“It’s okay,” he said in a soothing deep voice. “Everything is okay, sweetheart. Can you sit up?”
I nodded and attempted to pull myself up. Where was I? I quickly recognized my bedroom. I’d been in the dining room, hadn’t I? No, the living room. How had I gotten here?
“What happened?”
“You fainted, baby.”
Fainted? I’d never fainted in my life. Fainting was for girls.
“Where is everyone? Tal? Joe? Ryan? Jade?”
“They’re all fine. They’re still here. I told them I’d take care of you.” He smiled. “In fact, I want to take care of you for the rest of your life.”
A proposal? My mind was muddled. Was Bryce proposing to me in my bedroom when I couldn’t yet think straight?
“I…”
“You don’t have to say anything.”
“I thought…”
My father.
My father’s body. My father’s face. My father’s voice.
But that was impossible. He was dead.
I’d watched him die in this very house months ago.
“Easy, baby. You okay?”
My head spun a little as I gazed into Bryce’s sparkling blue eyes. Such love was reflected there. Love for me.
I was the luckiest woman in the world.
“My fa… I saw him. I heard his voice.”
“Yes, honey. You did.”
No. Couldn’t be. Couldn’t be.
“I didn’t. I didn’t. He’s dead.”
Bryce cupped my cheek. “He’s alive. And he has a story to tell. But he’s not staying long.”
I melted into Bryce’s arms, tears welling in my eyes.
Should I be angry? Happy? Surprised?
I didn’t know. Myriad emotions bubbled through me, weakening me.
I didn’t like to feel weak.
Weakness was for girls.
Not for a Steel.
“Do you want to see him?”