Marry her.....

"Max, we would drop Regan at his place first." Anna said as soon as she sat in the car.

"No Max. Let's drop Anna first and then we would leave for my place." Regan commanded making himself comfortable beside her.

"Excuse me? If you have forgotten, this is my car so it's me who would drop you."

"Is that a rule? I mean I haven't heard of any."

Instead of replying him, she turned towards Max and commanded. "Do as I say Max. We are going to Mr. Knight's first."

Regan looked at her in amusement and lifted his brows. "Well Miss Prescott, as per my knowledge you haven't said anything about this incident to Richard, have you? And Emily told me that you won't like him to know about it. So?"

"Traitor!" Anna muttered.

She then glared at Regan and said exasperatedly, "So what? This has nothing to do with you. He's my dad, and I know how to talk to him. I'll come up with something so that he won't know."

"Really? Like you tried to make up a story for Max? But the question is, did he believe that?"

He asked Max while still looking at her. "Max did you really believe Anastasia when she told you that she got ino an accident."

Max was driving the car with his eyes fixed on the road. He was chuckling inwardly on hearing the banter between those two. In fact, he was amused with Anna as he had rarely found her talking so much since he started working for her. However after hearing Regan, he turned all serious and curtly replied, "No Sir."

While Anna's eyes widened on his reply, Regan just shrugged his shoulders giving her a I-told-you-so look.

"We all know how good you are at lying." He said sarcastically which again earned him a glare.

"Ummm.....yeah. I agree I have messed up a few times but that doesn't make me a bad liar."

He quirked his brow again. "Mmm....Hmmm. Alright then. I was thinking to help you but I guess you don't need any."

"Fine. You... you can help me if I fumble or mess up with anything. Until then you'll not say anything." She reluctantly agreed.

"Okay."

Max looked at him from the rearview mirror and Regan gestured him about the change.

Soon they were outside Richard's mansion. Max had already opened Anna's door but as soon as she came out, Regan went to her and held her hand to take her inside. She was bemused with his actions. They were still walking when she called him.

"Regan."

"Hmmm..."

"Leave my hand please."

He stopped in his track and looked at their hands. He had held her hand subconsciously. It was a gesture that he did naturally as he wasn't able to get through the fact that he might not get to spend enough time with her which indeed became his habit since he made sure to stay by her side almost every day and night at the hospital. The fact of staying away from her, especially after that bitter incident, he wanted to held her close to him, wanted to be around her, to personally ensure her safety and comfort. Before he could reply, the door was opened by Richard.

Anna immediately turned on the sound of the door opening and saw Richard looking at both of them with intertwined hands. Regan reluctantly left her hand. However the next moment, he got to heard his voice laced with concern.

"Oh My God! You are hurt princess." He immediately came by Anna's side, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and took her inside. He wasn't aware about Anna's condition until evening when Emily called him to inform about her, after she left. All he knew was that something happened to her and he had to take care of her. He was restlessly waiting for her arrival with numerous thoughts running in his mind. However, looking at the bandage wrapped around her head and hand, his heart clenched with pain.

"Anna? How did this happen? You promised me to take care of yourself. Why didn't you let me to accompany you princess? If I would have been there, I would have not let all of this happen." They were sitting on the couch while Richard was hastily looking over her searching for other injuries.

"Dad..... you need to relax first. I am alright. See." She smiled to assure him.

"But Anna how?"

She lowered her eyes to avoid any eye contact as she knew she wouldn't be able to lie to him. Nevertheless, she wanted to hide the reason behind her condition as she didn't want him to blame himself for her state or worry about her owing to his own health conditions.

"Dad it was...it was just an accident."

"She is right." Regan butted in to help her. "It was my fault actually. If I had not been so ignorant, she had not to go through all of this. I apologize... for my every mistake." He said looking at Anna and then Richard.

"But Regan..."

"She is still not completely well. She should rest." He then looked at Anna and smiled to assure her that she had nothing to worry about as he was there to take care of her things. "Why don't you go and rest Anna? I would tell him everything on your behalf. You don't need to exert yourself for this."

"Okay." She instantly agreed as she couldn't face Richard after the lies. She needed some time to deal with it, so she directly went to her room.

As soon as Anna left, Richard immediately asked him about the matter.

"Can we talk somewhere else?"

"Let's go to my study."

Richard was pacing around the room while Regan stood there calmly with his hands tucked in his pockets.

He sighed and finally spoke. "That was really an accident. A nightmare actually, which she needs to forget. Asking her about it would only make it difficult for her to cope up with it. And I am sure you wouldn't want that."

Richard slumped on a chair near the desk and spoke in a low whisper. "Did I fail to protect her again?"

"It's not you who has failed this time. It was me. I hope I could mend everything in the past so that any of it couldn't have happened in the first place."

"Emily told me how you were always by her side." He stood from the chair and went to him where he was standing. He looked at Regan as if searching for something. He gently put a hand on his shoulder and asked.

"Do you like her Regan?"

Regan was shocked to hear this from Richard. He was not someone to hide away what he felt and he wanted to confess his love for her as he did in front of Emily and Jack. However, he didn't know how to answer a father as he wasn't only a father figure for Anna but was also Ashton's father. It was about her, the love of his deceased son. He had no idea of how he would take things after knowing about his feelings. After contemplating for a few seconds, he decided to be honest with his answers.

"No. I don't just like her." He took a deep breath and looked into his eyes to show him his sincerity. "I love her."

Instead of getting amazed, he smiled at him which elevated Regan's bafflement.

"I can understand if you can't..... I know this shouldn't be the way of saying it but...."

"You have everything in you to keep my princess happy. I am happy it's you."

Regan was stunned to hear something like that from him. He couldn't help but asked, "How did you know?"

"I am a man Regan. I understand that look..... the way you look at a woman...with love and admiration, especially when she's your daughter."

"....."

"I know it's too early to talk about these things. But I wanted to know it from you and let you know some things about her."

"I am all ears."

He took a deep breath and sat on a chair motioning him to sit across him.

"She is a very special child. I brought her into my life because I thought that I owed my best friend and taking care of his daughter, in his absence would compensate for it. But I didn't know that she would become an inseparable part of our lives. My wife died when my children were too young and sensitive for their age to have an absolute control over their lives. But when Anna came, she changed everything. She didn't even know this, but she helped Emily to get out of her pitiful state after the death of her mother. She was damaged but she gathered every scattered part of my family." He caressed the family picture on his desk and sighed. "And my son Ashton..... He always held me responsible for his mother's untimely death and cut off all his ties with me for years. She brought him back to me, to our family. She gave us too much without knowing. But things changed when my..... my son died. She has a past with him and...."

"I know about it."

"And you are okay with it?" Richard asked skeptically.

"It doesn't change my love for her. I came to know about it a few days back."

"Before you came into our lives, I had decided to bring her life back on track. The week you were going to come to New York for the first time, I had arranged a prospect for her to meet. However, things did not work as I wanted them to be. Later, when she returned back from her visit to Seattle, she had a major breakdown. Then and there I had decided to make some decisions for her life but then again, you showed up and I was compelled to stop as I saw that affection for her in your eyes."

"What have you wanted to do for her?" Regan asked curiously.

"I wanted her to marry someone I know. I wanted to get her settled in life."

Regan's jaw clenched on hearing him. "Did Anna know about it?"

"No."

"So you wanted to take such a big decision of her life without her consent?"

"Yes. And I still want that."

"What? How can you? You know she hasn't moved on yet and..."

"And she would never move on." He cut him off in between. "I am getting old Regan. I have some serious health issues and I don't know for..... for how long I am going to survive with them. Why do you think she want to hide the truth from me?"

"..."

"She cares for me too much. Emily has Jack but what about Anna? I want her to settle down with a man who can make her happy. And it's you who makes her happy. She was wailing over my son's death since three years but then you came into her life. Trust me when I say... you have somehow drawn her out of her shell without her realizing it. Your presence bring a smile on her face and that's what I want for my daughter."

Regan frowned on hearing him not getting the real purpose behind their conversation. He could feel and understand his concern as a father but he wanted him to clear what he expected from him.

"What do you want me to do then? What do you expect from me?"

"How important is her presence in your life?"

"Truth to be told, the day I realized that she was the one for me, I have longed for nothing but her. Having her beside me, her presence brightens up my world. I want to spend... every moment of my life with her."

"Then marry her."