I thought about throwing her over my shoulder and taking her out the back door. Locking the world out. Keeping her where I could see her. Keeping both of them where they belonged.
I wasn’t going to do it.
But I wanted to.
God,I wanted to.
And instead…I stepped back.
“I think it’s time I left,” I said. “Busy day.”
Ruby frowned, shaking her head, her mouth opening and closing. “That…that’s it?”
“What else is there to say?” I asked. “You’ve been quite clear—she’syourdaughter, and you’re going to give her away to a man who isn’t even her father. But…that’s your call, isn’t it?”
Ruby flinched.
“Heisher father,” she said, too quick, like she was talking herself into it. “He’s the one who’s there. The one who shows up.”
I nodded. “Sure. That’s what matters, right? Showing up. That’s all it takes.”
She crossed her arms like a shield. “Don’t twist my words.”
“I’m not twisting anything. I’m just learning the rules,” I said, voice going flatter by the second. “You always were a better liar than me. That’s why they believe you.”
Her breath caught, but she didn’t speak.
I got dressed in a hurry, snatching up the clothes I’d left on the floor in a trail to the bedroom. When I grabbed the doorknob a few minutes later, my hand was steady, but inside, I was chaos—ripping at the seams, one thread at a time. I glanced back, just once, and let myself look at her. Not the version I kept in my head, not the woman I begged to trust me, but the one in front of me now.
Cold. Guarded. Fucking final.
“You know what the worst part is?” I asked, my hand still on the knob. “It’s not that you’re cutting me out. It’s that I still love you enough to let you do it.”
Her throat worked like she was trying to swallow something too big.
“Kieran—”
But I was already halfway out the door.
“And Ruby,” I added, turning back just enough to meet her eyes. “If you think Julian’s going to get to keep her forever…you don’t know me at all.”
Then I stepped into the cold, let the door shut behind me, and walked out into the snow.
It was quiet out there. Too quiet. Like the world had gone still just to hear what I’d do next.
And I didn’t know yet…but I was thinking about a lot of things.
About names on legal documents.
About men who stepped into roles they didn’t earn.
About how easy it would be to make someone disappear, if you stopped caring what it cost you.
I lit a cigarette with shaking hands and stared out into the white.
She thought this was over.
It wasn’t.
