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Thunder booms. Lightning flashes. Still, he doesn’t let go.
I’ve lost all sense of time when Davis eventually pulls back, eyes boring into mine. “Never do something like that again. Do you hear me?” he growls. It makes me all hot and squishy inside. “Never shut me out and try to deal with something like that on your own. You don’t need to protect me. I’m a cop. And I’m your man. I do the protecting.”
I huff out a laugh. “The feminist in me doesn’t know how to feel about that, Mr. Macho Man.”
He shoves back a chunk of my wet hair and then holds my face in his big hands. His voice softens. “What I’m saying is, we’re a team, Allie. Nothing can keep us down, and nothing can tear us apart. Whatever comes next, we’ll face it together. You hear me?”
I give a watery nod. “I hear you. A team. Together. We’re in this together.”
His warm arms fold me into his body, wrapping me into another crushing hug. Even with how tight he’s holding me, I can breathe better than I have in months. Years.
His lips come to my ear. “I meant it when I said I want all of you. I want the ugly pieces just as fiercely as I want the beautiful ones. I’m going to love your mistakes as unconditionally as I love your victories. So you’re gonna stop hiding from me. And I’m going to spend the rest of my life showing you what ‘unconditional’ means.”
I’m shaking with more emotion than my body can handle. “I love you, Davis.”
“I love you, Alana.”
He holds me there in the back alley until my knees can hardly keep me up. Then, with a protective arm around my shoulders, Davis walks us back inside the bar.
We might be walking into a pit of snakes, but he holds his strong shoulders straight and proud.
My man.
I just fell in love with Davis Westbrook.
All over again.
39
DAVIS
“That’s correct. I intend to maintain my candidacy for the mayorship of Honey Hill. Despite these ludicrous allegations swirling in the media,” I announce articulately into the microphone in response to the reporter’s question.
My heart is thrashing like a rabid animal inside my chest. But I speak my words purposefully. With confidence. I told Alana I’d protect her at all costs and I fucking meant it.
A din of murmurs buzzes around me as I clear my throat and carry on. I’m standing in front of city hall for the press conference that Candace helped set up. I’m definitely not a fan of this part of the campaign, but she seems to think it’s a necessary evil.
This needed to happen. “Damage control,” Candace had called it, speaking on no less than three different phones at once, when she put this plan in motion late last night. I pray she knows what the hell she’s doing. My future is riding on this. Alana’s future.
I lean into the microphone and earnestly spew more promises. “I swear—to you, to the good people of Honey Hill, and even my dear Grammy—that these lies against Alana will be disproven and they will in no way affect my plans for the future of this town.”
Alana has been by my side for the whole conference. We’ve discussed everything with Candace and the legal team she’s assembled to handle this mess. We’re going after Mayor Thompson with all we’ve got. But we won’t sacrifice Stacey in the process.
Candace steps up beside me, leaning into the microphone. “Rest assured that we have the best legal team sorting through this mess and we are prepared to take any legal action necessary to clear Alana Westbrook’s name and bring anyone who has participated in smearing her reputation to justice.”
All kinds of due process was breached in the situation at hand; charges were never officially filed against Alana. In fact, she was never even booked as required by proper arrest procedure after she was taken into custody.
This is not how we do things in Honey Hill, and Thompson won’t get away with it. The fact that the legal team is confident that we can use this messed up situation to finally take down the corrupt mayor? Well, to me, that’s the juicy cherry on top.
Candace goes on. “All that aside, we want to keep the focus on the campaign and on what Chief Deputy Sheriff Westbrook can do for this town when he is elected mayor.”
I see nods in the crowd. I hear sounds of encouragement. I have Alana and my family who are firmly on my side.The people of Honey Hill will support me in this. I know it. Together, we can get through this.
“I’m sorry. I can’t just stand here and watch this!” A booming female voice breaks out from the back of the crowd.
Heads turn and I crane my neck over the gathering for a better look at what’s happening.
An angry little woman is pushing her way through the crowd. And if it weren’t for the fact that my ex-wife is currently glued to my side, anxiously gripping my hand behind the podium, I’d swear it was Alana herself making her way up the stairs.
