I promise

I promise

SARAH

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I was already out of breath, chest heaving.

Cullen was standing on the other side of the door. And there they were, my dad and Ronan, standing in front of it, the two of them opposite each other. Facing off.

I didn’t even catch what their low voices said to each other, didn’t care. Instinct took over. I immediately ran in front of Cullen, putting myself between him and my family.

“Stop, Dad,” I said, my voice shaking, “whatever you want to do, no. You can’t hurt him.”

But Cullen wouldn’t just let me stand there like some human shield. He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back behind him.

“I’m the one who is going to protect you, Sarah,” he said, his voice steady and sure. “Not the other way around.”

“You don’t understand,” I argued, trying to twist out of his grip. “He’s my dad. He’s not going to hurt me. Just....just let me talk to him.”

"I would," Ronan spoke into the room.

"What?"

“You told him that I won’t hurt you,” I said quickly, looking between them. “You see? Dad wouldn’t hurt you, but I wouldn’t hesitate.....”

Before I could finish, Dad shoved Ronan with his elbow. Ronan stumbled with a groan.

And that’s when I really looked at him.... I froze.

He looked… bad. His lips were split, his eyebrow was cut, dark bruises shadowed both eyes, and his nose looked broken. His gaze was unfocused, hazy, as if he couldn’t see straight.

And to make it worse, he was leaning on a cane. No, he was hanging on it, like it was the only thing keeping him upright.

“What happened to you?” I whispered, my voice breaking.

“Acting like you care about me while you’re the reason I’m in this mess,” Ronan bit out, his voice hoarse but still sharp enough to cut through the tension.

My dad turned and gave him a single, warning look.

Ronan shut up instantly, though his dark, hazy eyes never left mine. They burned into me, accusing, hateful.

“Ignore him,” my father said flatly, his attention swinging back to me. “Now, Sarah… you know why I’m here.”

My pulse pounded in my ears. “I do,” I said, my voice surprisingly steady despite the storm inside me. “Mr. Cincinnati and his son were here yesterday. They gave Cullen an ultimatum.”

I stepped closer, my bare legs shaking, wearing nothing but his T-shirt, but I didn’t care.

“And no, Cullen is not letting me go. And neither am I letting him go. I am not leaving his side.”

I saw my father’s jaw clench, but I pushed forward before he could speak.

“So if you want to do something to him, then you'd better be ready to do it to me, too. Because if you hurt him, Dad....if you hurt him, then you hurt me too.”

My voice was shaking now, tears stinging my eyes, but I didn’t stop.

“Whatever you do, if you kill him today, you have killed me today. Whatever you do to him, that’s it. That’s it. So if you ever, ever, want to have any kind of relationship with me, I would advise you not to do whatever you’re thinking of doing.”

I barely got the words out before Cullen pulled me back behind him, shielding me with his body.

“I don’t care what you want to do,” he said to my father, his voice ironclad, almost vibrating with restrained fury.

“Sarah is my wife. She loves me. And she doesn’t want to go anywhere with you. And just so I repeat myself, no. She’s not leaving. She’s not going anywhere with you.”

I could see what Cullen’s words had done to my dad. At first, his face had softened when he saw me; he even looked like he was coming to embrace me. But as Cullen spoke, something shifted in him. His expression hardened.

And that’s when it hit me.... I had some power here. I had a way to keep Cullen alive.... I could do this.

So I moved, no longer standing in front of him but at his side, to make it clear where I stood.

“Dad,” I said quietly but firmly, “if you let Cullen go, I promise I’ll forgive you.”

“Sarah, no,” Cullen said sharply, pulling me back toward him.

But I didn’t let him stop me.

“Dad, if you forget about this, forget about trying to hurt Cullen, forget about trying to hurt him and just let me be with him, let me be with my husband, then I promise… maybe it won’t be now, but I promise when you call, I’ll pick up. I still need time, but I promise I will still be your daughter.”

I turned toward Cullen briefly, “Dad, if you hurt him, that’s it. That’s it. You did all of these things because you don’t want to lose me. But if you do this one thing wrong.....you lose me anyway.”

My father stared at me in silence. I could almost see the thoughts tumbling through his head. Finally, he said softly,

“Angel… come here.”

Instinctively, I took a step forward, but my hand in Cullen’s reminded me where I belonged. So instead of stepping forward, I took a step back. And I saw the way that single step broke something in my father.

“Can I sit down, please, old man? I’m really dizzy...” Ronan groaned.

“Shut up,” my father snapped without even looking at Ronan.

Then his attention came back to me.

“Sara, my angel,” my father said softly, almost pleading. “Do you promise? Do you really promise you’re going to forgive me? Because, honey, I didn’t do it to hurt you. You have to know that, right? You have to know.”

But I couldn’t answer. I just kept staring at him, my throat thick, my chest so tight it almost hurt to breathe.

“You have to know,” he went on, his voice rough now, “that I was doing it to save you. I did it for you.”

“Stop saying that!” The words snapped out of me before I could stop them.

“You’re right,” he said quickly, shaking his head, almost like he was trying to shake the words off himself. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. But I was doing it from a place of love. My intention wasn’t to hurt you, angel. I love you. You are the most precious thing in my life. And I was only trying to protect you, even if you don’t see it now.”

I didn’t reply. Couldn’t reply.

“So… do you promise?” he pressed. “Do you really promise, if I let this go on, let Cullen go....that you’ll truly forgive me? Can we go back to the people we used to be? That you will be my daughter again?”