I don’t think I’ll see him until we are in court, and then one day when I run back to the SUV to get something, he is waiting beside it for me. I stop in my tracks, and Matthew pulls up at the same time, getting out of his car without turning it off.
“Relax,” Andrew says, holding his hands up. “I’m not here for anything.”
“Then you better get the fuck away from my brother,” Matthew says to him, and he smirks.
“What do you want, Andrew?” I ask him, standing here with my arms across my chest.
“I’m here with a proposition,” he says, and I see he’s wearing the same clothes as on Sunday.
“You have nothing that I want,” I say, and he just laughs.
“Oh, that’s where you're wrong,” he says, waving his finger. “I have Dylan.”
“The fuck?” Matthew says from beside me, and my heart starts to speed faster.
“Ten thousand.” He says the number as if he’s selling a fucking car. “You give me ten k in cash, and I’ll sign over my rights to him.”
Oh my God. “Bullshit,” I say, trying not to smash his head into the truck.
“Get the papers ready and the cash, and I’ll sign it,” he says, shrugging.
“Tomorrow,” I say, and his eyes light up. “You show up at my attorney’s office tomorrow morning, and I’ll have your cash ready for you.”
“Twenty k,” he says fast.
“Ten,” I say it again. “Not a penny more.”
“Give me the address,” he says, and I grab the card from my SUV and hand it to him.
“I’ll be there at eight. If you aren’t there by eight thirty, the offer will never happen again.”
“Fine by me,” he says, smiling and snickering. “Kid’s been a dark cloud following me ever since he came into my life.” His hand comes up. “I’ll be there at eight.”
He turns around and walks away, and I finally let out the breath I was holding and put my hands on my knees. “Did he just sell his fucking kid for ten thousand dollars?”
“I would have given him everything I have,” I say, watching him disappear.
“You going to tell her about this?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“Not until he signs the papers,” I say, and he just looks at me. “Nothing until he signs.”
I don’t mention it again, and that night when I get to tuck Dylan in and tell him I love him and he hugs me back, I put my hand on the medallion hanging around my neck.
The next morning, I make a stupid excuse about hitting the gym with Matthew, and I can see right away that Caroline doesn’t believe me. But I kiss her and walk out to Matthew, who picks me up, except he’s picking me up in an SUV instead of his car, and when I get in, I look in the back seat and see that all the men are there. “You didn’t think you’d do this alone?” my father asks, and I don’t say anything.
We get to my lawyer’s office at ten minutes to eight, and every single minute that passes feels like an eternity. My father and Matthew sit beside the lawyer at the head of the table in the conference room. Evan, Viktor, Max, and Markos are sitting two by two in front of each other.
When it finally gets to eight, I start pacing back and forth, and at eight ten, he saunters into the office. “I fucking hate that fuck,” Max says.
“You got the money?” he asks, and Matthew just shakes his head.
“Not until you sign this.” I put the paper forward, and my lawyer speaks up.
“This is you signing away your parental rights,” he says. “You at no time can contact Dylan Woods.”
“Don’t want to see his face either,” he says as he signs on the dotted line, and I think my father is going to jump over the table.
“Are you sure you understand what I just said?” my lawyer asks, making sure that he gets all this on camera.
“Yeah,” Andrew says. “The fucking kid isn’t mine; he’s his problem now.” He motions to me with his head. “Now where is my cash?”
My lawyer hands him the envelope that I gave him when I came in, and Andrew opens it to see the bills. “Should have held out,” he says, turning around.
When he is finally out of the room, Evan stands up. “I think I’m literally going to be sick.” He puts his hand on his stomach.
“The guy just signed away a kid,” Markos says.
“He’s sick,” Viktor says, and we all look at him. “Relax, I don’t like him. I’m just saying that he’s a sick man.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you say.” Matthew looks at Viktor. “You’re in recovery. Would you sell baby Zara?”
“I would die before I gave her up,” he says without skipping a beat.
“The question now is when are you going to tell Caroline?” my father asks me.
“Tonight,” I say, and when the lawyer gives me a copy of the papers and I walk out of his office, I get sick right next to the car.
Chapter Forty
Caroline
“Caroline, can you please make sure that all emails have been verified?” Malika smiles at me.
I smile back at her. “I just did.” I give her the ones that have to be changed.
“It’s so good to finally have some real help here,” she says, turning and walking back to her own office. When I first started here, I thought I would just be answering the phone, but Justin stuck me in a office, and Malika came in with a coffee in one hand for her and another one for me, and she went through everything that we did. I was in awe with everything that Justin’s foundation does. I was also in shock when they told me that my salary was close to seventy-five thousand dollars.
“I’m just happy I haven’t messed things up too badly.” I smile when I hear voices, and look out of my office window, wondering if Justin is in. He was acting really weird the whole day yesterday, and this morning, he nearly ran out of the door.
When he went to bed last night, it was as if he wasn’t there. Even when we got lost in each other, something was missing. I tried to tell myself that he was tired. I tried to tell myself that it was nothing and all in my head, but this morning, he barely made eye contact with me, and my stomach dropped when he left without so much as a backward glance. In fact, he couldn’t run out fast enough.
“Hey.” I hear, and I am taken out of my daydream, and I smile when I see it’s him. “You almost done?”
“Yes,” I say. “I’m done.”
“Okay, I’ll be done in about fifteen,” he says, and then he looks at me and just fake smiles and my heart sinks.
I wait for him and Dylan to come and get me, and when he drives home, all I can do is look out the window. Dinner is quiet also, and he passes on going to the pool. I know it’s the end. When Dylan and I come back from the pool, he’s sitting outside, looking at the view. “We’re back.”
“Oh, yeah,” he says, and Dylan comes out, and he grabs him and brings him close to him and buries his face in his neck. “I love you,” he tells him, and then he puts him on his lap, facing out, and holds him as they watch the sun go down. I try not to sob. I try not to show my pain; after all, I’m good at hiding things. It’s only when I step under the shower do I allow the tears to fall.