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  “Do you promise?” Nicole asked with a spark of hope in her voice.

  “I give you my word,” Alice promised her. “Now go wash your face. The sooner we do this, the better it is.”

  “Okay,” Nicole nodded, then hugged her once more before she turned and headed out of the kitchen, stopping to give Parker a kiss on the cheek too, before she vanished out the door.

  “Are you okay?” Alice asked Parker.

  “Not really,” Parker admitted, giving Alice a sad look. “Alice, is this my fault? Did I teach her that it was okay to sleep around and not care about the consequences?”

  “Somehow, I think that won’t be a problem again,” Alice assured him. “But no, Parker, I don’t think this was your fault. I think this has been an important lesson for her, and I think it will be a long time before she ever does anything like this again.”

  “I hope so,” Parker said as he reached for her hand and held it tightly. “And thank you for being there for her when she needed someone. She means the world to me and I can’t bear to see her hurt.”

  “You don’t have to thank me,” Alice said with a smile. “I care about her too. I care about you all.”

  Parker stared down into Alice’s eyes and for a moment, it was like there was no one else in the world except them. He moved towards her slowly, and Alice knew he was going to kiss her again. This time she wouldn’t stop it, this time she wouldn’t pull away. She waited for him to kiss her, but just as his lips were almost at hers, he pulled back.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, surprising Alice. “I…I should go check on Nicole.”

  He turned and hurried out of the kitchen, leaving Alice wondering what the hell had just happened.

  Chapter 21

  Parker

  When they reached Parker’s parent’s house, Parker switched off the engine but made no attempt to get out of the car. He had insisted on driving them there himself because he thought it might clear his head a little. It hadn’t.

  When he walked in on Alice and Nicole, he thought his heart was going to explode. He blamed himself for what happened to Nicole, despite what Alice said. If he had just thought about what example he was setting for Nicole every time he hooked up with some stupid bimbo, this would never have happened.

  Then the biggest kick in the stomach came when it hit him that if things fell apart with Alice, it would destroy Nicole. He really hadn’t thought this whole thing through. Why was he always such a fuck up?

  “Parker,” Alice said from beside him, pulling him from his thoughts. “Are you ready to go in?”

  “Yep,” he said and forced a smile on his face as his eyes met hers. Why the fuck did he try to kiss Alice again? He had told himself over and over to give her time, but now he had probably just made everything worse.

  “We don’t have to go in,” Nicole said from the back seat of the car. “I mean, do they really have to know?”

  “Yes,” Parker replied, looking at his little sister in the rear-view mirror. “We are going in, and you are telling them. Nic, you know it’s the right thing to do. As for your little Casanova, his ass is mine.”

  He glanced over at Alice and sighed when he saw the tiny v form just above her nose. He knew she was worried about him, and what he would do to the kid. The truth was, he was worried himself. Right at that moment, he wanted to beat the snot off this kid, but he knew that wouldn’t help his little sister. He needed to think about how he would approach this.

  Right now, he needed to go and face his parents with Nicole, and he knew that his father was going to lose his mind when he heard what she had to say.

  “I guess we should do this,” Parker said as he reached for the handle of the door. “Sooner we go in; sooner it’s done.”

  They all climbed out of the car and made their way up the front steps of the house. Nicole was just about to slip her key into the lock when the door opened, and they were greeted with their mother’s smiling face.

  “I thought I heard a car,” Eleanor said, and her smile widened as she greeted Parker and Alice, then Nicole. “And I must say, this is a surprise. I wasn’t expecting you two tonight, but now you’re here, you have to stay for dinner.”

  “We would love to,” Parker said nervously as he stepped into the hallway. He knew telling her parents was the right thing to do, but now he was here, he wasn’t as confident about doing this. He knew they needed to hear the truth, but he had an overwhelming feeling to protect his little sister. He just wished he didn’t feel like a pimpled face teenager again, having to face his parents because he had done something wrong.

  Suddenly Parker felt Alice’s hand slip into his, then squeeze it gently. He looked at her, and when his gaze met hers, he was rewarded with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen,

  He closed his hand around hers, grateful for her support. This girl constantly surprised him. Every time he thought he had fucked things up with her, she came through for him once again.

  “Is everything okay?” Eleanor said, and Parker couldn’t help but smile. His mother had this way of always knowing when something wasn’t right. She would say it was her Moth-dar, which would always make both Parker and Nicole roll their eyes.

  “Where’s Dad?” Parker asked knowing there was no putting this off anymore.

  “I think he is in his office,” Eleanor replied, and Parker could see the worry form on her face. “What’s going on?”

  “Maybe you should get him,” Parker suggested. “I think we need to talk.”

  Parker glanced at his kid sister, and his heart hurt to see the tears standing in her eyes. Still, he knew this was the right thing to do.

  “Okay,” Eleanor said, and the worry was clear in her voice. “I will go get him; you guys should head into the living room.”

  Eleanor turned and hurried along the hallway, towards Robert’s office, while Parker, Alice, and Nicole made their way to the living room.

  “I...I don’t think I can do this,” Nicole said as Parker and Alice took a seat of the sofa. She didn’t sit down; she just began to pace up and down.

  “It will be okay,” Parker assured her, but inside he knew his father, and he knew that he would not take this well.

  Nicole froze when her parent’s voice echoed down the hallway before they both came into the room.

  “Parker,” Robert said as he walked into the room. “What’s happened now?”

  Parker would have been lying if he said the fact that his father expected that if there was a problem, then it was something to do with him, didn’t hurt. It hurt a lot. But he also knew that, given his history, it was a fair assumption to make.

  “Dad,” Parker began nervously. “I need you to sit down and listen, and I need you not to freak out.”

  “Jesus, Parker,” Robert sighed. “What stunt have you pulled now?”

  Parker instantly looked at Alice, and the look on her face made him wish the ground would open up and swallow him whole. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say a word, Nicole spoke up.

  “Parker has done nothing wrong,” Nicole blurted suddenly. “It was me. I made a mistake. I’m the bad one this time.”

  “Nicole…” Parker said, knowing exactly how she was feeling right at that moment, he remembered the first time he fucked up; the first time he stood there and had to face the wrath of his father.

  Parker knew that was the night he changed. He thought that it had changed him forever, but now he wasn’t so sure. He just hoped that what had happened to Nicole wouldn’t change her too.

  “It’s okay,” she said, giving him a sad smile before she turned and looked at her father. She took a deep breath and began to tell her parents what had happened. Parker held his breath as Nicole told her parents everything that happened between her and Deacon.

  While she spoke, Parker watched his father, and he knew in his heart that nothing he had ever done, hurt his dad as much as what Nicole was now telling him. But Parker got it. She was his little girl, his baby. It was his j
ob to protect her, and he failed.

  Parker knew that he thought that because that’s exactly how he felt too.

  When she finished, an uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Eleanor took a seat, and Parker knew that his mother was struggling to hold it together. Nicole glanced at Parker, and he gave her a reassuring smile before she turned back to her father.

  “Daddy, say something,” “Nicole whispered in a tiny voice.

  “I don’t know what to say, Nicole,” Robert stood up and began to pace up and down.

  “Tell me you don’t hate me,” she begged as tears suddenly spilled down her face. “Tell me that I haven’t disappointed you.”

  “I’m not disappointed in you,” Robert said as he turned to his daughter. “I’m proud of you for having the guts to come and tell me what happened. I’m disappointed in me.”

  “Why?” Nicole asked as she took a step closer to him.

  “Because clearly, I have let you down,” Robert said as suddenly tears danced in his eyes too. “I have let you both down.”

  He looked from Nicole to Parker.

  “Am I a bad father?” He asked looking like his heart was shattering into a million pieces. “Was I not there enough? Did I expect too much from you?”

  “What? No!” Parker said, surprised by his father’s reaction.

  “Then why do I feel like I have?” he asked as he looked back at his daughter. “Did I let you down, Nicole?”

  “No, Daddy!” Nicole exclaimed. “You’re the best dad in the world…”

  “Am I?” He asked as the tears trickled down his face. He slumped down on the sofa. “I don’t think I am. I certainly don’t feel like it.”

  Suddenly he reached for his collar and pulled his tie loose.

  “Robert!” Eleanor said, instantly sensing something wasn’t right with her husband. “Are you okay?”

  “I…I don’t feel so good,” he groaned, and he grabbed at his arm with his other hand. “I feel dizzy…”

  “Dad!” Parker cried out as he hurried towards his father, knowing that something was terribly wrong.

  “I…I can’t…can’t breathe…” Robert gasped.

  “CALL 911!” Parker yelled at Alice, as he lay his father back on the sofa, and loosened his collar more. “Just breathe, Dad. Help is on the way.”

  Parker sat in the waiting room of the hospital with his family, waiting desperately for word on his father. When they reached the hospital, Robert was rushed to surgery because they said he needed to have a pacemaker fitted.

  The entire time they sat in there, Alice held Parker’s hand, and somehow, she seemed to give him the strength not to fall apart. He was grateful to have her there with him. He knew he wouldn’t have gotten through it without her.

  Parker glanced over at his mother and sister, and he wished he could find the right thing to say to make this somehow easier for them. He leaned forward and took his mother’s hand.

  “I promise, I will take care of everything,” Parker assured her. “Whatever it takes, I’m going to make sure you are all okay.” He meant it too. He knew it was his time to step up and be the man his family needed him to be. He would start by sorting things for his little sister; then he would do whatever it would take to help his father. “But Dad is going to be alright. I know it.”

  They both offered him a smile, but he knew they were beyond scared. So was he. He just wanted everything to be okay once more.

  Parker looked at Alice and smiled to himself. He knew as he looked at her, she was not there because she had to be, she was there because she wanted to be, and that meant everything to him right at that moment.

  He needed to talk to her and tell her how he felt. He was not going to waste another moment. And he would, once everything was okay with his father.

  “This is all my fault,” Nicole cried softly, as she looked up at her mother. “I’m so sorry, Mom.”

  “This was not your fault, Sweetheart,” Eleanor assured her daughter, and she pressed her lips to her forehead.

  “Nic,” Parker said, giving his sister a warm smile. “You know this was not your fault. Dad wouldn’t want you blaming yourself. And I don’t want you to worry; I will make everything right. I give you my word.”

  “I know you will,” she replied and forced a smile through her tears. “I just want Dad to be okay.”

  “Mrs. O’Neill!” A doctor called from the doorway of the waiting room, and Parker instantly recognised him as the doctor that had taken his father to surgery.

  They all stood up the moment he called out Eleanor’s name, but none of them said a word.

  “Your husband’s procedure went perfectly. We were able to fit the pacemaker using just a local anesthetic and a mild sedative. He is in recovery and will be moved to a room shortly. If everything goes to plan, he should be home in a couple of days.”

  “He…he is okay?” Eleanor asked as tears of relief trickled down her face.

  “He will have to change his lifestyle some,” The doctor said with another smile. “Change his diet and exercise a bit more, but he should be back to himself in a couple of weeks. He was lucky.”

  “Thank you so much,” Eleanor replied as she shook the doctor’s hand. “Can we see him?”

  “We will be moving him shortly, and once he is in his room, you can see him, but only for a short while. He is still a little groggy from the sedative, so he needs some rest.

  “Thank you,” Eleanor said once more before she turned and hugged Nicole tightly, as she gave Parker a happy smile.

  About forty minutes later, they were escorted to the room that Robert had been moved to. It shocked Parker to see his father look so frail, even though the doctor insisted he was going to be fine.

  They all moved closer to the bed, as Robert slowly opened his eyes. When he saw his family standing there, he gave them a weak smile, as he held his hand out to his wife.

  “You gave us quite a scare,” she laughed through her tears as she took his hand, and leaned down to kiss him on the lips.

  “I gave myself quite a scare too,” Robert laughed weakly.

  “The doctor assured us that you’re going to be okay,” Eleanor said as she squeezed his hand. “You just need to rest now.”

  He smiled again before he turned his head and looked at his children. He reached out his other hand to Nicole.

  “Daddy, I’m so sorry…” she began to say as once more she began to cry.

  “There is nothing to be sorry for,” Robert said giving her a tired smile. “But I don’t want you to worry, we will take care of things, and you will never have to deal with this boy again.”

  “Okay,” she nodded and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

  “I’m afraid you will have to come back tomorrow,” a nurse announced when she suddenly appeared in the doorway. “Mr. O’Neill needs his rest.”

  “We should go,” Eleanor said as she leaned forward and kissed her husband once more.

  “Okay,” he replied weakly and smiled before he turned and looked at Parker. “Can I just talk to you alone for a moment please?”

  “Sure,” Parker replied and waited behind as everyone else left the room. When they were alone, Parker moved closer to the bed. “Hey, Dad, what’s up?”

  “Firstly, I want to apologise,” Robert began.

  “You have nothing to apologise for,” Parker insisted but he father raised his hand, and Parker stopped arguing.

  “Tonight, I assumed the worst,” Robert continued. “And I was wrong.”

  “It’s okay, Dad,” Parker assured him. “Let’s face it, there was a time, not too long ago that you would have been right.”

  “You have really stepped up these last few weeks,” Robert continued. “And I’m proud of you, but now I need you to keep going. I need you to sort this thing with Nicole and that kid. I need to know that your mom and your sister are okay. I need to know my whole family is okay, that includes Alice too.”

  “I have already made some calls
,” Parker assured him. “I will make sure that photo never sees the light of day. Don’t worry Dad; I will make sure that everything is sorted. I promise.”

  “Good,” Robert nodded and smiled. “Also, I think it’s time for me to step down and hand over the reins to you in the company. You’re ready, and I know you can’t do this…”

  “But I thought I needed to prove myself?” Parker said, surprised by what his father had said.

  “You have,” Robert admitted. “Okay, I was a bit sceptical when you first married Alice. I thought it was just another one of your stunts. But having seen you together, I know that you two are so made for each other. And tonight, you did the right thing with Nicole. There was a time you would have gone straight after that kid, but this time you came to me. You did the right thing.”

  “Dad…I,” Parker said, not sure of what he should say.

  “I know you can do this,” Robert stopped him.

  “Okay, Dad,” Parker agreed and gave him a smile. “I will not let you down. I give you my word.”

  Chapter 22

  Alice

  “Are you okay?” Alice asked as she sat a hot chocolate down in front of Parker. Since they had left the hospital an hour earlier, he had barely said two words. Even after he dropped his mother and sister back to the house, he seemed overly quiet. Eleanor had suggested that they both spend the night, but Parker had declined, saying he wanted some time to think.

  Alice had no idea what he wanted to think about, but she knew it was something big.

  “I’m okay,” he replied as he seemed to snap out of his daydreams. He looked down at the hot chocolate in front of him, then up at Alice. “What’s this for?”

  “Well, whenever I was sad or worried, when I was growing up,” Alice explained as she sat down next to Parker. “Gram would always make me hot chocolate. I don’t know why, but it always seemed to help. Maybe it was the familiarity, or maybe I just found it warm and comforting, I don’t know. But I just thought you could do with something to make you feel a little better.”