Page 100 of Unlucky You

“I can. Now, if you would like to walk out of here without the promise of being criminally prosecuted, I suggest you heed my warning. Sinclair and his family are off limits. You will not harass him. You will not interfere with his life or I will be your worst nightmare. The choice is yours.”

Ryan waved to the officer escorting Alec. “Take him to the back and give him some time to consider his options before I sit down with him.”

“Wait, hold on.”

He jerked away from the officer but he grabbed his arm again and forcefully dragged him to the back.

“Regardless of his decision, I will make sure he can’t touch you. There will be a restraining order in place. If he refuses to let this go, I will pursue criminal charges against him. Good luck, Sinclair. If you keep your word, I’ll keep mine.”

I nodded. “Go see the clerk. They’ll get you taken care of. You good to get home?”

“Yeah, I have someone I can call.”

I looked around the precinct and prayed this would be my last time stepping foot in here. This was my second strike; I refused to face a third because there would be no walking out of here if I did.

“You believe him?”Tali asked, leaning back in the driver’s seat of his car and turned his head toward me.

“I won’t believe a damn thing until it’s all finalized and my name is no longer in their system.”

“So you’re gonna pay?”

“If he can get the fees down, yeah. I don’t want this shit hanging over my head.”

“I feel you.”

I glanced at Saniya’s car parked next to mine then stared at my door. “She good?”

Tali grinned. “Yeah man, she’s straight. Your girl was ready to start a war behind you. I fuck with that.”

I laughed lightly and lifted a hand to massage my chin. “I appreciate that she would but I hate putting her in the position to have to. I don’t want my life disrupting hers.”

Another reason I was willing to empty my bank account if it meant I could walk away from all this. Raiden deserved better. Saniya did also. There was no reason for them to be affected by my bad decisions.

“Regardless, Saniya’s a good look. She held Raidy down. Didn’t fucking blink or hesitate to step up. She even shut medown when I tried to step in. I know it’s not how you expected things to play out and it’s fucked up that Aleah’s not here. It was supposed to be the two of you and I know you’ll never be the same after losing her but this is good for you.She’sgood for you. I hope you see that.”

“I do.”

No matter how I’d gotten here, how hard it was or how hard it would be, I wanted this with Saniya. If she still wanted to be in this with me, I was going to do everything in my power to accept what my life looked like without Aleah and give Saniya the happiness she deserved. I would always love Aleah. Never in my fucking life would I forget how she owned my heart and made my life better but I couldn’t change the past. I would honor her by making sure our son was loved in a way that she would want. That more than anything meant being here for him. Dumb shit like yesterday couldn’t happen again.

“I’m going to head out. We’ll talk after you come up for air.” I wanted to slap the goofy ass grin off his face, because more than anything, all I wanted was to be up under Saniya. Drowning in every inch of her.

“I appreciate you always being here. I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me shit, Grand. Family stands for family. You’ve stepped up for me more times than I can count, but regardless, we’re not keeping score.”

I extended a closed fist. He met it with his before I was out the car and on my way to the door.

I knocked and came face to face with Saniya. She had a phone to her ear which she dropped. Luckily I was quick enough to catch it seconds before she threw herself at me and I had to catchher. This woman hugged me so tightly I struggled to keep us both upright when she climbed up my body and locked her legs around my waist but I didn’t fucking care. Her actions were a reflection of my feelings.

I was home.

“You’re here,” she mumbled against my neck and I walked us through the door, kicking it closed with my foot because she still hadn’t let me go.

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“Long story.” She lifted her head and tried to kiss me but I pulled back. When she frowned, I explained.

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