Page 51 of Avery's Hero

But the night we spent in my bed was a one off. A one and done. A crazy moment of insanity.

Both of our eyes whip toward the door when the sound of stomping feet echoes through thehallway.

“What the?—”

“You asshole!” Linc flies through the door, his eyes wild with rage. I’m on my feet instantly.

Chest pumping, he stands in front of my desk seething. His fists are clenched. In a shredded voice, he shouts, “You bastard. I overheard what you’re going to do.”

Holding up my hands and keeping my own voice even, I try to take things down a notch. “Just calm down. What’s going on?”

That makes him even angrier. He bellows in my face, “Boarding school. That’s what’s going on. Raven was telling Mia that you’re sending me off to some fucking reform school.”

Avery’s out of her chair so fast it clatters to the floor, she moves back until she’s pressed against the wall. She’s staring at us with her mouth ajar.

Damnit. She does not need to be caught up in this drama.

Lincoln swallows hard. His eyes are hot with anger and tears. Betrayal. That’s the only word for his expression. His voice is shaking when he demands, “Tell me it’s not true.”

Fuck. This is not how I wanted to tell him. But I won’t lie to him. That’s one thing I’ll never do. We stare at each other until I say, “It’s true.”

He tries to murder me with his eyes. His lip draws back in a sneer. “I hate you. I fucking hate you. You’re no better than her.”

“Linc.”

Clenching his fists, he growls at me, “Don’t patronize me. You and mom are just alike. I should have known better than to trust you.”

He swipes his hand across my desk, sending everythingflying. I grab his wrist but he wrenches it free. Snarling, cursing, he turns for the door.

“Stop. Linc. Don’t you dare leave this building!”

But he’s out the door in a flash. The sound of his shoes pounding the stairs is like thunder that fades into the distance.

I storm toward the door, but suddenly, a tiny, furious figure jumps in front of me. “Stop. Let him go. He’s devastated and angry, and he has every right to be.”

My chest is pistoning. My lungs are on fire. My head is primed to explode.

But Avery plants her hand in the center of my chest and glares up at me. “Take a breath, Chief.”

“Avery, get out of the way.”

Raising her voice, she says, “Let me talk to him.”

“No. Let me handle this. I have to deal with this. We can’t run from this problem anymore.”

We’re in a stare off. “Avery, move out of the way. Or I’ll pick you up and move you.”

“Brock. Just take a breath. Count to ten. You can’t talk to him when you’re a raging bull. It’s not the way to handle this.”

I get in her face, because apparently, I haven’t made my point clear enough. “Move, now.Please.I am going to talk with my son and you’re not going to physically stop me or guilt me out of doing what needs to be done. He needs to know I’ve finally lost my patience. This is done. He did it to himself.”

Finally, she gives. When she steps aside, she says in a low voice, “You’re making the biggest mistake in your life if you send him away.”

I stride from the office. Furious at the world. Myself included. She’s probably right given my history withdecisions. But the hell if I know what to do with a child that’s one step away from ruining his life. Someone’s got to make the hard choices. And that falls on my shoulders.

Whether I like it or not.

When I stomp through the station and outside, it’s clear as daylight that Linc’s gone.

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