Page 39 of Forever My Soldier

“Jenna McAllister! I am going to pretend you didn’t just say that for your own sake.”

“I’m not a kid anymore, Mother. I am a grown adult and you may have been able to have me under your thumb at one point because you were keeping my secret, pretending you cared about me, but you really screwed yourself this time because now you’ve got nothing on me and I know the truth. You don’t really give a damn about me, never have. You can no longer control me. I’m done. Done with you. Done with all of this.”

“You don’t mean that,” she returned.

I crossed my arms and gave her a stern look. “Damn straight I do. I mean every single word. You and Francesca can go straight to hell for all I’m concerned.”

“Jenna, you are part of this family, whether you like it or not.”

“Yeah,” I said and raised a brow, “well, it turns out I don’t like it at all.”

“You can’t just throw us away like yesterday’s garbage.”

“I’m still part of this family, Mother, but in name only.”

She shook her head. “You work with your father. You think he’ll accept this kind of childish behavior? If you think he’ll ever make you partner, you’re wrong.”

I couldn’t argue with her for another second, so I turned on my heel, face still wet from my tears, and walked away.

From her.

From this place.

From all of it.

Everything I’d feared for so long had finally happened—my secrets unleashed, my life destroyed, and worst of all my mother was at the helm of it all. That’s what I got for being a McAllister, for leaning into the whole family thing they made look so appealing.

And she was right, I would never be able to cut them out of my life, like the cancer they were, not so long as I still worked at my father’s law firm.

And it was because of that there stood no chance for Deacon and I.

Worse, he knew my dirty little secret.

I knew I should’ve kept him at bay, not letting him get too close. It could never work. I knew that. Yet, I deluded myself into thinking otherwise. Tonight was the stark reminder I needed.

Too much separated Deacon and I.

Time apart.

My secret.

My parents.

My sister.

The men I dated in between.

Our child that never had a chance.

The Army.

It was all just too much. And it all caught up with us.

Chapter Fourteen

Deacon

A baby.

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