Page 54 of Broken

She pushed me out then, I couldn't let her push me out now.

"Hey, kiddo. Do you like pizza?" I asked Aine.

Her eyes lit up and her smile stretched across her face. "Uh, yeah, are you crazy? Pizza is life." Her response had me laugh hard and actually made Sin smile.

"Well, would you and your mom like to go have pizza with me for dinner tonight? I’d really like to spend more time with the two of you." "Please, mom?" Aine shook her mother's shoulder enthusiastically.

"We already had pizza today." The monotone in her words worried me, she might not be shutting me out physically, but she shut me out emotionally.

"That's okay mom, I can have pizza all day, every day, and still love it." I didn't believe Sin, or anyone had the power to refuse the grin plastered on Aines face.

Sin didn't say anything and nodded. She looked up at me and forced a smile, I could see the tears she struggled to keep from falling down her cheeks. I reached for her hands and when she didn't pull away, I thought that was a good sign.

Surprise and hope stirred in me when Sin continued to hold my hand as we left for the pizzeria.

The small pizzeria had a decent arcade. We ordered a couple of pizzas, a pitcher of root beer for Aine, and a pitcher of beer for me and Sin. While we ate Aine told me more about Danielle, her mom's best friend. I told her Mia might be a little jealous about that one.

Aine asked "Why? Aunt Mia and Aunt Tess are Mom's sisters. Why will they care?"

Apparently, Mia had spoken to Aine over the phone too. It pissed me off a little that everyone else about met my daughter before me. I wondered if she spoke to Noah and Callum too.

"What about your uncles, Noah and Callum?"

"I have uncles! Do I have cousins too?" Aines' excitement and surprise comforted me some. I wasn't the last to know I was a father.

Sin stayed quiet but managed to eat a few slices of pizza while Aine talked. I was glad she ate something. When we were kids and she got caught up in her mind, she would forget to eat.

After Aine finished, I handed her some cash for the arcade. Her face lit up and she named me her new favorite person and that made me happy, even though I bought that status.

Once we were alone, I looked at Sinclair. She observed Aine as she played games; She continued the fight to keep those tears from falling.

It was killing me, seeing her like this again.

"Are you going to take her from me?" Sin's question barely rose above a whisper, but she didn't turn to face me, she just watched her daughter.

I was at a loss for words. My mouth hung open slightly, waiting for something to come out. Nothing came. Was this what had been going through her mind all day? I would never think of taking Aine from her mother.

"What the hell, Sin? Did you forget about last night? Do you remember what I said, over and over again last night?"

"You're mad at me. I can tell. You have every right to be, it just hurts. I hurt you and Aine and everyone else by trying to protect you."

"Sin, look at me." I waited. I needed her to see my eyes when I said what I needed to say. I needed her to know I meant every word.

Her beautiful green eyes were filled with unshed tears. The fissures in my heart widened, I needed to hold her, not sit across a fucking sticky pizza parlor table from her.

"Sin, I would never take her from you. Ever. Am I hurt by you keeping her a secret? Yeah, I am. Am I angry? Fuck yeah. I'm pissed. But my anger isn't directed at you, baby. I'm fucking mad at myself, because somewhere down the line, at some point growing up, I made you think that this," I waved my hands between us and pointed to Aine, playing Skee-Ball. "All the years you did this alone, and all can ask is what I did to make you think leaving me out was your best option."

She let those tears fall finally. I took that as my cue that I could finally come to her. I needed her in my arms because I might be furious over the missing years with my daughter, but I fucking loved this woman more than anything.

"But Kai. You didn't. You're amazing, there was never a doubt in my mind about the kind of father you'd be. I poison everything. I've ruined everything and everyone I love."

The more I heard the words come out of her mouth, the more I did feel angry. Not at Sin though. I was angry with Howard and Layla Grant. I wished Howard was alive now so I could beat him to death for what he did to Sinclair. I hope Layla died knowing that she was the reason her daughter left and never came home. She was the reason I am only now finding out about my daughter.

Sinclair cried in my arms, apologizing until Aine came back, out of money but with fists full of prize tickets that she stopped.

"What’s wrong mama?"

Sin took a deep breath and lifted her head from my chest, wiping the tears from her face before she looked at her daughter. "Nothing. I

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