Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
The grandmother narrowed her eyes. “You don’t know us!”
“I know enough,” I snapped. “I know that you have no morals. I know that if you truly cared, you would’ve been there from the beginning, and maybe if you’d been nice on how you went about it, Gunner wouldn’t be fighting you back tooth and nail. I know that there wouldn’t be lawyers involved because Gunner is a nice man. He knows that this would be hard for normal people. However, the fact that he’s having to fight this in court means to me that he’s tried doing this the nice way, and you wouldn’t let him. Therefore, he’s having to get a lawyer to fight for custody of his child. Meanwhile, that child is so damn happy. She loves him like the air she breathes. You are truly missing out.”
The woman fisted her hands, and somehow I just knew that she was going to hit me.
And she did.
She reached out and raised her hand, swung, and connected with my face.
I let it happen because that would look good in court.
A grandmother fighting for custody of her grandchild, raising a hand to that child’s future stepmom? Yeah, because moving her in with them would make her “safer.”
“I know that you better get her the fuck away from here, right now, or I might very well retaliate against you, Luciano,” Gunner growled, pulling me back into the protective curve of his arms.
Both of his hands went to my hips, and he pulled me in tight enough that I could feel him from shoulder blade to knee.
His hand went to my face, and his cool fingers pressed against my heated cheek.
“Paula,” Luciano hissed at his wife. “What has gotten into you?”
“Them!” she snarled. “They have! I can’t believe this. Just when we have her where…”
She trailed off and zipped her lips, but she’d said enough.
I knew what she was going to say.
Just when they had Lottie where they wanted her—on the fast track to their “loving” arms—I’d thrown a wrench into their plan.
Good.
Fuckers.
I hoped that they stepped on a Lego when they got home.
Luciano dragged Paula away, and Gunner waited until they were in their car again—with the shocked looking man who’d delivered the paperwork earlier—before he turned my face toward his so he could survey it.
“Fucking bitch,” he murmured softly as he lightly swept his fingers over my cheek.
It stung, but in the end, I thought it was worth it.
“Quick, take a picture,” I urged as I pulled away from him.
Or tried to.
He held on to me with his one arm around my waist and held me there until he was done inspecting my face.
He let me go reluctantly and then reached into his pocket for his phone.
He snapped a picture before he hit a number on his phone and speed dialed a man named Malone.
Except, the person who answered definitely wasn’t a man.
“Gunner, I’m already on top of it,” she said quickly. “I have everyone working double time to get us ready for tomorrow. Do you—”
Gunner cut her off, telling her exactly what happened.
“Are you telling me you’re going to have to move some random woman into your house to sell this?” Malone sounded amused.
“She’s not a random woman, and she was already moving into my house anyway,” he said. “Sutton is a friend from high school. She needed a place to stay, and her parents offered free babysitting. I could hardly say no.”
The way he winked at me had my stomach somersaulting.
“Okay, good,” she said. “Because I would highly recommend y’all actually moving in together. Those creeps follow you around twenty-four-seven. And at this point, I think that we need to address that in court, too.”
“She’s movin’ in,” he confirmed. “Do you want me to send you the photo of her cheek?”
“Oh, yes.” Malone actually sounded excited. “I most definitely want you to send it to me. This is going to be gold tomorrow.”
After a few more minutes, Malone hung up with a promise to meet him at the courthouse tomorrow morning.
I waited, shifting from foot to foot, as reality set in, and I realized that I’d insinuated myself into Gunner’s life when he hadn’t asked for me to.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted the moment that the phone call ended. “I just saw red, and I started talking before my mouth could control itself.”
His eyes twinkled.
“You’re not really pregnant, are you?”
I snorted. “No. I have one last Olympics in two years. I can’t afford to be pregnant. Hence the birth control in my uterus.”
“Then I’m not worried about what you said,” he offered. “Honestly, it actually kind of helps.”
My shoulders slumped. “Let’s go have some Mexican food.”
He offered me his arm, and together we walked inside.
And we enjoyed the hell out of some Mexican food.
Fourteen
Don’t ever let a recipe tell you how many chocolate chips to put in. You measure that shit with your heart.