“That’s great,” he said with a small chuckle. “She’s not even back a week and you already have your hooks in her.”
“That’s not—”
“Listen,” he interrupted. He leaned forward and fixed his angry eyes on my face. “You don’t know what you did to her when you left. You have no idea how badly she was hurt. It’s not right for you to just swoop back in and—”
“I know about Lizzy,” I said suddenly.
Mr. Joppa’s expression changed from angry to surprised, and then back to angry. “She told you?”
“Yes. And I met Lizzy yesterday. At Allie’s. Then we came back here to put her to bed and talk about things.”
“I see.” Mr. Joppa sat back in his chair and took a long sip of coffee. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. I knew she would tell you eventually.”
“I’m glad she did.”
“What do you plan to do about it?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came out. The truth was, I didn’t exactly know. All I knew was that I loved Alicia and Elizabeth. “I don’t know. We haven’t gotten that far yet.”
“Well, that’s something you should probably figure out.” Mr. Joppa stood from the table and took my untouched cup of coffee, dumping it down the drain. With a meaningful look, he jerked his head toward the back door.
Without another word, I crossed the kitchen. When I glanced back at him, he was busy washing out his own mug. I slipped through the back door, out into the early morning, my head spinning.
CHAPTER 30
Zane
As I walked around the back of the house that afternoon, Mr. Joppa’s words still echoed in my ears. I could still see the look on his face while he’d scrutinized me in the dim kitchen lighting. He didn’t trust me, that much was obvious. But even worse was the fact that he was right.
It was ridiculous that I hadn’t figured out some sort of plan for being in my daughter’s life. How could I have let the night pass without discussing the logistics with Alicia, knowing they would be leaving for New York soon?
How often would they come back to Savage? How many times would Alicia allow me to visit them in the city?
Questions whirled a destructive path through my brain as I stepped into the backyard. I glanced around until I saw Elizabeth running toward me. She threw her arms around my waist and grabbed my hand.
“Come on,” she said. “There’s food.”
“Sounds great, kiddo. But I need to find your mom first. Do you know where she is?”
“She’s talking to her cousin or something.” She pointed toward the back fence. I followed her finger and saw Alicia standing in front of a young woman, talking animatedly.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Lizzy.
“Okay,” she said, and ran off to play. I made my way across the backyard, nodding and smiling at people as I passed. I recognized some, but most were strangers. It was a full-fledged Joppa reunion. There were people everywhere, but I only had eyes for Alicia.
“Hey!” she said when she saw me approaching. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I smiled and hugged her quickly. Her cousin was still standing in front of us and I didn’t want to talk with her there.
“Meg,” Alicia said, “this is Zane, Elizabeth’s father.”
“Oh my God! So nice to finally meet you!” Meg said. Her eyes lit up excitedly as she extended her hand to me.
I shook it and smiled widely. Suddenly, everything began to click into place. Hearing Alicia call me Elizabeth’s father made everything clearer.
There wasn’t anything I wanted more than Alicia and Lizzy. I already couldn’t imagine my life without the two of them in it. In that moment, I knew staying in Savage wasn’t an option. Finally, I knew what I needed to do.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” I said to Meg before turning my attention to Alicia. “Can we talk somewhere?”
“Sure.” She waved at Meg and led the way over to the garage. We slipped inside and she turned to face me with a worried expression. “What is it? Is everything okay?”
“It’s more than okay.” I smiled. “I just realized something.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
I took a step forward and grabbed her hands, holding them tightly and staring into her face, wanting to memorize the way her blue eyes looked in that moment. “I want to come with you,” I said.
“Come with me?” she asked blankly.
“To New York. I want to go with you. You and Lizzy.”
“Zane…”
“Just listen, okay? After everything that’s happened this week, I can’t stand to be away from either of you. We already agreed that I would be in Lizzy’s life, but that’s not enough. I don’t want to see her only on weekends or holidays. I want to be with her every day. I want to watch her grow up. I want to help raise her.”
Alicia smiled. “I want that too.”
“And I want you,” I added. “It’s not enough to just be Lizzy’s dad. I want to be with you too, Alicia. No matter what’s happened these past few years, that’s always been true. You are the love of my life. You’re the reason I’m here. The reason I’m still alive after everything I’ve been through. I can’t lose you again.”
“Zane.” She stepped closer to me and smiled. “I was already going to ask you to come with us.”
I laughed and lunged forward, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her into the air.
Epilogue
Alicia
One Year Later
“Lizzy, get a move on,” I yelled up the stairs. “You’ll be late for school!”
“I’m right here!” she yelled back as she bounced into view. Her backpack was thrown over her back and her hair was all over her face.
“Did you brush your hair?” I asked.
“Um…”
“Come here.” I grabbed her quickly and ran my fingers through her hair, forcing it to lie flat. It didn’t look much better, but at least it wasn’t in her face anymore. “Go on. Your dad is waiting.”
I followed her into the kitchen where Zane was making her lunch. He threw a bottle of juice into the lunchbox and zipped it quickly.
“Morning, kiddo,” he said, tossing Lizzy her lunch.
She caught it easily and grinned. “Is it peanut butter?”
“What else would I pack?” he asked. “Let’s go. We’re late.”
“Okay, okay.” She rolled her eyes and gave me a quick hug. “Bye Mom!”
“Bye! Have a good day!”
Zane gave me a swift kiss and hurried out the front door with Lizzy following behind him. I waited until their footsteps faded completely before I let myself sink. My stomach twisted in knots as I checked the clock above the stove. I still had two hours before my first meeting of the day.
I walked back to the bathroom and dug underneath the sink for the pregnancy test I hid two days earlier. I pulled it out, my heart racing wildly. I had a horrible sense of déjà vu, only this time, I wasn’t entirely dreading a positive result.
It had been over a year since Zane moved in with me and Lizzy. He had moved to New York and took a private security job, a gig he had gotten with the help of his friend Brady Logan, a guy from the Savages. He hadn’t talked about him much, but Brady was on the team when they lost Leo, and seemed like a good guy. Zane trusted him for sure and the job meant he was able to take Lizzy to school and pick her up. His job only kept him busy in the evenings, and it paid great.
Things at the law firm were better than ever. I was working like crazy, but I with Zane’s help, I was able to spend more time with Lizzy. We were a family. It had been hard adding Zane to the mix at first, but he made Lizzy so happy that I couldn’t help feeling the same way. Having him around made me believe in fairytales again.
As I opened the box and pulled out the stick, my hands began to sweat. I sat down quickly before I could talk myself out of taking it. When I was done, I set it on the counter and waited, pacing back and forth.
&nb
sp; ***
Zane
I dropped Lizzy off at school and hurried back home. For weeks, I’d been planning this moment. It was the anniversary of the day Alicia and I had met seven years earlier.
There was no better day.
My heart racing, I ran through the city. I hurried up our street and hurled myself into the apartment building. Taking the stairs two at a time, I didn’t slow down until I made it to our front door. Once outside, I paused for a second.
I took a deep breath and reached into my pocket. I gripped the ring box tightly, turning it over in my hand. It felt like the most important thing I’d ever held in my life. For weeks, I’d been picturing this moment, and I wanted it to be perfect.
When I pushed the door open, I could barely breathe. My hand was still stuffed in my pocket, my fingers wrapped around the box. I walked through the apartment, quietly looking for Alicia.
I finally found her sitting on our bed, staring at the wall. She looked lost in thought, her face pale and her eyes round. I sat down beside her and took her hand in mine. She jumped; she hadn’t noticed me.
“Hey. Are you okay?”
“I’m good,” she said with a determined nod. “Just about to get ready for work.”
“Before you do…” My hands began to shake as I stood in front of her. I reached inside my pocket. “There’s something I need to ask you.”
“Okay,” Alicia said uncertainly. “What is it?”
I pulled the ring from my pocket and slowly lowered myself down onto one knee. When I opened the box, her eyes widened. She stared at the ring like she’d never seen one before.
“Alicia,” I said, “this past year with you and Lizzy has been the best year of my life. I never want to lose either of you. Ever. I love you so much. I can’t even tell you how much. Will you marry me?”
The question hung between us for a few seconds. The air felt stiff, as if the world itself was suspended, waiting for her answer.
Tears filled her eyes as she pushed herself away from me. She stood and began pacing around the room.
Fear flooded my veins. “Alicia?”
“I’m pregnant.” She spun around to face me. “I just found out this morning. I was going to tell you tonight, but after you proposed I thought…”
Without letting her finish her sentence, I skipped over to her and picked her up. I kissed her fiercely, laughing and spinning her around in circles.
“A baby?!” I said.
“Yes. Does this mean you’re happy?”
“Does this mean you’re saying yes?”
“Yes! Of course, yes!”
My child, my fiancée, and now a baby.
Now, my entire mission was complete.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Hopeless Hero
Hopeless Hero_A Bad Boy Military Romance Page 11
