Page 136 of His Surrender

I think for a second. “Twenty-three?”

He nods. “And I was thirty-three.”

I look up. “I never realized that.”

“We had ten years between us.” He smiles at the memory. “Not once did your mother think I was stealing her youth.”

I laugh softly. “I don’t think Mom ever let anyone tell her what to think.”

“Exactly.” He points toward me. “Neither does Aubrey, from what I’ve seen.”

I can’t argue with that. She’s stubborn enough to challenge me almost daily. Usually, she’s right.

“Dean …” Dad’s expression grows thoughtful. “Love isn’t measured in birthdays.”

I listen quietly.

“She’s an adult. She is capable of deciding who she wants to build a life with.” He smiles. “If that person happens to be a stubborn billionaire who’s completely obsessed with her, that’s her decision to make.”

For the first time in weeks, the knot that’s lived in my chest loosens. Maybe I’ve spent so much time assuming everyone would condemn us that I never stopped to ask if they actually would.

Dad reaches over and pats my shoulder. “The only thing that concerns me … is whether you’re going to tell her before somebody else notices what everyone in the room can already see.”

I glance instinctively toward the hallway again. Toward the closed bedroom door, where Aubrey is probably filling out applications for jobs that could take her away from us.

What if she finds a job that takes her out of the city?

What if she plans for a future that doesn’t have me or Liana in it just because I didn’t say anything?

For the first time, instead of feeling guilty for imagining forever with her, I allow myself to wonder what it would take to make forever possible.

CHAPTER THIRTY

AUBREY

Iknow something is different the second Dean walks through the front door.

He’s smiling, but it’s not his usual smile after work. Not the exhausted smile he wears when Liana has kept us both up half the night.

This one is lighter, like he seems relieved about something.

“Well,” I say, looking up from where I’m sitting on the floor, stacking colorful blocks in front of Liana. “Somebody’s in a suspiciously good mood.”

Liana, who is sitting up with cushions all around, puts her arms up in the air as he approaches.

Dean’s entire face softens. “There’s my girl.”

He laughs quietly before scooping Liana into his arms.

She immediately grabs both sides of his face, babbling something that sounds incredibly important despite neither of us understanding a word.

He nods seriously. “I completely agree.”

I smile to myself. Watching them together never gets old.

When I first moved into the penthouse, Dean held Liana like she might break if he breathed too hard.

Now she climbs all over him without a second thought, and somehow, they’ve both become more confident because of it.