Chapter 42
Alana Prescott
Iwatched Sinclair moving toward me and smiled. That only lasted for a brief moment because he clearly wasn’t happy to see me, or at least that was the feeling I received from the way he looked at me.
“You did this?” he asked, stopping a few feet from where I stood waiting as he exited the gates a free man.
Nodding because I couldn’t get the words out, I watched as he frowned at me but didn’t move. Nor did his expression change.
“What did you do?”
“It’s not important—”
“Yes, the fuck it is, Lanni. I got three bodies on me in there and I’m sure whatever deals and promises William made to send me there ten years ago aren’t just going to be overlooked. So what the fuck did you do or promise to get me out of there?”
He pointed back to the gate and looked at me.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re a free man.”
He stared at me while thoughts moved around in his head. I knew him well, or at least I used to. He was trying to filter what he wanted to say. At least he still cared enough to do that.
“Free for how long? You think he’s going to be okay with that? Me just walking out of there and you being the reason it happened? You should have just left this shit alone.”
“No! I should have done this years ago. In fact, I should have never let it happen in the first place and I apologize for that. I’m sure you hate me, but—”
“I don’t hate you, but you still should have left this shit alone. Who do you owe? What type of debt are you going to have to pay for this?”
“Can we not worry about that right now?”
“How the fuck you expect me not to, Lanni?”
I sighed and looked at Sinclair. I had loved this man for as long as I could remember. We shared a child, he owned my heart, and now he was here, a few feet from me after years of not being able to even say his name.
His handsome face was balled up as his frustration with the situation began to unravel. But through it all, he was still more concerned about me. That itself made my heart ache. After everything I had done, he still loved me enough to put me first.
“He’s out of control, Sinclair. I know it's my fault. I’m the one who let it get this far, but he’s trying to hurt our daughter, and I can’t fight that alone. I did what I had to do to get you out. I’ll deal with that when the time comes, but right now, Sophie needs you.”
“She doesn't need me. She has Trooper. He would never let that muthafucker hurt her, especially not while she’s carrying his child.”
“His child?” I barely got it out because the words got stuck in my throat.
Sinclair looked at me confused. “You didn’t know?”
I shook my head to respond before I spoke, his expression softened a little. “No, she didn’t tell me. We’re not really on the best terms right now.”
“She blames you for all this?”
“Yes.”
“You had to expect that. How else did you think she would react?”
“You’re right.”
“But none of that matters, she loves you. She’s just trying to make sense of all this.”
I nodded to agree. I could have easily gone to Trooper and asked him to handle William, and I knew that he would’ve, but I owed Sinclair. I wanted him. Our daughter deserved to have a relationship with her father.
I couldn’t erase the past, but I could give her a future with him.
“And do you? Do you still love me?” I had no right to ask, but I had to know. If his answer was no, I would have to find a way to deal.
He just stared at me without saying a word before his hand moved across his head then he released a frustrated sigh.
“Come here,” he demanded, with his eyes on me like he could will me to move.
I was almost afraid to be near him again, but when I was close enough, he pulled me against his chest and closed his arms around me.
For the first time in years, I felt like I could breathe, even though he held me so tightly that I struggled to do so.
What felt like forever passed before he let up enough to cover my lips with his. I was lost in it, so much that when he pulled away, I still felt the connection.
“Let’s go,” he said after he stepped away.
“Where?”
Sinclair glanced at me and released a cocky laugh, but didn’t say a word. I knew exactly what was coming, but I expected it.
The second Sinclair stepped foot outside that gate, an expiration date had been placed on William’s life.