Page 55 of Finding Redemption

“I’ve loved her for years, man.It feels like she’s always been part of my soul.I tried to fight it, but when I realized how much I was hurting her by denying how I felt, I manned up.We both knew this would cause problems with you, but Pax, I have wasted too much time as it is.If it comes down to it, I will pick her over everything else.Even our friendship.”

Paxton squeezed the back of his neck, muttering something to himself as he glared at the floor.But when he lifted his chin, he had a hint of a smile on his lips.“You love her that much?”

“Yes,” Luck rasped.

He pointed at Sariah.“And you love him?”

“So much.”

With a grunt, he slumped back.“As long as she stays happy, I don’t care.But you hurt her, and I’ll…”

Thankfully, the threat was left hanging, but no less menacing for being unvoiced.Luck held up his free hand in a gesture of understanding, then extended it.“Friends?”

“Friends,” Paxton sighed, shaking his hand.As he turned, his gaze caressed over me before dropping to Bella.“How about we stay an extra day?You can skip school tomorrow.Tonight, we can all go to dinner and then have a movie night as a family.”

“No school?”She started bouncing on her toes.All her doubts and fears were gone.“Can we have an ice cream sundae party and watchReturn of the Jedi?”

“Absolutely, Bella-Boo.”

“Can I stay up past my bedtime?”

“We’ll see.”

Sensing she had the chance to negotiate, she pressed her luck.“Can I skip school all week?”

To my surprise, Paxton seemed to consider it for a moment.“We’ll see,” he answered again.“But only if you’re up for staying here for a few more days.Daddy has to take care of a few things before we go home.”

“Will you and Brooke be here?”She sounded hesitant.

“Yes, sweetheart,” he said softly.“Where I go, my girls go.”

ChapterThirty-Three

Paxton

If I’d knownhow fucked up the trip to Vegas would turn out, I would have stayed home.In bed.With Brooke.

All fucking weekend.

But as much as I never wanted to put Bella through any of that shit again, I was glad she’d finally told me what was going on.One of my biggest fears was letting her down.Not being enough for her.Not protecting her.

Sariah didn’t come into my life until she was eighteen.Pregnant and desperate, she’d run away from her mom and stepfather, unsure if I would even help her.She had no idea what kind of person I was, and even after seeing my lifestyle at the time broadcast all over trashy gossip sites and disparaged on more sports talk shows, she’d decided I was the safer bet for her and her child than the vile humans in her home.

When she’d shown up at my door, I’d been a drunken mess.My house was still trashed from a party two nights before, and there were half-naked women still passed out around the pool and in several of the bedrooms.I’d taken one look at her and told her to fuck off before she could tell me her name.

It wasn’t like I knew she was my daughter.Jannel had been my on-again, off-again girlfriend back when I was moving up in the MMA world.But apparently my success hadn’t come quickly enough for her.She’d married the son of one of the sponsors of my first-ever event.I’d heard she’d gotten knocked up and his old man had insisted, thinking the kid was the next heir to the family fortune or some shit.

I hadn’t given her much thought in the eighteen-plus years since I’d fucked her.My mom had hated Jannel, and for me, it had been more about the easy, convenient pussy rather than being in love with her.

After slamming the door in Sariah’s face, I’d gone inside and passed out in front of the TV.It wasn’t until the next morning, when Luck had finally untangled himself from the girls he’d spend the weekend having a private party with in the room he used at my place, that he’d found Sariah still on the front steps.She’d sat there all night.

What I’d learned after that had kept me sick to my stomach for months.Did not knowing about my daughter absolve me of the accountability for not being there to protect her?Reason said yes.My fucked-up head and heart said hell no.

When Sariah said she was going to give the baby up for adoption because she couldn’t imagine even looking at the child that was the product of her abuse, I begged her to let me have Bella.Maybe it wouldn’t make up for what I’d unwittingly put her through, but I had the chance of getting something right with my granddaughter.

At the time, Sariah hadn’t cared one way or another.She’d still been in shock and had basically shut down all of her emotions.It wasn’t until Bella was born, the doctors placing her on her mother’s chest, that she finally snapped out of it.

But while she instantly loved the baby in her arms, just as Luck and I both had, she knew she would never be able to care for Bella as she deserved.

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