Forbidden

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Nick, I need to say somethin’. I just want you to know that even though my heart is broken into a million pieces right now, I’m not damaged. It’ll take some time to heal but you don’t need to act any differently around me, okay? Actually, some normalcy would be amazing right now.”

                Nick smirked to himself.

“Well, I was gonna wait until later to tell you about this and I don’t know how normal this is gonna sound but . . .”

                He took a seat next to Olivia and placed his hand on the back of her neck.

“What is it?”

“I hope this doesn’t upset you, and you know that that’s the last thing in this world that I want, right?”

“Yes,” she said with a perplexed look on her face.

                Nick knew he looked nervous. He could feel the sweat gathering on his forehead and he quickly wiped it away.

“Nick, c’mon. What is it?”

                He took a deep breath.

“Olivia, I—I met your father.”

“Oh? When?”

“It was late November. Remember the day that I wasn’t in class and you couldn’t get a hold of me?”

“Yeah, I remember,” she said, waiting for more.

“Well, I remembered you sayin’ that your momma had gone out of town for somethin’ so I—I drove to your house that day. I rang the door bell and the nurse came and let me in and led me to him. She had walked in to your daddy’s room to ask if he was up for company and he instantly said yes, so I sat down next to him.”

                Olivia tried pushing back the tears and the lump in her throat. Instead of asking questions, she waited for Nick to press on.

“I told him everything, Olivia.”

                He stopped speaking after that, giving Olivia time to let the words sink in.

“What did he say?” she whispered, letting her tears spill from her eyes.

“He was very fatherly about it,” Nick laughed, “he told me if I ever hurt you, he had plenty of connections to have me taken away and buried somewhere where they’d never find my body.”

                Olivia smiled to the best of her ability. That was something her father would have definitely said.

“He was surprised, too. I told him who I was and I told him I’d never do anything to hurt you or cause you pain. I told him that I’d take care of you and love you for however long you’d let me.”

“So he knew. He knew all along.”

                She covered her mouth and began sobbing. He never told Liz, either. Maybe he had a reason for that. Maybe he knew she’d react differently.

“He knew all along,” Nick repeated. “I—I also asked him a question.”

“What question did you ask him?”

                Nick paused for a moment, preparing himself for what he was about to say.

“I asked him . . . if I could have his blessing to ask you to be my wife.”