Page 317 of Cross Checked
“Dad,” she whispered.
He looked at her for a second with grief and joy so deep it made the room ache. Then he reached into his pocket, and Bliss’s breath caught.
“No,” she whispered.
Daniel’s eyes filled as he opened his palm, revealing her mother’s ring.
I had not known he was going to do that.
Judging by the way Bliss stopped breathing, neither had she.
I had never seen Bliss go that still.
All the noise in her disappeared at once. Every sob. Every breath. Every frantic little motion. She stared at the ring in her father’s hand like time had cracked open and let Cindy Bennett step into the room for one impossible second.
Daniel’s voice shook. “Your mom would have wanted you to have it when somebody worthy of you came along.”
Bliss made a sound so broken I nearly moved toward her on instinct.
Her dad got there first.
He pulled her into his chest, and she folded against him, the marble trapped between them while her shoulders shook. He pressed his mouth to the top of her head, eyes squeezed shut.
“She would love him, Bug,” he whispered. “She would’ve loved how he loves you.”
I tried to swallow, but my throat had stopped working.
Eventually, Daniel released her and turned toward me. Then he took my hand, his fingers trembling as he placed the ring in my palm.
“Cade, I could not have dreamed of anyone more perfect for her,” he said, voice rough with all the things he was trying not to break under. “She is my only daughter and my baby. I love all my kids, but my little girl is the life breath in me.”
“I know that,” I said.
His hand clasped my shoulder, and there was so much trust in that touch it almost took me out at the knees.
“I wanted to make you suffer, Cade,” he admitted. “I wanted to watch you eat shit and smile because you loved her enough to understand why I hated you on principle.”
I said nothing.
I let him speak his truth.
“You willingly faced death to keep her safe. You almost died. You stood toe-to-toe with a man who enjoyed torturing my daughter, and you didn’t back down. Kill or be killed, you never once backed down. When I gave you my blessing to marry her, I found peace because you already answered the only question I had.”
My hand closed around Cindy Bennett’s ring, and emotion burned so hard behind my ribs I didn’t know what to do with it.
“I would do it again,” I said.
Daniel nodded like he already knew.
Then he looked down at the ring in my palm. “Now, I’m guessing you have one hell of a ring picked out, and this one isn’t worth much money, but our love was just as strong as you and Bliss’s. That woman was proud of my ring on her finger.”
“Yes, sir,” I said, while my mother sniffled behind him, holding my father close.
“Well.” Daniel’s voice broke a little. “Give her the ring, son. You can give her your fancy one too, but I want you both to have this as part of your bond.”
“I will, sir.”
And I could not stop the fucking tears because Daniel Bennett had just upped my proposal, and it was a total king move.
