Outrage. Admiration. Pity?
I haven’t figured out which.
The night I called him and said I needed to see him, he didn’t hesitate to open the door of his home to me. He never asked why I was turning up in the middle of the night to hand over my resignation for a job I’ve dedicated my entire existence to for years. He didn’t ask why I was so mad my hands wouldn’t stop shaking unless I kept them clenched into fists.
He didn’t ask a single question.
He just said one thing.
“Thank you.”
He thanked me for everything. He didn’t need an explanation.
He trusted me.
He’s always trusted me.
“I’m in love with Sinclair,” I say into the silence of the room.
“What?” Mal scoffs.
“Fucking hell,” Sullivan mutters.
Sterling leans back in his chair, a picture of complete calm and authority. “How long?”
I inhale slowly, my nostrils expanding. “Long enough that I no longer know what it feels like not to love her. Nor do I want to know.”
“So you aren’t back here to get your job back?”
“No, sir.”
“You’re here for my daughter? The one I asked you to protect?”
“That’s correct.”
Silence engulfs the room until he tips his head, thinking. “And if I don’t give you my blessing?”
I can’t stop the way my eyes hold his, burning into his gaze as every cell in my body goes on high alert. My fingers flex by my sides and a cracking of the bones inside them echoes around the room.
Sterling narrows his eyes at me and they gleam with amusement. “You think you could take me?”
“With respect, Iwouldtake you. If it was for her, I would take every last damn man breathing, and not even break a fucking sweat.”
Sterling chuckles, but Sullivan and Mal remain deathly silent, watching the two of us.
“I must say, Denver.” He sighs. “I’m disappointed.”
The air leaves my lungs like I’ve been punched in the gut.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner,” I say with a sincerity that I feel in my bones.
He shakes his head. “Not saying the words to me, doesn’t mean I didn’t know. You might think you know Sinclair better than anyone. But she’smy daughter. Remember that. I will always be the man who loved her first.”
The room is so fucking silent you could hear a pin drop.
There’s both a threat and acceptance in Sterling’s words.
And I hear and respect both.
