“Just great,” I mumble under my breath, while following her.

She waits for me to walk in first and then closes the door behind us. “You’re late from your break. You’re never late.”

I nod my head. “Well, I needed a few extra minutes to deal with my personal life. It won’t happen again.”

She walks over to her desk and starts gathering up her things. “Can I still trust you to run this salon in the same manner now that you have that man in your life?”

“Are you seriously asking me this right now?” I ask, pissed off that she’s treating Royal as if he’s some kind of dog.

She looks up from gathering her things. “Yes. I am. I’ve seen what men that look like that are capable of.”

“Is that right?” I give her a hard look. “And I’ve seen what men that look like your husband are capable of. That mustache is a bit creepy and suspicious of pedophile activities if you ask me?”

She huffs. “Are you accusing my husband of being a criminal?”

“I don’t know,” I reply. “Are you accusing my boyfriend of being a criminal based on his choice of tattoos and clothing?”

She shakes her head. “This conversation is not going in a direction that is looking well for you, so I suggest that you sleep on whatever else you plan on saying to me and we’ll be talking again next week.”

Grabbing her bag, she heads for the door and reaches to open it, but I slap my hand on the door, stopping her.

She looks over at me in surprise.

“Royal is a good person with a big fucking heart. You don’t know him. I do, so I suggest that you keep your fucking mouth shut before you think of speaking to me about him again. Got it?”

Her mouth opens in shock and for once, she looks stunned speechless. “Consider yourself lucky that you’re well desired here. You only get one second chance, Missy.” She runs her hand over her dress, smoothing it out. “Don’t blow it.”

She waits for me to back away from the door, before she pulls it open and stomps out.

I wait until the bell dings, indicating that she’s left the building, before falling against the door and running my hands over my face.

I was so fucking close to losing my job, yet I didn’t even have to think twice before defending Royal.

I’m beginning to see that Royal comes first to everything else. He’s all that truly matters to me at the moment and I’m not afraid to make that known.

This man completely consumes me and there’s nothing that could make me want to stay away from him. Nothing . . .

“Yo! Woman!” Madison’s voice screams from the front, making me smile. “Get the hell out here.”

Feeling relieved that she’s here to keep me company I pull the door open and walk out.

I’m surprised to see my uncle here as well.

“Well this is weird,” I say awkwardly. “Did you two come together or something?”

Mark laughs and takes a seat in my chair. “Not exactly. We just shared a stoplight together on the way here.”

Madison shrugs. “Close enough.”

“Hi, Officer Knight,” Ellie says while looking up from her phone.

“How’s it going, Ellie? Staying out of trouble?”

Ellie pops her gum and nods her head. “Of course I am. You’d be the first to know if I’m ever in trouble, Gorgeous.”

Rolling my eyes, I toss the apron on Mark and grab for my scissors. “You’re every woman’s favorite officer. How does that feel?”

He looks at me through the mirror. “What can I say? I’ve still got it.”

“So, Mark . . .” Madison says from her chair. “What do you think about Ava over here spending time with Royal? Have you arrested him before? I want the scoop.”

Mark shrugs. “I’m trusting him to take care of her. I’ve known Royal for almost two years now. Doesn’t mean that I won’t be creeping around a damn corner ready to arrest him if he fucks up my trust.”

“So you haven’t arrested him yet?” Madison asks with wide eyes, pushing for an answer.

“Only once,” Mark says stiffly. He sits up and takes the apron off. “Follow me outside real quick.”

“Alright,” I say nervously. I turn around to look at Ellie. “I’m going outside for a minute.”

“All good,” Ellie says while playing on her phone.

I follow Mark outside to stand by his car. “What do you know about Royal and his past?”

I get a bit choked up just thinking about what I’ve learned about him. “I know about him losing his pregnant fiancé. Is that what you’re asking?”

Mark looks up from his phone that starts going off. “Is that all you know? He hasn’t told you how?”

I shake my head. “No, I haven’t asked. I didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable.”

He holds up his finger and huffs as his phone goes off again. “Give me a sec.”

I watch him as he walks away and takes his call. He returns a few minutes later with a look that tells me he isn’t happy.

“Look. We need to talk later tonight. I’ll come by your house when I get off work.”

“Okay,” I say confused. “What is going on? Is there something that I should know?”

Mark opens the door to his car and gets ready to get inside. “Yeah. I definitely think you need to know this. I don’t have time to explain right now. I hate to tell you this way and I’m sorry, but I can’t hold it in. His fiancé was raped and murdered. You need to know the whole story, and if Royal isn’t going to tell you I am. I’ve given him time.” He pauses and looks down, frustrated. “Gotta go. Be home later and I’ll swing by.”

Before I can stop him, he jumps into his car and slams the door shut behind him.

I stand here and watch him drive off as the information slowly starts to sink in and I piece the puzzle together.

My breath escapes me and I feel sick to my stomach at how stupid I was to not put this together when Blaine told me about his sister the other day.

“Holy fuck. No . . .” I cry.

I cover my mouth as the tears come pouring down. Gagging, I fall to my knees with my hands on the pavement as I empty my stomach in front of me, while fighting to catch my breath.

Royal killed those three men after they murdered Olivia: Blaine’s sister.

SITTING HERE, MY THROAT FUCKING burns from the pain and hate that is building up inside of me and eating at me as I sit here in this darkened room, looking around me.

I should be holding my baby girl in my arms, loving her and giving her everything that her tiny heart desires. Anything that girl would’ve asked for would’ve been hers. I’d give her the world just to know that my baby was happy and well.

I should be able to see her tiny fingers and toes, and be able to smell her soft little baby hair as I hold her close to my chest and remind her over and over that nothing in this world will harm her as long as her daddy is here.

God, it fucking hurts so bad to know she’ll never have that.

Everything is so different than what I expected it to be when I first found out the news of Olivia’s pregnancy. I thought I had life figured out; that we would live happily in our big home, have the guys over for dinner and watch games on the TV while Hadley laughed and played with her uncles.

None of that is my reality. None of that will ever happen. Fucking ever. She’ll never have the love and security that she deserves and I’ll never forget how I’ve failed her and Olivia.

I’m royally fucked up. My head is fucked up. My past is fucked up. My future is fucked up. Nothing about me is what Avalon wants or needs in her life, yet I’m slowly letting her break me down and force her way into my heart.

My memories and loss of the past will always fucking consume me; therefore, fueling the monster that I’ve become and making it impossible for me to love her the way that she deserves. It will always lead me back to this room full of baby stuff that will never get touched.