Rushing the Goal (Assassins #8)(151)

Angie sat up and Lucy smiled as she leaned on the table, her little feet kicking. “Benji’s the best,” she said and the judge smiled. “He plays hockey with me, and he teaches me how to do different things. He leaves a lot ’cause he’s a pro hockey player, like, the best in the league. He had two Stanley Cup rings, and they are so huge! They don’t even fit my fingers. It’s crazy, but…” She paused, her little feet still kicking happily as she leaned on her hands. “He loves me so much, tells me all the time. And he plays with me, we have dance parties, and he picks me up from school—and he’s just great. I want him to marry my mom so he can be my dad.”

Sucking in a breath, she went to say more, but the judge stopped her as Benji’s heart took flight. To be that girl’s father would be an honor.

“So you like him?”

“Oh, yes, sir! I love him! He’s amazing and so funny,” she giggled, looking up at Lucy, who beamed. Benji couldn’t stop grinning, his heart skipping a beat in his chest. When Angie glanced back at him, he winked, and she smiled so wide he could see the tooth she had lost the night before.

Man, he loved that little girl.

The judge nodded before looking back at Rick’s lawyer. Rick was fuming, his whole face red, as his lawyer fumbled with papers. “As you were saying, Mr. Holloway?”

Benji watched as he cleared his throat, holding the paper in front of him while Rick glared over at him. Benji rolled his eyes as the lawyer said, “Mr. Paxton is an alcoholic—”

“Recovering. He’s been clean twelve, going on thirteen, years, your honor,” Mark corrected and the judge nodded. “Hasn’t had any run-ins with the law. I have documentation of his stay at the Rehab Center of Chicago, documentation from his AA leader, who says he is a good man. Even letters from his boss and some of his fellow players. Everything is here if you need to see it.”

The judge motioned for him to bring it forward as he said, “Thank you. Mr. Holloway, next complaint against Mr. Paxton?”

“My client feels he is trying to steal his daughter. That he is trying to buy her off, to make her love him.”

Benji’s face twisted, matching the judge’s as he shook his head. “Proof of this?”

When the lawyer actually got up, Benji’s heart stopped as his eyes widened.

What the hell?

Lucy looked back at him, her eyes full of distress as Mark looked over at her. The lawyer said, “There was a savings account opened in her name where he makes regular deposits.”

The judge looked at the paperwork and then up at Mark. “Counselor?”

Mark looked over at Lucy and she panicked, looking back at Benji.

Leaning toward Mark, he said, “It’s for Angie, for college.”

She made a face as Mark cleared his throat. “Apparently, it’s an account that Mr. Paxton opened for Angela for when she goes to college.”

“Yeah, it’s to give me a great start when I’m older like he wished his daughter would have had,” Angie said then, everyone looking over at her. “Leary died when she was two, and Benji wants me to live all my dreams like he had wished for her. So we went to the bank, and Benji put a lot of money in it for me.”

“That’s nice, Angela. Thank you,” the judge said before looking to Mark. “But your client did not know about this?”

Mark looked to Lucy and she swallowed hard. “No, sir, I didn’t.”

Benji’s heart was knocking against his ribs as the judge looked over to Benji. “Did you open this account, Mr. Paxton?”

Benji nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Is what Angela said true?”

“Yes, sir. We opened it about three months ago.”

“How much is in there?”

“Almost seven thousand. Her mother is renting an office from me, for which we have a contract. The money she pays me in rent, I put in the account for Angie, I mean, Angela.”

The judge nodded as Lucy gawked back at him, her eyes narrowing, and he knew he had just f*cked up. He should have told her so she could have told Mark, but he had honestly forgotten about it.

“I do not see this as evidence that Mr. Paxton is trying to buy the child off—which is a downright silly thought anyway. I see no problem here, and it’s obvious Angela cares for Mr. Paxton, so unless you have something else, I’d like to move on.”

“We have nothing else.”

“Okay, well, I deny your petition for full custody. I would like to approve these changes if you agree.”

Holloway leaned to Rick, but he was already shaking his head. “I want full custody.”

The lawyer said something Benji couldn’t hear, but Rick shook his head. Looking back to the judge, Rick’s lawyer said, “Judge, we do not agree, and we would like to further seek full custody of the child.”

But the judge shook his head before looking to Angie. “Angela, how old are you? Seven?”

“Almost eight,” she said with a smile and he smiled back at her.

“Oh, a big girl, then.”

Angie beamed. “Yes, sir. I’m almost strong enough to hit the puck like Benji.”

Benji grinned as the judge nodded. “Good. So tell me, who do you want to live with?”

Her legs stopped kicking. “I live with my mommy and Benji.”