The Purest Hook (Second Circle Tattoos #3)(53)

Amanda opened the door. Dark circles ringed her eyes, but she was well dressed and was wearing too much makeup, seemingly nonplussed about the distressed cries.

“Come in,” she said cheerily.

Dred buried his frustration. How could she stand there, all smiles of welcome, when she’d deliberately hidden Petal from him? But his lawyer had warned him the best strategy was to play nice and keep communication channels open.

“Here,” Dred said, offering her the things he’d bought. A distinguished-looking man was sitting on the sofa. Silver-haired and wearing a sharp gray suit.

Amanda pulled the items out of the bag and placed them on the table. Diapers and wipes which, holy shit, cost a f*cking fortune. And some gifts for Petal, a couple of cute outfits, some toys, and some books the woman in the bookstore had said were perfect for babies. “Thanks.”

“Where is Petal? Can I get her?” She needed to be held. Lennon would have a f*cking fit if he knew a screaming baby was being ignored.

“Theo, I want to introduce you to my lawyer, Bernie Kates.”

“Well, I didn’t come here to meet your lawyer. I want to get my daughter. And call me Dred.”

“I can ask you to leave at any time, Theo. And I have a witness. So please. Sit with us first.”

Dred looked in the direction of the screaming, torn between what was right in that moment, and right in the long term. He made a mental apology to Petal. “Can you at least go to her for a moment? Soothe her at least?”

“Not until we’ve talked.”

Dred remembered his lawyer’s counsel to keep his anger out of it. “This feels like an ambush. Should I call my lawyer?”

“Now, now, Mr. Zander. This is a simple conversation. Nothing legally binding about a chat.”

“What do you want?” The cries were getting louder, his own levels of distress escalating in direct proportion to the wails. He knew the hard reality of what it meant to a baby to be left alone, screaming for attention for hours upon hours without being held. How they finally realized nobody was ever going to come for them, to love them, to hold them, to be there for them. How they stopped crying for attention that never came, and withdrew into themselves.

“I want to talk about access between now and the final decision about custody. If you are willing to pay to see her between now and the custody hearing, I won’t request one hundred percent custody.”

What the . . . ? “What do you mean?”

Bernie leaned forward. “Ms. Veitch means she is willing to offset her desire for full custody against your financial flexibility on the settlement, starting now. She wants an apartment bigger than this one-bed plus den, and expects to receive a to-be-determined monetary sum payable to Amanda Veitch at the start of every visit.”

“This isn’t a chat,” Dred said starting to pace. “I was right, it’s an unprofessional ambush. I’ll have the two of you reported.”

Petal’s shrill cries were cutting through his skin like a whip. He couldn’t take much more.

“You’ll have us reported for what? As far as Ms. Veitch and I are concerned, this conversation never happened, and you came to the condo aggressively with attempts to intimidate Ms. Veitch. If I hadn’t been here to intervene, who knows how you might have responded.”

“Blackmail?” he spat.

“Persuasion,” Amanda said.

Fuck this. He was going to walk out without seeing Petal. He wanted to be able to swear on a lie detector test that he hadn’t done anything aggressive in his attempts to see her.

But then the unthinkable happened.

Petal stopped crying.

Dred raced through the condo, pushing open doors until he found Petal in a bassinet in an empty den. He swept her up and pulled her close. Her heart pounded furiously against him as she sniffled into his shoulder.

“I’ve got you, baby girl. I’m here. I’m always going to be here. Nobody is going to stop me again.”

“Mr. Zander. I suggest you hand the baby back to the mother. You can check out the Government of Canada’s Department of Justice page on child custody, but I can assure you, when a court order is required to determine custody, it goes exclusively to the mother in eighty percent of the cases. I strongly suggest you accept the current compromise Ms. Veitch is offering.”

Dred felt like he’d been wrapped in barbed wire, but he knew he wouldn’t win this round today. If he walked out of the condo with Petal like he wanted to, they’d testify together that he’d been violent, or worse, had abducted Petal.

He stroked her back, soothing her for as long as he could, periodically kissing her smooth forehead. She’d fallen asleep on him, and despite the shitty situation, it made his heart soar that he could make her feel safe enough to sleep.

“I’ll be back for you baby girl, I promise,” he whispered as he laid her back in the bassinet.

*

Miami had done the unthinkable and dropped cold. The rapid descent from higher-than-average late April temperatures to lower than average caught everyone off guard. It might be overkill, but Pixie was toasty warm in the coat Dred had bought for her. Actually, she was a little too warm, but better than being Lia who was shivering in her light jacket and scarf.

She pulled out her phone and took a selfie for Dred. She attached it to a text message.

Spring in Miami. Come keep me warm?