Page 50 of Broken

I did love her. I'd always loved her. There was no one else for me, it would always be Sin.

Now, I had a daughter too. Thinking about my daughter, the child that Sinclair hid from me for the past twelve years hurt a little. After our talk earlier tonight, I understand a little bit why she did what she did. The fact that she thought she did me the favor hurt the most.

What had I done to lose her trust? Did I ever really have her trust, to begin with? Sin sighed and moved closer to me, her bare nipple peeking out from the sheets. It didn't matter why she ran away back then. It didn't matter that she hid her pregnancy and our daughter for the past twelve years.

The important thing now was what we did with our future, and half of my future slept right here next to me. I would do whatever I needed to make sure Sin felt the same way.

I checked the time on my cell phone. It was past midnight, I needed to sleep. I needed to make sure I got the chance to meet Aine before I went back to Lakewood.

I knew better than to ask Sin about taking Aine with me on my trip back, but I did fully plan to bring her up to see my mother soon. She was my daughter too, and my mother had the right to know her only grandchild. I looked at the picture I took from Sin's office. Since bringing it back to my hotel room, it's been sitting on the nightstand by the bed.

I couldn't deny the resemblance between the two of us. Her dark hair and blue eyes matched mine. Sin was with her in the photo, and they definitely shared a smile. The two of them looked happy, they looked like two people living their best life.

A lump stuck in my throat. They had each other over the years. I used to stay awake at night thinking about Sin, alone in school. She had a habit of closing herself off from people, especially people she didn't know.

So much made sense now. The past couple of weeks gave me a broader picture, and a better understanding of the hell she lived through when we were kids. Fuck, I was a shitty fucking friend back then. I was so fucking blind at times, angry and jealous because I thought she loved someone else.

I sighed and decided to let it all go. It didn't matter now. This was our chance to make things right, to start over and have the family Sin and Aine deserve, the family I deserve too.

Her soft smile slowly turned to a grimace. Nightmares plagued me for as long as I could remember, and sleeping in my arms seemed to relieve them, sometimes.

I bent down and kissed her temple before taking a quiet picture of her beautiful sleeping face. Just for me, for when the time came to make the painful trip back to Lakewood, alone.

Smiling to myself, I settled in next to Sinclair and wrapped her in my arms. As long as she was with me, I was home.

A phone rang somewhere in the distance. It wouldn't stop. What time was it? I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and reached for my cell phone on the nightstand. My phone wasn't going off, it must have been Sins. The time was well past nine in the morning though.

I looked at Sin, she slept deeply. She obviously needed the rest. I kissed her forehead and got up to search for her phone. If they've been calling this long, it must be important.

I found her phone on the coffee table in the living room, with her keys. They had been discarded there last night when she yelled at me, demanding her picture back. I laughed at the memory of her, crazy with anger, and a little bit of liquid courage.

The caller i.d. on her screen saidBug—the person calling had parents with a sick sense of humor, Or "Bug" was a pet name for our daughter. I didn't want to invade her privacy, so I took the phone to Sin and woke her.

"Hello," Her morning voice, all scratchy and hoarse and the cutest thing I've heard. "Oh, honey. I'm sorry. I'll be right there. I promise." She jumped from the bed, wiping the sleep from her eyes. "I love you too bug. See you soon."

I sat and watched as she searched for her clothes in the mess of the blankets puddled on the floor. "Was that Aine?"

"Yeah. I can't believe I slept in. I need to pick her up. I'm sorry Kai." Sin rushed to get dressed as she practically ran from the hotel room. I sighed and plopped down on the bed as she opened the front door to run away, again.

Before I could reach for my phone to stare at the picture I took last night, Sin ran back in the room and kissed me hard on the mouth. A fast, bruising kind of kiss that said, 'Don't doubt me.'

"I love you too. I'll call you later. Promise." She laughed as if she knew what went through my mind.

"Sin," I said as she crossed the threshold out the door. "Talk to our daughter. I want to have dinner with you both. Tonight" I reminded her when she turned back to me before closing the door.

"I promise." was all she said before disappearing into the morning.

twenty-seven

Sinclair

Holyshit!WhathadI done? My heart was breaking as I made promises to Kai that I wasn't sure I could keep. Yes, last night I meant every word I said, and I wanted nothing more than for him to mean everything he said too.

But how could he expect me to dump all this on Aine all of a sudden? Somehow, I had to explain to my eleven-year-old daughter that her father had suddenly come into her life, that I had lied to him all these years, lied to her.

I needed to talk to someone, I was so scared. I didn't know what to do about Kai and Aine. If I didn't find a way to tell her soon, I worried Kai would do something drastic.

"Hey Babes. How's it going?" Mia's melodic voice came through my car's Bluetooth.

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