It’s hard to not forgive a man whose pet name for you means beautiful. “Maybe this time.”
I understand Sin’s drive to have Cody know I belong to him. It’s testosterone. Or nature. Call it what you like but it’s the only reason I’m able to overlook him going against my wishes.
“I’ve never allowed another man to touch me. Only you. Don’t forget it.”
Chapter Six
Sinclair Breckenridge
I’m marrying my Bonny Bleu tomorrow—without her family’s knowledge or her father’s approval. I’m not all right with that. It feels dirty—like committing a betrayal against a weak, dying man. There’s very little I find more lowdown than dishonoring a man under these conditions.
I won’t enter our marriage this way.
Harold MacAllister won’t be around to watch over and protect Bleu. I believe he’ll find comfort in knowing I’m pledging my life to her safety and happiness. Wouldn’t every father want a man to take that vow for his daughter?
The hall smells of that all-too-familiar odor common to medical facilities. The chemical smell of medications. Shit. Piss. Vomit. Bleach to mask the odor of the three. I remember it well. But there’s another smell here, different from what I grew accustomed to during my own recovery period.
It’s the stench of death.
I swore I’d never enter a hospital again after my amputation. I had to when I nearly died of sepsis several months ago. Now, here I am inside a hospice care center because I want to speak to the man who, in twenty-four hours, will be my father-in-law.
I stand outside Harold MacAllister’s door and catch my breath as I prepare to knock. I’m apprehensive. Nerves aren’t something I experience often and I’m a little surprised by my anxiety.
I’m confident about everything I plan to tell Bleu’s father. I practiced it in my head all night. I’m just not sure how well it will be received.
I knock and a woman’s voice tells me to enter. I open the door and find Ellison standing on one side of Harold MacAllister’s bed, a nurse on the other. “Good morning. We’re helping Mr. Mac get a little more comfortable.” They’re using a sheet to move him up toward the head of his bed. “I don’t know how you worm your way down so quickly. Seems like we just pulled you up an hour ago.”
They finish and lift the head of the bed so Harold is almost in a sitting position. “Here’s your call light. Buzz me if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Marge,” Ellison says.
Bleu’s sister waits until the nurse is gone to address me. “You’re him.”
She recognizes me? How? I was under the impression Ellison knew nothing of me.
“You need to go, Elli,” Harold tells his daughter. Apparently, he recognizes me as well.
“Hello, Mr. MacAllister.” I nod in Ellison’s direction. “Miss MacAllister.”
“Don’t be rude, Dad. This is Bleu’s friend she met while she was in Scotland on assignment.” Oh. She knows more than I expected.
“Leave now, Ellison.”
Bleu’s sister is clearly shocked by her father’s reaction. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
I wait until Ellison is gone to introduce myself. “I’m Sinclair Breckenridge. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“You’ve come for her.” He puts his hand to his chest and is gasping for air.
I’m scaring the shit out of the poor man. “I have but not for the reason you think.” I pass him the cup of water from his bedside table. “Have a drink.”
He does as I suggest but he’s working hard to catch his breath. “Slow your breathing. You’re working yourself into being short of air.” Bleu will be very displeased with me if I send her father into some sort of attack.
“Why have you come?”
I gesture toward the bedside chair. “May I?”
He nods and appears to be calming a little. Maybe.
Everything I rehearsed in my head is a blur. “Please, bear with me. I had all of this planned out—everything I wanted to say to you—but I’m suddenly at a loss.” This doesn’t happen to me. I never lose control. I’m a total mess.
“Mr. MacAllister. I’m not sure what Bleu has told you. I’m probably rewinding a little too far but I’m doing so because I don’t want there to be any confusion.”
“Go ahead,” he says.
“You’re aware Bonny infiltrated The Fellowship through me with the goal of killing my father?” Dammit. That sounded horrid, as though I’ve come to avenge him. “I’m sorry. That came out all wrong.” I’m doing a terrible job.
“Please don’t hurt my daughter,” Harold pleas.
“I’m not here to harm Bonny.”
“Bonny?”
I laugh. “That’s my special name for Bleu.”
I get up to pace the room as I talk. Walking always seems to calm me. “Anyway, she wasn’t successful. But I’m sure you know this already.”
“She decided she couldn’t go through with it.” Okay. We may be getting closer to being on the same page.
“Aye. But do you know why she couldn’t go through with it?”
“Her conscience got the better of her.” That’s a half-truth.
“That much is true but what she hasn’t told you is why she developed a conscience about killing my father.”
His brow wrinkles, his eyes squinted, as though he’s trying to put the pieces together. “What are you saying?”
“She couldn’t go through with it because we fell in love.”
He’s shaking his head in denial. “No.”
“Trust me. I didn’t want to love her, but I do—with all my heart. It’s not what she wanted or planned, either, but still, she loves me all the same.”
“I don’t believe you.” Harold raises his voice as much as he’s able. “This is one of your crafty tricks.”
“My uncle discovered Bleu’s deception. I was supposed to kill her but I couldn’t do it because I love her. I let her escape with a promise—I’d find a way to erase her grievance with The Fellowship.”
“Let’s assume I believe you’re in love with one another. How do you suppose you’re going to fix a problem of this magnitude? The Fellowship doesn’t forgive and forget.”
“Abram’s men are in the US right now. They’re on a mission to hunt and execute Bleu. She could probably run and avoid them but she refuses to leave you. Even if she did, it puts Ellison at risk. My uncle wouldn’t hesitate in using your other daughter as a way to draw Bleu out.”