did anything about that."
Fiona shakes her head in disbelief. "This is going to take some getting used to." Her husband Flynn wraps an arm around her shoulder.
"Hey, you married a hitman. Apparently, you can get used to anything in this family," Cane says. We all laugh at that, and Samantha raises an eyebrow.
She clears her throat. "I know this is Vegas, and as a nurse, I'm like the most normal person here. However, I'm also pretty horny and I think I'm the last person to get laid. So about that free bedroom?" She smiles and Fiona can't help but crack up.
"I got your hookup, sister. And yes, I do find this slightly strange that I'm trying to help my best friend's father find a spare bedroom for a one-night stand."
Samantha and Lex both scoff. He says, "This is not a one-night stand. Samantha and I, we're getting married."
"Married?" At this, I gasp. "Daddy, you just met her."
"So?" he says. "Tomorrow, we're going to a wedding chapel." Samantha beams.