Chapter 73: Bubbles

"Sin?" I said, my voice low as I pushed slowly into his study. It was dark and had a subtle masculine scent. It was beautiful to my senses, and I stepped inside, closing the door slowly.

I had managed to put Angel back to sleep, but I could hardly believe what was happening. It was the worst thing Larissa could have done, knowing just how much Sin adored his daughter. How much time he sacrificed just to be with her.

How could she just turn his daughter against him,

"Sin?" I said a little louder now as I walked forward into the study.

He probably wasn't there, and I started to turn away.

"I am taking her back."

I turned back swiftly, just as a single light came on on the table. He was sitting back on the seat, his eyes dark as he watched me, his right hand resting on an open briefcase. I wasn't sure what was in it.

"Sin. She is just a child. You can't just..."

"Nothing she said was wrong, was it? I do kill people I do not like."

"But you still love her, and I know that will never change. We both know that."

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Slowly, he stood up, his hands pushing into his pockets. I tried to focus, but all I could see were flashbacks of him from the shower.

I watched him pull out a small bracelet from his drawer, and he gave me a small smile.

"This was for her," he said slowly, then turned to me. "Her birthday is in a week."

My lips parted as he slowly looked back to his hand, then gave a small smile. "Did you keep that for her?"

He chuckled. "It is the only one of its kind." His eyes hardened, and he slowly dropped the bracelet. "But maybe I still don't know how to be a father. Maybe Larissa was right about not..."

His voice was cut off as I covered his lips with my hand, my eyes wide. His eyes flicked up to meet mine, but he didn't move, and I felt his lips slightly move against my palm.

"You are the best father Angel could ever have. Larissa may have gotten in her ear with that nonsense, but she is here now. You can show her that you would never hurt her. I trust that you would never trust her."

He swallowed, then suddenly wrapped his fingers around the wrist of the hand that was still covering his lips.

He pulled me till I was close enough to feel his rather slow heartbeat, his eyes darting slowly across both of mine.

"How can you say that so confidently?"

"I saw you, Sin. You are the only man I can think of who would take a child who isn't his own."

He blinked slowly. "What about you, Annalise?"

"What do you mean?"

I felt his lips part slowly, but for the longest few, he never said a word.

"Sin, I..."

"About my brother," he said, then slowly met my eyes. "About how I am unable to take a stance for you."

I shrugged, trying to brush it off. "I mean, you have no obligation, too. Besides, you had nothing to do with it. I will help plan a surprise for Angel. I bet she will like it."

His jaws clenched before he slowly let go of my hand.

"I just hope you know that despite the fact that I can not take a stand for you, I will not stop taking a stance for yourself. I would never interfere."

I gave a small chuckle. "I can definitely never raise a gun to Enrique if that's what you are hoping for. The only stance I can take is to leave, and you stopped me from doing that."

"No," he said slowly, then brought his hand to mine, his fingers gently caressing the back of my palm. "That isn't a stance. You are running away all over again."

"Well, running from Enrique is quite normal to me and..."

"I am the one you are running from this time."

My breath caught in my throat as I met his eyes. "What?"

He gave a small lopsided smile before he slowly brought my hand away from his lips.

"You should go."

I nodded. "And Angel? Her birthday, everything?""

He simply shrugged. "We will see."

I nodded again and turned away. I had just gotten to the door, my hand stretching to the doorknob when his voice came, stopping me in my tracks.

"I will protect you."

I turned to him, my brows drawn, my mind struggling to understand what his words meant.

"No one will ever get to you again. Not under my watch."

I blinked, my chest heaving slightly. "Why?"

He shrugged but didn't say a word.

"What if I am no longer under your watch?"

"Nothing changes. The contract is done, but my obligation towards you isn't."

I wanted to ask him so many things. What obligation would have him tied to me? Why would he feel obligated? Was obligation the only thing he would ever face for me?

Instead, I nodded and walked out of the room, leaving him behind. I caught my breath for a moment before I started to walk back to the room.

I tried to push everything to the back of my mind and just focus on Angel's birthday. Even if this was the last thing I got to do for Sin, I wanted to at least be able to do something for him.

I had almost reached the room when someone held my hand back, stopping me. For some reason, I knew it wasn't Sin.

I turned, and Enrique was standing behind me, a brim expression on his face. I immediately yanked my hand away from him and took a step back

"Please, don't. I need to tell you something."

"Stay away from me!" I yelled and started to run away when his voice cut me off, stopping me in my tracks.

"It is about Sin, Annalise."

I slowly turned to him, and he let out a small breath.

"I need to tell you something about my brother."