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My hatred for Alma wasn’t a new thing, but it had reached a new level.
I literally could decide if she lived or died . . . and that was a very powerful feeling. Something I wasn’t sure any person was qualified to handle.
With her well and truly gone, my problems would be erased.
But Penelope would still be devastatingly injured.
What would Penelope want?
I might not know my daughter that well, but I was certain she wouldn’t want vengeance. That wasn’t her nature. If anything, she’d want to help Alma.
I sighed. “Just scare her, then release her to the police.”
Elliott’s expression didn’t give a single clue about what he thought of my decision. He held the phone to his ear and murmured a quick message before hanging up.
“Go see her.” He flicked his chin in the direction of Penelope’s room.
What he didn’t say was not to concern myself with Alma. He had a handle on that front, which gave me the room to concentrate on what was most important.
I gave a sharp nod before moving with leaden footsteps toward my daughter. The doctors hadn’t given us the okay to be with her, but I didn’t care.
If I were in that hospital bed, I’d want her and JoJo right by my side, doctors be damned.
On a deep breath, I stared into the glass box. The room was bright, like she was on display.
Penelope lay unmoving in the bed, wires and tubes hooked up to what seemed like every inch of her body. The steadybeep-beepof the machine keeping her alive was a stark reminder how close I still was to losing her.
Her beautiful face was bandaged. But she looked at peace.
Please don’t be in any pain.
It was an absurd thought, though it was true. I didn’t want her to suffer.
I put my hand on the window that separated us.
My throat thickened and my vision blurred. She didn’t need me losing my wits right now. She needed strength and determination.
“I probably wouldn’t have been a great dad to grow up with,” I said quietly. “But I would’ve been there for everything.” It was easy to make promises about a past I couldn’t redo. Yet I was sure of it. “Even if it meant I had to go to the ends of the earth on whatever crusade your mother was on.”
I hoped JoJo had lots of pictures. I wanted to see every step of Penelope growing up.
Maybe we couldn’t recreate that image I’d had of her and JoJo in the kitchen when she was little, but we could do it now. As adults.
In some ways, we already had.
A choked sob escaped me.
“You’re stuck with me, Lamb. I’m not wasting more time. And as much as a good father would give you a choice about the kind of relationship you want with him, I’m not that guy. I’m going to be there to support you in all you want out of life. And when you have kids, I’m going to be there for them too. Even while they’re aliens.”
She’d told me in one of our early conversations she wanted lots of kids so they wouldn’t be lonely.
“You are never going to be lonely,” I said in a low voice.
As long as I breathed, I’d make sure of it.
“And you are so loved. You aren’t going to be able to forget that either.” I put my forehead on the glass.
“I’m glad you’re my daughter.”
