Thankfully, Sydney was out the entire ride back to my apartment. I’d never been formally introduced to her and I didn’t want her waking up and showing her ass thinking I was kidnapping her. Not to mention, she’d gone through something pretty traumatic already.

I wasn’t sure what story Patience wanted to tell her, but either way, when she woke up she’d find out her father was dead. Had it been me, I’d be happy the bastard was gone, but she might not take it so well. The girls’ lives were going to change from this point on, and I planned on being there to help them through every step of the way.

When I walked through the door holding Sydney’s body, Patience stood from the couch and pushed Finn and Tiny out of her way. They’d been doing a good job guarding her apparently, and she looked pretty pissed about it. She ran to me and pushed Sydney’s hair from her face, and then she looked up at me with a look of confusion.

“What happened?” she asked with wide, accusing eyes.

“Here, give her to me. I’ll put her in your bed,” Tiny said.

I handed Sydney over to him and he turned to take her to my room. Finn nodded his good-bye as he turned and left the apartment.

I reached out to Patience and attempted to pull her into my arms. All I wanted was to be close to her. We’d almost been pulled apart tonight and I wanted to feel her against my body, but she put her palms against my chest and stopped me.

“What happened, Zeke?” she asked again in aggravation.

The sun was beginning to peek through the living room curtains and bathe her face. There were tear stains on her cheeks and her hair was a ratted-up mess, but she was still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“Your mom, she heard the commotion and came to the room.”

Her eyes got large and she started to panic.

“Is she okay? We have to go to her. What did the cops say? Why didn’t they arrest you?”

I looked at her with sadness in my eyes. I knew what I was about to tell her was going to upset her, but I just hoped she could see as her mother did.

“She took the blame, snowflake. She asked me to give her the gun, and then she told me to call the police and bring Sydney to you.”

She exploded.

“And you let her! You let a dying woman take the blame for killing her husband!”

She pulled away from me and started digging through my pockets for my keys.

“It’s what she wanted, baby. I told her I shot him to protect you and she said since your dad was dead and she’d be dying soon, she wanted me to take care of you and your sister.”

She wasn’t hearing me. She was too busy trying to get my keys. When she finally got them she ran toward the door. I caught her around the waist and she struggled against my hold.

“Don’t do this, Patience. It’s what she wanted.”

She growled at me and beat me in the chest. I was afraid I was hurting her so I loosened my hold a bit and she took the opportunity to get away. I ran after her and tried again to stop her, but finally she got away and ran to my car. When she locked the driver’s door and started to crank the car, I ran around to the passenger’s side and jumped in.

I spent the ride to the police station trying to talk her out whatever it was she was planning on doing, but she wouldn’t even look at me, much less talk to me. It was like I wasn’t even in the car.

“Baby, please stop the car. I don’t want to lose you. Just think about this. Your mom was right and it’s what she wanted. I promise I wouldn’t have done it had she not asked me. She wanted me to tell you she was happy you had me and that she loved you.”

That got a response from her and more tears slipped down her face.

By the time we made it to the police station, the sun was up completely. There were reporters everywhere outside the station, waiting for the news on the governor. Thankfully, none of them noticed Patience. With her head held high, she went into the police station in a heated rush. I was right behind her, begging the entire way to please think things through. Still, she ignored me.

When we got to the counter, a young officer looked down at her with concerned eyes.

“Is there something we can do for you, ma’am?”

I didn’t miss the fact that he looked over at me with suspicious eyes. I was sure it looked like she was running from me because I was a danger to her, when all I was trying to do was save her.

“Yes, my mother was brought in for murdering my father, the governor, last night. I’d like to confess and have her released immediately. She’s sick and she doesn’t belong behind bars.”