“Love, baby,” he said, putting an arm around her. I hoped he was holding her back.
“Daddy, we got some stuff for the baby,” Alyssa said to Wyatt pointing to the back seat.
“Let me help you.” Then to Sinclair he said, “Try to be nice.”
Sinclair pointed her scowl on me as she came up the porch steps. “Do you have something to tell me?”
“I love Trina?” It came out as a question as I wasn’t sure what would protect me from Sinclair’s wrath.
Her scowl didn’t let up. “You’re blaming Trina for betraying me?”
I swallowed. “No. She was my motivation. She and the baby. Stark paid thirty grand, which I’m using to buy the Salvation Station and fix my home for Trina and the baby. I didn’t know it was a political fundraiser until I got there.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Thirty grand? Jesus.”
I nodded. “People think I’m a flake. That I don’t care about the future. Well, I sold my soul and betrayed my sister for my future. For Trina and the baby.” I lifted my chin, daring her to hit back at me.
She frowned. “Don’t overplay it. But really, you’re buying the Salvation Station?”
“Yep.”
“It’s better than that,” Wyatt said, coming up the steps. “He’s using Stark’s money to buy it and therefore Stark can’t buy it.”
A slow grin spread on her face. “Well, that’s something, I suppose.”
I let out a breath. “Sinclair, really, I’m so sorry. I figured it was some rich dude event and no one would know. I’d turned it down, even though at the time he was offering twenty-five thousand. But then Trina told me she was pregnant and gave me a list of reasons why I wasn’t ready for fatherhood.”
She looked miffed again. “She’s wrong about that.”
“Still, I do need to think of the future, and it was a lot of money. Until I got there, I didn’t realize what was really going on. I guess I should have done more research, but I couldn’t pass up the money. Not with a baby on the way.”
“And Trina to win,” Wyatt added.
“She stuck up for you, you know,” Sinclair said. “I was ready to throttle you, and she said there had to be a good reason why you did the event. Even when I accused her of putting you up to it.”
“What? She’d never do that.” I was sure Trina couldn’t be sold. Stark could offer her millions and she’d turn him down. Okay, maybe not millions. She was practical, and would likely see millions in terms of a home and retirement. But it would take a lot for her to sell out.
“Uncle Ryder, I brought your baby some toys. Mommy says they’re safe for babies,” Alyssa said with her arms filled with stuffed animals.
“Hey kiddo,” I said, picking her up. “Thank you so much.”
“Can I help with the baby’s room?” she asked.
“You sure can. That I’ve already gotten painted.” It was the first room I’d done because it seemed like the most important.
“I want to see it,” Sinclair said. I showed them all the room that I’d painted in a light yellow figuring it would work for a boy or a girl. “Do you think Trina will like it?”
Sinclair looked at me. “Are you hoping she’ll move in with you?”
“We’re going to be a family,” I said matter of factly.
“Does she know that?” Sinclair asked.
I shrugged. “I haven’t talked to her in a while. I want to get my house in order, physically and financially. Plus, the last time I saw her she was pissed at me. I’m hoping that the fact that she defended me to you means she’s not still mad.”
Sinclair arched a brow. “What did you do?”
“Nothing. She saw a reporter’s card on my dresser and assumed I was eager to move on to a new woman. Which I’m not.”