“My friend’s on the case,” I told her, then pulled my hand away to draw out my phone. Sure enough there were a few missed calls from Soph and Carmen. “We’ll find a way, somehow.”
Everyone returnedto the dining table and Barb brought out the most decadent of desserts, Jasper groaning as Evie eyed them with delight. He tried to lecture on the health risks of all that processed sugar, but, in this, she was her mother’s daughter. Damon grabbed a big bowl and piled it high with sweets, grinning at his brother before setting it before Evie. She declared that he was her favourite dad right there and then. As everyone devoured the treats, I moved away from the table and made a call.
“Hey,” Soph said, “how’s the rural splendour going? Do beta mums get to sneak away and enjoy alpha dick as well or is that shit strictly frowned upon.”
I burst out laughing at that and then gave her a quick rundown of the details she absolutely needed to know and no more.
“Soo… you finally succumbed to their brutish alpha ways.” She paused then, letting out a sigh. “I’m glad, Lils, seriously. It always felt like something broke when Ben left and nothing you did seemed to fix it. I’m bloody happy you’ve found what you need. And if any of them try any of that highhanded shit, you talk to me. I know some damn good divorce lawyers…”
My fingers trailed over the marks that had been left on my neck and I smiled.
“But about this Dick Morrison.” It felt like someone slid an ice cube down my spine, making me shiver. “Leo has made it clear that we need to try mediation first and the dickhead’s lawyer has agreed. I think he promised Dick the world and then got a rude shock that he wasn’t dealing with some hick magistrate that lives in the local alpha’s pocket. I’ll set up a meeting with you and your pack whenever you’re ready, but…”
She was Sophie Forrest, lawyer, right now, not my friend.
“This is going to be a fight based on character. Whether you’re a good mother and can provide the best home environment for Evie or her grandfather can. The alpha designation isn’t going to work well in our favour, nor will Ev’s school reports, so…” I could just about see her pursing her lips right now. “Do some digging and see what you can find out about Richard, because the more dirt we can find, the better.”
I stoodin the doorway of one of the cabin bedrooms and stared at Evie as she slept, only just being able to make out her curled up form in the gloom.
“She got off to sleep?” Ben asked, coming to stand beside me, his hand on my shoulder. “I remember the bullshit I used to put Mum through trying to avoid going to bed, but damn…”
“She has a blackbelt in delaying things she doesn’t want to do,” I said. I shook my head and then looked up at him. “I spoke to Sophie.”
His smile slowly faded. Somehow he knew that it hadn’t been a happy call.
“What did she have to say?” he asked carefully.
“We’re going to get your father to go through mediation.”
“Talking shit out?” He snorted then but it wasn’t an amused sound. “Richard Morrison doesn’t talk, he tells.”
“Yeah, well, I need more of that kind of stuff.” He looked at me with a slight frown. “The negatives.” I let out a long breath, seeing confusion in his eyes, as well as fear. What I was about to ask, it was more than anyone should, really, but if we were to be the pack he wanted… “Sophie says that this stuff comes down to judgements about character, about situation, about who would be best suited to care for Evie.”
He shook his head slowly. “And you need dirt on Dad to make clear it shouldn’t be him.”
I expected a fight, a plain refusal, but what I got was my mate drawing me into his arms and holding me close. I found myself starting to relax as his hand stroked through my hair, part of me wanting to just give up and give in to the rush of warm comfort that came from being snuggled into Ben.
But I couldn’t.
Like it or not, Ben’s dad wanted to break up everything we were trying to build and we have to fight to stop him.
“It’ll work out in the end,” he said. “Don’t worry.”
Chapter 55
Don’t worry.
When had that phrase ever worked? If someone was worried about something, they felt like they did so with good reason and that was certainly where I was at. I worried about what was going to happen to us as we packed up all our stuff and again as we drove back to the city. Basically, I spent my whole time worrying, broken only by moments when I was either looking after my daughter or sitting with my mates. But even then the worries would come back, only twice as intense, because when I was with them I was reminded of just what I could potentially lose.
Like right now.
“So, you had an incident at Evie’s school?” Riley Taylor asked.
We had an appointment back at Crowe Corp waiting for us when we returned. Carmen had gone some way towards smoothing things over with the principal, but getting an ‘evaluation’ by the team was part of the deal before Evie returned to school. Candy had taken Ev off again and all of us were sitting around a table in a conference room with Riley’s pack.
“She was just defending herself,” Damon grumbled.
“Yeah, but betas don’t like alpha ways of dealing with problems, much,” Colt drawled.