And then it all made sense. She was doing this to protect him. That damn, crazy, gorgeous, fool woman was willing to break them up, and it still wouldn’t stop his name from being ruined, no matter what she tried. Didn’t she realize he was nothing without her? He was going to shake some sense into her when he got his hands on her, which would be right as soon as he left Mark’s office. But something was bothering him about what her father had said.

Benji’s eyes narrowed as he held Mark’s gaze. “You keep saying ‘if it goes to court.’ What does that mean?”

“It means that, just like Rick, I know how to hire a PI. And what my PI found will confirm that he is the lowest piece of shit imaginable.”

“Okay,” Benji said slowly, shaking his head, confused. What in the world was Mark implying?

“I can’t go to him with this, being a man of the courts, but you can. You and Lucy together can urge him to keep his bullshit-ass video out of court, so that his dirty laundry doesn’t fly free. ’Cause I’ll fly it, loud and proud, to ruin that fucker,” he said, acid dripping from his voice. “My hope for court next week is that we walk in, everything goes in our favor, and that’s the end. I had planned on calling Lucy and telling her this today, but I have a feeling I won’t need to do that.”

Benji shook his head. “No, sir, I plan to take care of it.”

Mark nodded. “She’s lucky to have you.”

Benji’s lips curved. “Funny. Usually, I say that.”

He nodded, looking down before pushing the file to Benji. “Well, Benji, I’m depending on you to take care of her.”

“I don’t have to; Lucy takes care of herself. But if you want me to love her, support her, be there for her, and never break her heart, I can do that.”

Mark smiled. “That sounds even better,” he said roughly, his voice breaking. “You know, I’ve done wrong to my family, and that’s something I’ll live with. But Lucy, she’s always been my sweet baby girl, and when I failed her, broke her heart, I think it was worse than when I broke Autumn’s heart.” He paused, clearing his throat as he met Benji’s gaze. So much pain was in the depths of his green eyes. “I’m not much of a man and I know that, but you are, and I am so thankful that my daughter has found you. So, thank you. And please, fix this. Get her to get her head out of her ass and make that bastard go away. I’m depending on you.”

Benji nodded and he knew that was his cue to leave, but he couldn’t will himself to do so yet. Instead, he held Mark’s gaze. “I know the story, hell, everyone does. No one really speaks fondly of you, except Angie. But I think Lucy still loves you. She’s just so upset by your betrayal, and I can’t blame her.”

“Neither can I. I messed up.”

It was that simple, and Benji was glad he owned up to it. “But, like I said, she loves you. And I think it would mean a lot to Lucy to know that I wanted to ask you this.”

Mark’s brows pulled together. “What?”

“May I marry your daughter?”

Mark leaned back in his chair, a chuckle leaving his mouth as he looked up at the ceiling, smiling. “When Lucy was a teenager, we watched this silly chick flick, The Wedding Date. There was this part when the guy—he was a gigolo the girl had hired to go to the wedding with her, but he actually started to feel for her. Well, he asked her dad if he could date his daughter. Totally cheesy movie, but I liked it because when that part happened, Lucy looked at me and asked, ‘Do guys really do that, Daddy?’ And I shrugged, told her I had, and I hoped the man that she would spend the rest of her life with would do it for her. She told me she hoped so too ’cause that’s a real man.” He paused, her eyes clouding with tears as he met Benji’s gaze. “Rick never asked. She had asked me if he had before they ran off, and I told her no because I was so mad. I think she hated me for that. I think she wanted me to lie.”

Benji watched him, his heart hurting for the man who just wanted to fix his mistakes. His love for his daughter was obvious, but the cuts he made were too deep, and Benji feared he’d never be able to mend them. Too much hurt, too much pain had been caused, and while Benji had no issue with the man he knew now, he knew that Lucy and her family did.

Mark shook his head and smiled before glancing back up at Benji. Clearing his throat, he said, “I couldn’t lie to her, though. I hated that boy, man, whatever. But now, looking across at you, seeing how much you love her, love Angie, I have nothing else to say other than, yes, son, you can marry my baby. Because I don’t think there is anyone else in this world who is meant for her but you.”

There wasn’t.

Now he just hoped Lucy knew that.

A vacation was where she was supposed to relax and have fun, and Lucy decided she sucked at vacations. Because, even though this was a work vacation that was more lie on the beach than work, she was a mess. A big ball of emotion who cried at the drop of a hat. She just hurt. Her soul hurt. Everything ached. She missed Benji. She felt bad for hurting him, for worrying him, and she hated most of all that she was allowing Rick to win. But she honestly saw no other choice in the matter.

It just wasn’t fair.

She wanted to call Benji, tell him what was going on, ask him what he thought they should do. But he would want to push through. He wouldn’t want to do the smart thing, which was to break up and let each other go—because that wasn’t him. Hell, it wasn’t her. She finally had the person she wanted for the rest of her life, and she couldn’t even keep him? How fucked up was that? But that was her life. Rick was a constant villain who was hell-bent on ruining everything.