Beautiful Broken Promises(83)

“Why are you here?” I finally asked Adam.

“For you,” he replied. “And Braden, of course,” he quickly added, as if it were a hard thing to remember.

“You’re about five years too late for me. I want to say you’re too late for Braden as well…”

“Let me take you out, please,” he asked softly. “I miss you so much.”

“Are you insane? No!” I replied with clear agitation.

“He’s my son, Raegan. I have rights and I’ll find a way to establish them.”

My molars scraped together as I considered his words. “You’ve never wanted anything to do with him. Why are you even here?”

“I told you, I miss you. You’ve been gone for years. How would I have ever been able to rectify our situation?”

My hands flew up in the air. “Gone?! We weren’t simply gone, you… dumbass! We were kidnapped!”

“And now you’re back, so why can’t I at least get a shot at making things right again? You’re clearly okay,” he stated in a frustratingly casual tone.

“Clearly…” I grumbled sarcastically. “How did you even find us here?”

“Those bastard cops questioned me. I overheard that you were in Texas with a guy named Lane Parker. He wasn’t hard to track down. Seems he doesn’t take your safety into consideration.” His voice was annoying me and I could feel the beginning of frustrated tears, so I pulled in a deep breath and made myself calm down.

“You’ll never have me in any way, shape, or form. And I’ll let you know right now I’ll fight for Braden. I don’t care if this battle takes years in court, I’ll fight for him.”

“And I’ll fight harder, sweetheart. I know you can’t afford the legal fees, so unless you’re gonna get your juiced-up boyfriend to go into bankruptcy for you, I suggest you and I discuss a few things.”

Damn him, he was right. I would never be able to gather enough income in time to even come close to paying a lawyer, let alone a good one. I couldn’t burden Lane with that either. He didn’t sign on for all the baggage I was now toting around.

“Face it, babe, he’s my son. He shares my DNA and don’t think I won’t play the distraught father who has missed his son for four long, agonizing years in court.”

“You’re a bastard,” I seethed.

“All I’m asking is for you to come out with me and discuss this. I’m not asking to take my son home with me.”

“You’ll never be alone with him,” I quickly bit out.

“We’ll see. You either come to dinner or I call up my lawyer tonight.” He tucked his hands into his pocket, waiting for me to respond and looking as if we were discussing whether or not I wanted chocolate or vanilla ice cream. Not something as serious as my son’s life.

“We discuss Braden and nothing else.” My words were tight, and I hated that he was making me feel helpless.

“Tonight?” he asked. I shook my head and he quickly asked, “Tomorrow night?” I just couldn’t. It was too soon.

“I need a week. Next Friday?”

“A week!?” he almost shrieked. “I gotta get back…”

“You don’t sound like a guy that wants to be in his son’s life,” I growled at him.

“Fine!” he half-shouted, sounding exasperated and utterly frustrated. “I’ll be here Friday. Seven sharp. Be outside, I don't want to have to deal with your guard dog.” His chin lifted toward the window and I really hoped Lane hadn’t heard that. He started to walk down the path toward the driveway and I turned to face the door.

“Raegan,” I heard him call out, his voice softer than before. I looked over my shoulder at him with my hand on the knob. “You look amazing.”

I sneered at the bastard and walked back to the man who was good for me. Good for Braden. All Adam was going to do was rock our peaceful boat, although right about now I felt like he was about to completely capsize it. Why couldn't we just be happy for once? Lane’s arms were open wide when I stepped back inside, and I crashed into his warm embrace, burying my nose into the clean scent of his shirt.

“I need a drink,” I mumbled into his chest.

“You’re still my girl, right?” he asked into my hair. I could tell he had tried to hide his vulnerability, but it was laced in every word he spoke. I reached up and ran my fingers up the sides of his face and roughly into his hair. He closed his eyes on contact.