The Girl Who Doesn't Quit (Soulless Book 12)

by Victoria Quinn

  He was in jeans and a shirt, ready to drive back to the city, but he’d come after me anyway. He took one sweep of my expression and saw the pain in my heart. The way he winced, the way his expression tightened, showed his thoughts. “What happened?”

  “I’m fine, Dad. I just…don’t really want to talk about it.”

  That was his cue to turn around and leave, but he remained, his eyes shifting back and forth rapidly, his mind working quickly to find a solution to this problem, to navigate this tricky terrain. “Did he break up with you?”

  “No.” But it sure felt like it.

  “So, you guys just had a fight—”

  “Dad, I said I don’t want to talk about it. Can I just have some space?”

  He held his ground. “There’s nothing you can’t tell me.”

  “Dad…” I released a loud sigh. “You and I don’t talk about boys. Ever.”

  “And it shouldn’t be that way. That’s my fault. I’ve always treated your brothers differently, when I shouldn’t have.”

  “It’s fine, Dad. It’s awkward. I understand.”

  “Please talk to me.”

  “You’ll talk to him—”

  “I won’t say a word, alright?” He stepped up to me, getting closer so he could see the sadness in my eyes. “Just talk to me.”

  My arms tightened over my chest, and I looked away. “I told him I loved him…”

  Dad was still other than the slow breath he took. “He didn’t feel the same way.”

  “No…he does.”

  He turned quiet, waiting for the explanation.

  I inhaled a deep breath because Atlas’s confession really had destroyed me. “He said he doesn’t want to have kids.”

  Dad didn’t say anything.

  “So…I don’t see how this is going to work.” I’d found the man of my dreams—and I couldn’t have him.

  “A lot of men feel that way. But they change their minds.”

  “This…this was different.”

  He took a deep breath and released it as a sigh. “I’m going to tell you something, and it needs to stay between us. Is that something we can agree on?”

  I looked up at my father, unsure what he might say. I gave a nod.

  His gaze was on the ground for a few seconds before he started to talk. “When I found out we were going to have Derek…I wanted her to get an abortion. I’m ashamed to say it, but I actually suggested the idea to my ex-wife.”

  I was stunned—because this man was the best father in the world. It was like he was born to be a father.

  He closed his eyes because the guilt became too much. “My only interest was dedicating my life to my work to the exclusion of all else. And if Derek hadn’t been a surprise, that’s probably what would have happened. Atlas is dedicated to his work in the exact same way, so that’s probably how he feels.” He inhaled a deep breath as he looked at me, his eyes watering. “But fuck, I’m so glad that didn’t happen. The three of you are everything to me. My work is important, but it’s never more important than you. It’s never given me more joy than you give me every fucking day.”

  I swallowed because when my dad got emotional, so did I.

  “He’ll change his mind, sweetheart. He’s a young man with a lot of ambition, but his priorities will change the older he gets…and the more he loves you.”

  “I’m just afraid to waste my time…and he doesn’t reconsider.”

  “If you love him and he loves you, it’s not a waste of time.”

  21

  Atlas

  I felt like shit for a lot of reasons.

  One, for not telling her from the beginning.

  Two, because I loved this woman like mad and didn’t want to lose her.

  But I already had.

  The Hamiltons were the tightest-knit family I’d ever seen, a group of people that genuinely loved one another, who would do anything for one another. They didn’t love one another because they had to—but because they wanted to.

  I knew she wanted kids the first time I came to the cabin.

  How could she not?

  Monday was a rough day. I got to the lab early and slipped out before Dr. Hamilton arrived. I worked at the clinic next, staying in my office and avoiding my colleagues. My eyes never moved to the glass to see Daisy pass in the lobby on the way to her office. I didn’t want to make eye contact and feel that punch in my gut.

  When everyone left at the end of the day, she left too.

  It was over.

  I knew there would be a final conversation, an exit interview, a conclusion to a romance that had moved at a sprint. It was snuffed out as quickly as it lit up, a doused inferno. I would have to see her in the office and treat her like she meant nothing to me.

  If only I had been honest…and avoided all of this.

  I’m a fucking asshole.

  When it was time for dinner, I left the clinic and went home. I was in no mood to cook, so I just ordered a pizza and sat on the couch, getting back to work with the game on the TV. My life was work and little else.

  Without Daisy, it would go back to the one-night stands, the women who wouldn’t impress me. I wouldn’t see the Hamiltons as often anymore, and I wasn’t sure how Dr. Hamilton would respond.

  He might kick my ass for lying to her.

  Whatever. I deserved it.

  A beep sounded from the monitor at the elevator. “Can I come up?” It was Daisy.

  We were doing this now, then.

  I set aside my things then pressed the intercom button at the elevator doors. “Sure.” I hit the button and let her in the building, my lungs heavy like two stones. My stomach felt as if it contained a ton of bricks, like I’d eaten that whole pizza even though it hadn’t been delivered yet.

  I was in my sweatpants and nothing else, shirtless in my living room, my hands in my pockets as I waited for the doors to open and reveal the beautiful woman with midnight-dark hair.

  The click of the elevator stopped, and the doors opened.

  She stood there, in skintight leggings and a sports bra, her open jacket covering her arms. Her stomach was so tight and chiseled, and her lean legs were toned and strong. Her hair was down, a curtain of silk around her shoulders. She held my look for an instant before she stepped inside.

  The doors closed behind her.

  Just like it’d been by the car, the atmosphere was quiet, awkward, tense…shitty.

  I was about to be dumped, and knowing it was coming didn’t make it any easier.

  She ran her fingers through her hair as she regarded me, those blue eyes instantly reminding me of the clear skies above her family cabin. I didn’t have a visual ideal of the perfect woman—but I realized she was it.

  She would belong to someone else someday.

  And I’d be alone.

  “I still want to be with you.”

  I didn’t give a reaction because I didn’t understand the words that had come out of her mouth. My eyes narrowed, unsure if I’d daydreamed that statement.

  “We’re young. There’s no need to talk about something so serious so soon…before we’ve even had a chance to be together.”

  My lungs filled with the icy breath I drew. “Daisy—”

  “I hate it when you call me that.”

  Despite the seriousness of the situation, a smile tugged on my lips. “Baby, I don’t want you to go into this thinking I might change my mind later because I won’t.”

  There was no flicker of emotion. “My dad said he didn’t want—”

  “Listen. To. Me.” I came closer to her, nostrils flaring. “I will not change my mind. Do not go into this thinking that we’ll be happy together and then I’ll cave to give you what you want. There is no scenario where you and I are surrounded by our children and our grandchildren. Stop it.”

  Her eyes flicked back and forth as she looked at me, her mind working like cogs in a machine. “There’s something you aren’t telling me.”

  I inhaled a slow breath, holding her
gaze with annoyance.

  “Tell me.”

  “There’s nothing I’m not telling you. I don’t want to have kids. That’s it.”

  “Why?”

  “Doesn’t fucking matter.” I didn’t mean to lose my temper, but she was so fucking smart, and that quality I loved was now biting me in the ass. “You know what…this isn’t going to work. We want different things in life, so we should just be colleagues.”

  “You’re dumping me?”

  “I’m just cutting to the chase.”

  “No.”

  “No, what?”

  “I don’t accept that.” She said everything simply, without emotion, just the way she did when I yelled at her in her office. She was calm, and the calmer she was, the more powerful she was. “We belong together.”

  I sucked in a breath through my teeth.

  “So, we will get through this together.”

  I shook my head. “Daisy—”

  “Baby.” Her eyes were punches to my face. “I don’t know what you’re hiding, but I can wait until you’re ready to tell me. I’ve only loved one other man before you, and being with you makes me realize how misplaced that affection was. He wasn’t right for me. Never was. But you are. You’re worth the patience. You’re worth the inconvenience. You’re worth your secrets.” Like the conversation was over, she turned back to the elevator and hit the button.

  Speechless, all I could do was stand there and watch her. My breathing was labored from the deep inhales I took, and my heart pulsed in my chest like a newborn right out of the womb. Emotion was in my throat, but I kept it back, kept it bottled deep inside.

  She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button.

  Then she stared at me as she waited for the doors to close. “You want to take me out to dinner tomorrow night?”

  I breathed harder, wishing I could say no, wishing I could do the chivalrous thing and just end this relationship. I wished I could tell her that she was wrong, that her brilliant mind had led her astray. I was pissed that she was so smart, but it made me love her even more than I already did.

  So, I caved. “Yes.”

  She released the door so it would close. With a smile on her lips and victory in her eyes, she said, “Love you.”

  My words echoed right back. “Love you too.”

  Also by Victoria Quinn

  Atlas is everything that I want in a man.

  I love him exactly as he is and wouldn't change a thing.

  I want to make this work--no matter what.

  I just wished he believed that.

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