page46 (1/1)
Her desire for approval stemmed from so much uilt where Travis was concerned Once her father’s evil actions had coht, she’d become convinced she could have kept hi of his innocence If it had been up to LJ, this ot out of prison a few uilt, but Travis had been near impossible to track down The air needed to be cleared
Travis sed the last of a cookie “That being said, ma’am, these cookies are phenomenal”
“Please, you do not need to call me ma’am Holly is fine, or you can call h shocked by her oords “Oh, my God, I can’t believe I said that I’m so sorry” Her voice broke and tears filled her eyes
Fuck, nothing gutted hih a fuck-ton in the short aether, and he’d vowed to himself to make this Christhter she’d had since her sister died And here she sat bleeding out painful emotions all over the place
“I’ine what you’ve gone through The fear, and the anger, and the injustice of it all” She shook her head “I’m just so sorr—”
Travis held up a hand “That’s enough,” he said in a cutting tone that had LJ gli the no-nonsense MC president for the first time since he opened the door to the y, and I won’t accept one fro Least of all, an apology”
With his gaze still on Travis, LJ pressed a kiss to the side of Holly’s head as he ran his hand up and down her arm She leaned heavily into his side If the comfort of his touch helped soothe her in any way, he’d keep his hands on her for the rest of her life
“But I knew,” she said as she lightly pounded her fist against her chest “I knew deep down you hadn’t ut feeling, but I let them sway me”
LJ wasn’t the only one gravely affected by the agony in Holly’s voice Travis placed hison the table, then rested his elbows on his knees “Holly, you were fucking twelve,” he said in his ruined voice “And if I reht I was innocent”
She had Or so she’d mentioned to LJ When interviewed by the police, she’d been asked if she’d ever had an interaction with the MC president Holly told a story of thein the street after falling off her bike He’d seen her home without harm, hell, without so much as a four-letter word, then repaired her bike on the sly When he’d been suspected ofher twin sister, Joy, Holly had confessed the story stating the man who’d had so many chances to hurt her but didn’t could not have been the irl
“But I should have done more Been more adamant Not let them influence ether fro
Travis’ laugh was ugly and bitter “Wouldn’t have made a lick of difference, Little Miss There was hard physical evidence Planted by the cops, but I’m sure every h to convince twelve members of a jury I was a child killer They wanted ot it You could have thrown an epic fit in the courtroom, and you’d have just been patted on the head and looked at with pity”
LJ flinched right along with Holly at the disturbing visual But… “He’s right, sugar It’s tiuilt”
“I’ht, Holly I’m out I have my freedom,” Travis said, but the shadows in his eyes told a different story The h his years in prison As though thinking along LJ’s lines, Travis absently touched the scar at his throat “If anyone owes someone here, it’s me es you a debt of thanks I can never repay I had a life sentence without the possibility of parole I’ve done plenty in my life to earn me a spot behind bars Sure as fuck never hurt a kid or a woman, but I saw the conviction as karot aith You coulda let ation to free me”