Page 98 of Unlucky You

“Then I suggest you answer the question. What happened?”

“He showed up at my apartment yesterday morning with two uniforms and a guy who claimed to be a parole officer. Not the one I was assigned to though. The guy said he was there for a curfew check, then demanded to come inside. He said he had reason to believe I had drugs in my apartment, which was bullshit. They tossed my place, Alec showed up, said someslick shit about my son who was asleep in my bedroom, and I snapped.”

“You assaulted him.” The words were delivered as a statement and not a question.

I stared at him but didn’t respond. He exhaled a sigh, leaned back in the chair, and raked a hand down his face before his fingers were drumming the same rhythm on the table again. “I fought for you, Sinclair. You shouldn’t have gone to prison.”

I snorted at the thought. “No, I shouldn’t have, but someone who wanted me there fought harder to make sure it happened.”

He nodded. “Do you want your life back?”

“I’m never going to get my life back as long as he feels like I’m the reason his daughter died.”

“The question is do you want it, not if you believe it’s possible.”

“Then yes.”

“I wanted to help you back then. Did everything in my power to do so, but like you said, someone fought harder and had more pull. That’s no longer the case. I can make this go away but that depends on how committed you are to walking away from things.”

Walking away from things?

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m not putting my career on the line if you don’t value your freedom.”

“I’m not here because I don’t value my freedom. I’m adhering to the bullshit terms of my parole. Anger management classes, staying clean, reporting to my PO, making sure I meet curfew, but none of that fucking matters. He won’t let this go. How am I supposed to defend myself against a man that has the ability to call in favors whenever he wants? He’s determined to disrupt my life.”

Ryan stared at me for a minute and nodded. “Can you give me your word that you will stay away from Johnson?”

I laughed sarcastically. “Stay away from him? I’m not the problem,heis.”

“I’ll take care of Johnson. You give me your word that if I make this go away, you will not end up here again. No matter what. That means no more using your hands to make money or solve problems.”

I scowled and he opened the file, removed a photo, and tossed it across the table. I lowered my eyes to the grainy image. Even though my heartbeat paused briefly, I kept my expression neutral. It was a picture of me the first night I fought at Matrix. The image wasn’t clear but it was surely visible enough to know it was me.

My first thought was Saniya but that left as soon as it came. There was no way she would have handed off photos of me. There was an article on Inside Track about the fights with the pictures she took that night. Not one was of me, but she had them. I never asked why she didn’t hand them over. I didn’t care as long as they weren’t out there but someone had this one.

“Am I supposed to know what this is?”

He laughed lightly. “After today, no, but please don’t think I’m stupid, Sinclair. When I decided to offer you an out, I made sure I had all the details. Apparently Johnson has been pushing to have your parole revoked for a few weeks now. When I searched your name, his complaints came up in the system with severalclaimsabout you violating the terms of your parole.”

Ryan pointed to the picture. “No more fighting. No more punching people when you're angry. You work, take care of your son, and figure out what your future looks like. This deal, if I offer it and if you accept, closes the door on your past. I need you to give your word that you can do that.”

“And what about him?”

“I’ll handle Johnson.”

“How?”

“Don’t worry about how, just know I’ll keep him contained. Do you want your life back or not?”

“Yes.”

He nodded, flipped through the folder again, and shuffled some papers. “You still work for Carson Construction?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, keep it that way. Continue paying your fees, and as soon as your balance is clear, I’ll terminate your parole.”

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