Free Avowed (The Manipulation Trilogy Book 3) by Alicia Taylor, Natalie Townson Page B

enough of my shit and knocked some sense into me when I got behind the wheel drunk. He gave me an ear full and a reality check. Not trusting my judgement and being disappointed in me made Spence get me a driver.” Damon pauses and sighs. “Fuck,” he mumbles.
    Turning to face me, his expression makes me hold my breath. He looks torn, broken. Like his next words are going to finish him off. I’ve never seen Damon look scared but right here, right now, he looks petrified.
    “Your dad became my driver beauty.” My breath gushes out of me like I’ve been punched in the guts. I grip my bump like I’ve taken a physical blow from his words. I’m shocked. Confused. Dumbfounded. Seeing my inability to speak he continues with a pleading look in his eyes.
    “You have to understand baby. He saved me. Fucking pulled me out of my self destruct mode. Your dad was the first touch of light I’d felt in my life for months. He laid it all out for me, made me see what I was letting myself become.” A small smile lifts his lips. “He basically told me that if his daughter ever brought a man like me to his house to meet him, he would chase him out with his shotgun. Told me straight up that I wasn’t worthy for any woman in my state, I wasn’t man enough,” he laughs, shaking his head.
    A giggle escapes my lips before I can stop myself. That is so like my Pops. He was always overprotective. He loved his girls with his whole being and wasn’t afraid to let it show. In fact, he was proud to be our dad, and told people on numerous occasions. Damon sobers quickly, his gaze piercing through me.
    “He was right. I was acting like a pussy, pissing my life away. Wasting it. The night of his accident he wasn’t well. He had a headache and I told him to go home early but he refused, said he’d had a pain pill and would be fine.” Damon stops to run a hand through his hair whilst clenching his jaw. “I should have made him leave. I should have fucking drove him home myself.”
    I gasp at his words, finally understanding his words earlier. He blames himself for not only Lydia’s death, but my Pops’ death too. I move quickly and press myself firmly against his back, needing to feel him against me, needing him to feel me .
    “You can’t take that blame on Damon. It wasn’t your fault.” I tell him with as much conviction as I can. He needs all my strength. “It was an accident, it wasn’t on you. You can’t carry that blame.”
    “That’s not all,” he confesses. I wait with baited breath for his next words. “The day Lydia passed. I ended another life.”
    “Her death isn’t on you Damon.”
    “No. No, it was Leona. She was pregnant and I... I... she...” he shakes his head not knowing how to finish. I gasp. Leona was pregnant? Damon was going to be a dad? Is this why he decided he didn’t want children?
    “Damon,” I choke out.
    “Lydia rang me Ella. She told me what she was going to do and I rushed to get there. Leona tried to stop me but I needed to do something. I had to try something, anything. I raced to get to your sister, and in my rush I pushed Leona out of the way.” He pauses and swallows hard. “She fell and lost the baby. I didn’t know at the time.”
    “I’m sorry,” I cry as silent tears fall from my eyes at his loss. My hand drops to my bump and I cry for the loss of his first child, cradling his second child growing inside me. Damon moves quickly, pulling me into his lap, holding me tightly to him. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, burying my face into his neck.
    “Stop, baby. It’s not your fault. It was mine. I pushed her out the way and she lost her baby.” I pull back from his neck when he says her baby. Was the baby not his? He must see my confusion because he gives me a small smile and caresses my cheek. “I’ve never slept with Leona, beauty. Never. ”
    “Never?” He shakes his head no. I should feel guilty for feeling relief at his words, but I can’t. I’m glad she never got her