have that at all. Go easy on her is all I’m saying.”
For the rest of the night, I think about what going easy on Selene would mean. She doesn’t deserve my good side quite yet, but my mother’s right. I am finding it harder and harder to stay angry with her.
I stare blankly at the television screen, allowing Griffin to talk my ear off. He’s been going on and on about ideas for a potential client. I should be listening. Any good business partner would be listening, but I’m not. Instead, I’m thinking about Selene. I’m thinking about the past and what a fucking asshole I have been to her. My moods often swing from feeling bad to being angry with her for keeping Luna from me. I’m at war with myself over this fierce woman who loves our daughter endlessly.
“Are you even listening?”
I take a long pull from my beer. “Hell no.”
Griffin sighs. “Jesus Christ, what is it now?”
I shoot him a glare. “I don’t know what to do, not about Selene or how to parent our daughter.”
Griffin sets his beer down and lets out a long-drawn-out sigh. “What’s there to figure out, End? Seriously. You have a daughter and a beautiful woman who is still clearly in love with you. You have it all.”
“She kept her from me, Griff. How am I supposed to get over that shit? How am I supposed to look at her and not see all the years I missed?”
“Because what’s done is done. Don’t forget you’re not innocent either. You took her virginity while you were drunk, got her pregnant, and forgot about it. You’re no saint here either. You both need to forgive each other and do what’s best for Luna. And I know that would mean being a family.” I must make a face because he laughs. “Don’t even try to lie and tell me you feel nothing for Selene. Hell, even I feel something for her.” My gaze shoots to his; eyes narrowed in warning. It only proves his point further.
“I do feel something. That’s what makes this tough. The push and pull. The wanting to give in to her while wanting to still hold on to my anger.”
“Look, I may not have known Selene back then, but I can say, she’s good, man. I see the way she still looks at you, End, and this time, if you brush her to the side like you did back then, you’re going to lose her forever.”
The thought of losing Selene forever doesn’t sit right with me. Not in the least.
My heart jumps into my throat at the sound of the loud knocking. I spoke to End briefly on the phone yesterday, and he mentioned he’d be picking up Luna today to take to his parents’ house. He left no room for argument, not that I would have anyway. The conversation was painfully short, and his tone was cold as ice. I thought things might slowly start getting better between us, for the sake of Luna, but if anything, he seems even angrier with me now than he was before.
His mood swings are beginning to give me whiplash.
This will be the first time Luna will be on her own with End, and I hate to admit it, but I’m sad. I know Endymion is more than capable and responsible, but my daughter has always been beside me through everything, and today is the startling reality that she isn’t just mine anymore.
Sucking in a deep breath, I call out to Luna as I open the front door. End stands there as handsome as ever. His eyes trail up and down my body in a slow perusal. Goosebumps erupt over my skin until they suddenly evaporate at the disgusted look on his face. That seems to be the only expression he wears around me these days, and a glare, of course. He wears that glare, aimed my way, like no one I’ve ever known.
It’s eviscerating.
A shot to the damn heart.
“Hey, Daddy!” Luna croons excitedly. A warm smile takes over End’s face; it’s worlds different than the way he just looked at me. He drops down to his haunches, opening his arms for her. She runs into him at full speed, hugging him something fierce. An agonized sting shoots through my chest as I watch them. I miss having him look at me that way. But I can guarantee that won’t happen, especially not now. He hates me.