Chapter 99 CHAPTER 094

Chapter 99 CHAPTER 094
Linc Pov::

Of course I don't plan on killing Tyler. I never did. But it feels perversely good to watch Sheryl unravel before me at the insinuation. She threw it at me first to shock me to kindness on her behalf, she forgot we are no longer twenty one. She can't manipulate me even if she tried.

Yes, I went temporarily mad when he took Amelia. Yes, I am still enraged just thinking about him being somewhere out there on the run, no consequences whatsoever for his actions. Yes, I get nightmares about walking into that warehouse and seeing Amelia beaten to death, black and blue and small and cold. I jerked awake last night in a cold sweat and I had to go check her in her room to make sure she was still here with me. Safe. I stayed in her room for a really long time. I couldn't go back to sleep. Watching her sleep so peacefully soothed me a bit. I left when it was almost dawn and by then, sleep had long eluded me.

Yes, it is also true that I no longer know what I can do to him. Running away like that has given him an advantage. If I am going to hand him over to the police, on what charges? There are no third party witnesses. No evidence. The best they could do is question him, maybe hold him for a day or two and then he is out. Free. Dangerous. As long as Tyler roams free, I don't know if I can ever be fully convinced that Amelia is safe.

"You wouldn't dare, Linc. No matter how rich you are, you can't get away with murder." Sheryl doesn't look convinced. She is scared. Good.

"Well, we would just have to wait to find out now, won't we?" I cross my hand over my chest. I feel Amelia's shocked expression burning into the side of my face. But I can't look at her right now. She will make me falter. She has questions and I would answer them, just not in front of Sheryl.

"Linc?" I hear her soft voice call to me. I break my resolve and turn to her. I don't like the shocked expression on her face. The disbelief in her eyes.

"It is time for you to leave, Sheryl. You will know when I find your son." I turn away from her questioning eyes to dismiss Sheryl.

"Amelia..." She turns desperately to her, Amelia looks at her surprised, Sheryl leans towards her, "please, don't let him hurt my Tyler. You don't want that right? Please. He is all I have. I am sure you have more empathy. Please." She pleads.

I get up, annoyed, "Hernandez!" He should be around.

He walks in immediately, scanning the room for any threats, when he sees none, his eyes settle on mine.

"Sheryl was just leaving." I grunt with meaning. He nods and walks up to her still on the couch.

Sheryl becomes frantic, trying to appeal to Amelia who is just sitting there, dazed and confused.

"Amelia! Please tell him! Tyler didn't mean to hurt you! You know he didn't. He was just hurt and misguided. And I have apologised for that. I would apologise a million times more. It is all my fault. I admit it. But please don't let him take my son from me. Please!" Sheryl hollers as Hernandez hauls her over his shoulders, kicking and screaming, he moves her through the room, out the door with practiced ease.

When we can no longer hear her, I take her seat, facing Amelia who is still watching everything in a sort of detached trance that worries me.

"You were not really going to find him just to kill him right?" She asks.

"No." I say through gritted teeth. It stings that she would even ask. She knows me better than that. I guess I put on too much of a believable performance to Sheryl.

Amelia doesn't look convinced. But I know she would come around.

"Then why is the police not involved? Hernandez is a private security agent." She asks, watching me with a kind of detached coldness that rubs me off the wrong way.

"It would have gotten public and blown out of proportion. Remember the tape? I couldn't risk having that come out." I try to keep my irritation out of my tone. Sheryl's nerve in coming here has rattled me more than I care to admit. And I hate it. She shouldn't have any effect on me after two decades.

The veil of distrust on Amelia's face doesn't lift. She watches me cautiously. I hold her eyes. Feeling myself get angrier. Illogical.

"In case you forgot, my name is still tied in a scandal of sorts because of the idiot french artist Kathryn cheated on me with. That embarrassing tasteless exposé is still up. I am sure you already know about it by now. It was why I left in a hurry that morning. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get rid of it. It is still up. My life is currently as open to outside criticism and introspection than I am comfortable with. You think I want to add a case as precarious as kidnapping inspired by something as personal as being an absentee father to that mix?"

I push my hand through my hair. I am frustrated. I am bristling with energy and I have nowhere to pass it to. Her distrust is making me unravel. What am I if Amelia's trust in me can be so easily wavered?

Of course I wasn't going to kill the damn kid! What does she take me for? Fucking typical of Sheryl to come here and muddle things between us like this.

"Well, sorry for coming into your private perfect life and making it a mess. If it makes you feel any better, I was dragged here against my will by Kathryn." Amelia snaps, her cheeks are flushed as she gets up off the couch. I have upset her and that wasn't my intention.

"You know that was not what I meant." I say, most of my anger seeping out of me as I take in her flushed face, she turns away from me.

I grab her around the waist and pull her against my body, the contact is so delicious that I close my eyes for a second feeling blood rush southwards immediately.