“That’s not the only reason, and you know it.”
“Fine. She’s also mad because I married her a few weeks after Becca’s mother died.”
“Wait a minute,” Roxy said, stepping further into the room. “You married my daughter days after your wife died and failed to tell your four-year-old daughter?”
“Becca was at Disneyland with her Uncle. I couldn’t reach her. Besides, that’s not a conversation I wanted to have over the phone with a four-year-old.”
“Boy,” Roxy grinned. “You really know how to muck shit up, don’t you.”
“I don’t see the problem here.”
“Of course, you don’t. Look at it this way, Ghost. Becca’s mom just died. She misses her, cries for her, wants her to come back. Instead of being there for her as a father should have been, you send her off with your brother and grandmother while you run off with Ari across the country, leaving your daughter to grieve alone. Then you up and marry a woman your daughter has never met. Hell boy, Ari hasn’t even met Becca yet, and you expect everything to be hunky-dory?”
“Well,” I sighed, running my hands through my hair. “When you put it like that.”
“What’s going on?” Sleepily, Remi asked as she entered my room. Great, now the whole house was going to be awake to hear this shit.
“Ghost fucked up,” Ari said, as all eyes turned in her direction. I had never heard her utter a curse word before, and though she had every right, I didn’t like it one bit.
Nope. Not one bit.
“Don’t curse,” I growled.
“Why, you do it all the time!”
“That’s different.”
“Why?” Roxy asked. “Because you’re a man?”
“No.”
“Seriously, Ghost,” Remi grinned, walking over to Ari. “If Ari wants to curse, I think now is a perfect time. As for Becca, she already knows about Ari. I told her.”
“You did,” Ari smiled, turning to Remi.
“Yeah. When Max told me that Ghost got drunk and married you. I thought Becca would like to know that she had a new stepmom. She took it really well. Even Shadow talked to her. He said you looked like a fairy princess, and her dad was just rescuing you.”
“That was so sweet of him,” Ari gushed, and I wanted to gag. Only my idiot brother would think something like that. “So, she knows about me?”
“Yep,” Remi nodded, then yawned.
Clapping my hands together, I said, “Great! Now that everything’s settled, can we please go back to bed?”
“No,” Ari said, still angry.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m still mad at you.”
“Baby, please. I’m sorry. I fucked up. I won’t do it again. I promise.”
Remi and Roxy both snickered. “Yeah, right.”
Ignoring them, I walked over to Ari. Took her hands in my and lightly kissed them. “Please, baby. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Please forgive me. I don’t like it when you're mad at me.”
“Oh, just forgive him, baby girl. I hate seeing a grown man beg. It ain’t right. Come on, Remi. I need something to drink.” As the two women left our room, I waited patiently for Ari to say something, anything. When she looked up at me and nodded, I grinned.
“Thank God,” I muttered, then kissed her.