Page 46 of By Blade, I Love
He stepped back and gave me time to myself.
I felt the summer breeze move through my hair, listened to the birds up above, felt the beat of my strong heart in my chest. There was so much life around me, and it really hit me hard that he wasn’t a part of it. He would never be a part of it again. The next time I would see him would be when I was dead too. “Dad…” Tears streaked down my cheeks as I started to cry, as I mourned the relationship that meant more to me than I’d ever realized. If he had picked my brother to run the place instead of me, I would have accepted that. But I’d be lying if I said it didn’t mean the world to me that he did pick me. That he always recognized my strengths and contributions. That he never dismissed my abilities because I was a woman instead of a man. He expected the same out of me as my brother. He was traditional in a lot of ways, but progressive in a modern world. “You were a good dad, and I’m going to miss you so much.”
I couldn’t think about running the business again, not when I needed closure for my father first. So we all worked to prepare for his funeral. Elio knew all of his friends, so he contacted everyone to notify them when and where we were holding the service. The staff prepared the food to feed at least five hundred people. Andre made programs and printed out pictures of my father. We didn’t have enough tables and chairs for that many people, so Wolfe called in a friend who had a hotel, and they let us borrow their tables and chairs to use for the day since they didn’t have any weddings planned.
None of this was in any of the guys’ job descriptions, but they got it done without complaint. Shipments arrived from customsand everything with the business was in disarray, but it didn’t feel important to me right now. I needed to give my father a proper goodbye, to honor everything he’d done for us and his community, to give him the final send-off he deserved.
The morning of the service, it was hard for me to get out of bed.
I lay there for a while, even after my alarm clock went off.
Wolfe lay next to me, spooning me from behind and gently rubbing his hand up and down my arm. He didn’t rush me out of bed, let me take all the time I needed.
“I can bring you some coffee.”
“No, it’s okay.”
He kissed the back of my shoulder before he got out of bed. “I’ll see you out there.” He took a quick shower then got dressed and left the bedroom. I was already running late, but I lay there for another ten minutes before I finally forced myself to my feet. I appreciated the fact that Wolfe didn’t try to rush me, that he would handle everything until I was prepared to make an appearance.
I got ready, put on a black dress with black wedges, and then stepped out onto the terrace. I saw endless rows of chairs that faced the tombstone under the tree, and there were flowers everywhere. Everyone had brought something to honor him, and there were so many tokens of affection that the entire foot of the tree was crowded.
I grabbed the rail and headed downstairs. I spotted Wolfe at the bottom in his slacks and a black button-up shirt with one of his watches on his wrist. He was there waiting for me, his eyes gentle and kind. “You look great, baby.”
I joined him at the bottom. “Thank you.”
His hand grabbed mine, and he leaned in and pressed a kiss to my hairline. “You’ve got this.”
“I wouldn’t be able to do this without you.” I looked up at him, a tall skyscraper even in my platform wedges. His eyes remained kind as they met mine, and I stared at a man I wanted for all my life, the man with whom I shared a brief relationship that already felt like a marriage. “I’m so grateful that I have you.”
When the service was over, people paid their last respects at his gravesite, dropping white flowers on top of the mound before they headed to the house for lunch. I stood there with Wolfe so everyone could pay their respects to me, and I felt my blood run ice-cold when Leo came up next in the line at the grave.
I stared at him.
He stared at me.
There was a tense pause so violent it felt nuclear, but no one around us suspected a thing. The standoff continued for what felt like a minute, like Leo was afraid to come any closer because I might bash his head open on Dad’s tombstone.
But then Leo stepped forward and dropped the flower on our father’s grave. He made the sign of the cross across his chest, placed a kiss on his fingers, pressed it to the tombstone, and then walked off.
My eyes drilled bullets into his back as he walked away. “He doesn’t deserve to be here.”
Wolfe moved his hand to the center of my back, and he gently rubbed me. “Now isn’t the time.”
“You think I care if it’s the right time?” I turned my wrath on him instead.
He stared at me as people continued to walk up and drop a flower on his grave. “Want me to go after him and kill him? Because you know I will. Just say the word, boss.”
“Don’t call me that.”
A smile moved over his lips. “That’s what you are.”
I looked back at the people who continued to walk up.
“You want me to do it or not?”
I sighed loudly.
“Don’t worry about him. Just worry about yourself.”
