“I like your version of romance too,” I whispered.
He cupped my face. “Not romance. Truth.”
And as he held my hand to go meet our family for dinner, a familiar face peering in the windows evaporated my joy in an instant.
The sneer sent a shudder through me along with a bolt of fear.
Because my father wasn’t alone. Standing next to him was our worst nightmare come to life.
My mother was out of prison.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Lincoln
“You’re trembling.”
Lexie had barely spoken two words through dinner. She’d been silent on the ride home, as had Beau. Eric tried to make conversation, but he seemed to sense his sister’s mood.
We’d taken the dogs for a walk. Beau had slammed her door when we arrived home. Eric had passed out as soon as his head hit the sofa. And Lexie had yet to speak as she changed clothes and crawled into bed.
I pulled her against my side, hating the way she shook. Hating her silence.
“Talk to me. Please.” I was begging, but that was what desperate men did.
“My-my father was at Grey Paws.”
I sat up. “Why are you just mentioning this? We could’ve called the authorities.”
“Looking in a window isn’t a crime,” she said.
“Stalking is.” I shook her shoulders. “Lexie, we have to use anything we can against this man. Don’t you want him back in prison?”
“Yes,” she cried. “More than you could possibly imagine.”
“You aren’t on your own any longer. We have to tackle this as a team.”
She looked at me as if she didn’t comprehend the words. “I just want them to go away.”
“Them?” Now I was the one who didn’t understand.
Her eyes were so troubled when she looked at me, a frisson of fear went through me. “My mother was with him.”
Both of them? What was it they wanted from her? If it was to make amends, her father had an odd way of showing it.
“Don’t they have to notify you when she’s out?”
She winced. “Ever since he started calling all the time, I don’t answer unless I know who it is.” Her cheeks colored. “I haven’t listened to the messages either. Because I’m a coward,” she whispered.
“You. Are. Not. A. Coward.”
Fury lit through my veins. These people had taken my confident girl and terrified her. I threw the covers off.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling Zegas.” I swiped my phone off the dresser.
She scrambled up and tugged on my arm. “What is he going to do?”
“Hopefully put them both where they belong. Out of your life for good.”
“You can’t just make up charges to send them back to jail,” she said, clinging to my wrist.
“They did it to me.”
She dropped her hold and folded her arms over her stomach. I was cold without her touch.
“Why?” She stumbled back as if being near me was too much.
“I’m wondering the same thing about your parents. Why won’t they leave you alone?” I squeezed my phone. “What do they want from you?”
She sat on the edge of the bed. “Money.”
You don’t have much. I regretted the thought as soon as it popped into my mind. Lexie had worked hard for everything they had. She was growing her business and had things that no amount of money in the world could buy.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I receive money for Eric’s care from the state every month. They want custody of him again so it can be theirs.”
I leaned against the dresser and looked up at the ceiling. Greed. It was the root of everything ugly in this world. So much so that it could drive parents to only have interest in their children for what they could get from them.
“They have no rights to him any longer,” I said through my teeth.
“If I screw up, there’s a possibility.”
“Screw up as in an assault that lands you behind bars.” All of her father’s actions made so much more sense now. Not in the logical path, but I understood his motivations. And that could be the very thing that would put him back where he belongs.
I called Daniel. He’d be better to handle this than Zegas, though Zegas needed to know her parents were stalking her.
“Calling to wish me goodnight?” he answered dryly.
“Her mother is out. I have an idea.”
“I’ll be over immediately.” He hung up.
I threw on a T-shirt.
Lexie was right behind me. “What are you going to do?”
“Keep them from ever hurting you or Eric again.” I changed into a pair of jeans and slipped on loafers.
“Don’t do something stupid,” she pleaded. “They’re not worth you getting into trouble”
“I won’t be doing the foolish thing. Hopefully they will.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lexie
Lincoln had been gone for two hours.
I’d watched every second tick by on the bedroom clock. He and Daniel had agreed it would be best if I were as far removed from their discussion as possible. They didn’t want any connection back to me.
I agreed, but I didn’t bother to point out that I was already connected to both of them.
If I hadn’t been such a coward, I might have known about my mother’s release from prison. Gathering my courage, I listened to the messages I’d been avoiding.
Six were inquiries from potential new customers. Six.
Some of them were from several days ago.
I hung my head. If I’d contacted someone about their products and it took days to get a call back, I probably wouldn’t be too keen to buy anything from them.
But it was too late to return calls at this hour.
I grabbed my notebook where I kept client info and jotted down the names and numbers and what they were interested in if they mentioned anything. That action alone helped me to feel like I was taking back some control of my life.
I’d listened to the messages from callers with actual numbers shown first. It was the unknowns that had my nerves ramping up again.
I held my breath as I hit play on the first one.
A car warranty solicitation.
I exhaled. That was annoying, but not so bad.
The next message I played was just dead air. I’d take that too.
You can do this, Lexie.
My finger hovered over the play button. There were too many more messages to count. But I had to keep pushing.
Another potential customer.
My confidence grew with every message that wasn’t related to my parents.
By number five, I’d stopped holding my breath.
“Baby doll, we can work this out. You know what to do.”
I dropped the phone onto the bed like it had scalded me. No, I didn’t know what to do.
I was tempted to delete the message but didn’t in case I could use it to build a case against them.
I hit play on the next one.
“Stop avoiding your daddy, baby doll. You ain’t too old for that closet.”
I put a hand to my throat. It had happened so long ago, but the memories were as fresh as if it had only been minutes.