AllFreeNovel
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Through the rain and the tears, the embarrassment and the confusion, I finally—finally—look Davis in the eyes and I let the truth spill out.
I tell him about the perfect storm that toppled our fairytale.
I tell him about walking into that convenience store. All hell breaking loose when the cashier caught my sister shoplifting. Louis’s cries. The look of terror on Stacey’s face when the police walked in. Me, picking up the backpack and claiming responsibility for my sister’s mess. My dirty deal with Mayor Thompson to make it go away.
All of it.
“Goddammit, Alana!” Davis screams in my face.
“I’m sorry,” I yell back. “In that moment when Tonya and the mayor walked into that convenience store, all I knew was that I had to protect Stacey and Louis. And by the time things started to settle in my mind—once I realized how I’d put you at risk—it was too late to change my decision. Thompson already had my mug shot. He said that no one would believe me if I told the truth. And telling the truth would mean turning on Stacey. He told me that as long as you were associated with me, you could never win the mayoral race. He wanted me to go home and convince you not to run but I couldn’t do that. So…”
“So, you decided to leave me instead…?” Davis fills in the blanks, his voice broken.
I bob my head slowly. “I thought that if I stepped out of the picture, the path would be clear for you to run for office. No one would be able to hold my mistakes against you if I wasn’t your wife anymore.” I shudder. “But then, nothing went to plan. You decided not to run for office.”
Davis throws his head back and roars. “What the fuck were you thinking, Alana?!”
“I was thinking that I had to protect you.”
“Protect me?!”
“Yes!” I shriek, my high-pitched cry piercing the dark sky. “I had to do it.”
“Why?!” He demands in a roar.
“You worked so damn hard to build your career. I couldn’t let you lose everything over me. So I did the only thing that made sense. I left you. To put distance between us. To save your dream. When you bowed out of the running, it devastated me.”
And now…
Now, the wretched nightmare I sacrificed everything to evade is playing out anyway.
“My god, Alana,” he shouts, rain water pouring in rivulets down his face. “You were so busy trying to protect me. You never let me get to decide what I was willing to sacrifice to protect you. That’s not fair.”
“I’m sorry,” I cry.
“If I ever had to choose, I’d choose you.”
I shake my head. “I think a part of me knew that. And if you chose me, you’d lose your dream career. But the other part of me was scared that youwouldn’tchoose me. That you’d decide I wasn’t worth the sacrifice. I preferred not to know what you’d choose. I made the decision so you wouldn’t have to.”
He grabs my face in his hands. “Don’t you know that I love you so freaking much, Alana? No question that I would choose you.”
“I’m a liability to you!” I shout back. “You can’t have the life you want if you’re with me.”
“A liability?!” His head shakes vigorously. “Youwere my greatest asset, Princess!”
We must look insane out here yelling in the rain. But everyone’s too focused on the news disaster inside to pay us any mind.
“You don’t have to say that,” I tell Davis softly. I don’t need his reassurances. Not after everything I put him through.
“Allie, dammit. You were my one and onlyreason. Thinking about the life I wanted to give you and our future children is what propelled every other decision I made. Not the other way around. Without you, I didn’t have the motivation to move forward. I didn’t have the direction. I’ve been floating around aimlessly since you left me, not knowing what’s next. Not caring what’s next. Some days I had to force myself to breathe because I didn’t want to. I didn’t care what happened to me without you by my side.”
Tears track down my cheeks, mixing with the rain. “Oh, Davis…You were born to do great things. You were born to be a leader. Meanwhile, I live in a constant state of anxiety, wondering when the other shoe is going to drop. What’s my family going to do next? What storm will I have to weather next time? You don’t deserve to be dragged into that. It’s only holding you back.”
His arms come around my waist and his damp chest crushes mine in a tight embrace. “There is nothing I need more than I need you. I would lie with you in a ditch with a scrap of cardboard for our roof just as readily as I’d stand with you on the lawn of the fucking White House. Whatever life throws at me, I want it with you by my side.”
“Baby…” I whisper, officially out of arguments.
I lean in and Davis meets me halfway, capturing my mouth with his. Rain pours down his face onto mine, but I never let go. I pour every emotion, every apology, every single miserable night of the last four years into this kiss.
