“Our relationship with Hayley was tense at the best of times,” Mary said quietly. “She wouldn’t agree to us seeing Jayla.”
I frowned, hitting the graying woman with a dark glare. “You threw her away when she needed you the most. I don’t blame her for being apprehensive.”
Mary sighed dramatically. “We panicked. I’ll admit that. We wish we could have done things differently, but the past is the past.”
Matthew cut in before I could respond. Probably for the best because this woman deserved a piece of my fucking mind.
“What is the main purpose of this meeting?” Matthew asked, intertwining his fingers and laying them on the top of the table casually.
“They would like to get to know their granddaughter,” Amy responded, mirroring Matthew’s pose. “If custody sways in our favor, Jayla needs to know and feel comfortable with the people who will be taking her home.”
Suddenly Jayla sat up straighter and instantly began squirming in an attempt to escape my arms. I released her and she dived into Rose’s lap, wrapping her arms around her neck so tightly I was surprised Rose could still breathe. Rose closed her eyes, burying her face in Jayla’s dark black hair and holding her securely to her chest.
Chelsea leaned in, rubbing her hand up and down Jay’s back and whispering in her ear. The fire inside me was fueled and I gripped the edge of the table in my hands as I struggled to control my anger. “Why the hell does she need to be here for this?”
Matthew coughed. “Jayla has built a family here. She loves and trusts these people who took her in, even though they had no obligation to. Blizzard and Rose have a home, she has everything she could possibly need and more. Why does that not satisfy you?”
“We’ve done our research on the club,” Amy countered before looking to Rose and I. “And on her potential guardians—”
Laughter burst from my lips and I shook my head.
Amy’s eyes narrowed on me. “It was Hayley’s affiliation with the club that led to her death.”
Matthew chuckled lightly. “That’s a wild accusation you’re making Miss Shaw.”
“A wild accusation written in police statements.”
A loud bang on the table drew all our attention to Allen who seemed to be breathing heavily. “You were responsible for her death!” he accused, pointing his finger across the table.
I snapped. “Rose, take Jayla outside.”
She didn’t waste one second, pushing back on her chair with Jayla clutching to her body like a monkey. Chelsea rushed to follow her out, one hand on Rose’s back and the other rubbing her growing belly.
Optimus took the opportunity to move closer, his eyes focused on me, sending me a silent message.
Keep my shit together.
Don’t give them anything they can use.
“You can’t take her!” Mary protested, standing to her feet while Amy pulled desperately at her arm. “We came here to meet her.”
“Listen here,” I snapped. “As far as I’m concerned, Jay is mine. And I’m going to protect her from anything and everything that could hurt her. Including this bullshit. I’m not going to sit here and let you talk that way around her. She’s fucking four years old and smarter than you assholes give her credit for.”
“Mister Stanford…” Amy began.
“No, she doesn’t need this crap. She doesn’t need to be torn away once again from the only people who give a shit about her. She lost her mom. She was devastated. She’s only just started to open up again, to be herself, to be happy. Now you want to rip that away from her all over again!” I tried to breathe, my face was burning, it was hot, and my muscles were clenched so hard that they were beginning to ache.
“Brother…” Op warned quietly, “… fucking breathe.”
I inhaled deeply through my nose.
Everything I’d said was true. Thinking of how scared and quiet that little girl used to be. How long it had taken for her to trust me, and Rose, and the entire club. We still weren’t sure what kind of life she’d had with Hayley. The doctors that we’d spoken to had said there was likely some kind of trauma that had happened, and that was why her speech wasn’t as developed as it should have been for a child her age. But we still had no idea what kind of trauma it was.
Amy watched me curiously as I attempted to calm my body and my emotions.
“My clients want to be involved in that little girl’s life,” she said finally, but even I could hear question in her voice. Her poker face was slipping, and I could tell that unlike Matthew—who was a cold hard Lawyer who could disguise his emotions toward a case well—she couldn’t hide hers.
“Supervised visits are a good way to do just that, without disrupting Jayla’s life too much,” Matthew offered.