Fight to the Finish (First to Fight #3)(61)
“You military guys . . . you make decent money. Good benefits and shit. It would help to see a good faith offering of how you’ll be able to care for my boy.” He blinked slowly, as if holding back the manufactured tears.
Oh, you unbelievable, disgusting *. Graham pulled deep and used a few yoga breaths. It calmed his system, and reminded him why he was doing it the right way in the first place.
Kara. Zach.
“Let me be clear.” He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the porch railing, face-to-face with the jackass. “I’m not her lawyer. But I am a lawyer. Know what that means? I have connections, and knowledge on my side. And what I have is money.”
There was a gleam there now, Graham noted. He’d said the M word, and Henry scented a payout like a shark scenting blood on the surface.
“What I also have is patience. It took me a long time to find Kara, and I couldn’t be more happy she comes with a son I can love, too. That means I’m doing this the right way. I can afford to drag your ass to court so often, your employers might start wondering why you’re gone all the time. They might check in on your court appearances. That’s public record, did you know that? When they see all the things Kara will be putting in that court case—the honest, truthful, proven things, with such delightful phrases as ‘deadbeat’ and ‘irresponsible’ and ‘negligent’—they might start asking questions. You might lose your job. You do have a job, don’t you, Henry?”
He clenched his jaw, but said nothing.
“After a while, your friends might wonder why you aren’t working anymore. Family, too. That mom and dad you want to keep disillusioned about why they never see their grandkid . . . they might see the court papers, too. All those things—totally true things—Kara can drag in front of a judge to prove you’re not just an unfit parent, but true human scum. You want people to know all about that?”
“Fuck you,” Henry hissed.
But Graham was just getting started. “I know why you’ve gotten away with this shit up to now. You’ve been dealing with a single mom with limited resources, who has a kid with high-cost medical needs. A mom who has to debate between using up precious resources fighting against her kid’s father, or living in terror daily he’ll flip the switch and demand time again with his kid, when he’s not capable of caring for a goldfish.”
Henry said nothing.
“That’s changing. See, the thing is, I’m just a single guy right now. I can live pretty simply. Not into cars, or guns, or expensive hobbies. Know what happens when you make money and don’t spend it? It sort of piles up. So I’ve got this interesting pile of cash, and no clue what to do with it right now. I might rename that fund Henry. I’ll rename it the Kick Henry’s Ass Fund. And its sole purpose will be to drag you to court so often, and so regularly, that you are smothered with court fees and law office bills.” He paused for a moment. “How long do you think you can hold that up, Henry? One month? Two? A year? The law taught me patience. The Corps taught me perseverance. And my parents taught me not to be a disgusting human being. You’re toast. It’s just a matter of how soon you admit it to yourself, so we can all move on.”
“You can’t threaten me,” Henry said, standing so he towered over Graham from the porch. “You don’t have the right.”
“Threaten?” Graham looked around theatrically. “Who said I threatened you? I was simply explaining one potential outcome of fighting back against terminating parental rights.” He pointed as he stepped back toward his car. “Zach’s going to be mine, just like Kara is, because I care about them both. If you’re smart, when Kara comes at you with the papers, you’ll sign them and move on. Because I’ll be damned if you get a penny out of me, or Kara, to make this stop.”
As he got in his car, the front door slammed shut. And Graham let his hands shake, as they’d wanted to for the last ten minutes.
He’d seen arrogance, and ego in the man’s face, then triumph. But it was what Graham saw last that told him half the battle was already won.
Fear.
Now to tell Kara what had happened, and pray she didn’t lose her shit on him.
CHAPTER
18
It had been a struggle to make the choice to get a babysitter for Zach at the last minute. Especially when she’d spent way more time than she’d anticipated talking to Tasha, and had to brace herself for the inevitable battle that would come along with taking a stand—finally—against Henry and his reign of parental terror. But for tonight, and tonight only, she was going to be frivolous and do it.
Zach had, of course, begged to come along. Knowing she got to see Graham one last time before he left, and Zach didn’t, burned her son’s biscuits. But when she had explained they still had adult things to work out, he’d seen reason and worked on his homework so he could watch an extra movie with the sitter.
Some battles weren’t worth fighting in a ten-year-old’s mind.
She pulled into Graham’s driveway and soothed her nerves along with her skirt front. The dress had a full skirt that wrapped around her legs when she walked, and a tight bodice that she’d worn a sweater over when leaving the apartment . . . because it was almost indecent without one.
Perfect for what she wanted to accomplish now. She’d ditched the sweater the minute she’d pulled out of her apartment’s parking lot.