Page 21 of Tangled in Temptation

I nodded, urging him to share whatever he felt comfortable revealing.

“So I met Paisley almost right away,” he said. “She was such a sweet little girl. I wasn’t interested in a ready-made family, but Regina was always bringing Paisley along with us. I didn’t mind. She was fun. I loved taking her to Disneyworld and the zoo and everywhere else.”

I nodded, listening quietly as he spoke.

“My marriage to Regina had red flags from the start,” Timothy admitted, his voice tinged with bitterness. “But then there was Paisley. I’ve always wanted kids, and suddenly, I had a girlfriend with a daughter who loved me. I loved her too. I doted on her. I wanted to adopt her, but Regina always had one excuse after another about why I shouldn’t. I did try. I got my lawyer on it, but she shut it down again.”

“That had to have been hard,” I said.

“Regina didn’t want any children of our own, but it didn’t matter because we had Paisley. I was content with that. Until Regina started cheating. Over and over again. It wasn’t just one affair.”

“How soon after you were married did she start cheating?” I asked.

He took a deep breath. “I imagine it was happening throughout our very short engagement and right through the marriage.”

“Ouch,” I said.

“The fights started after a few years of marriage,” he continued, his voice weary. “Loud, angry fights that would wake Paisley up at night. I was the one who comforted her, reassured her that everything was fine. Not Regina. Usually, Regina would storm out of the apartment and not come back until morning or sometimes a couple of days later.”

“That’s awful.”

“When I finally couldn’t take it anymore, I filed for divorce,” he said. “I never even considered she’d take Paisley. In my heart, that was my daughter. Regina took her, rubbing it in my face and holding it over my head. She knew it would hurt me. That’s the only reason she did it.”

“That’s so spiteful,” I said. “Paisley told me she was very close to you.”

“This was the first time she’s allowed Paisley to come stay with me for a long period of time,” he admitted, a hint of desperation in his voice. “It’s because things aren’t going well with her current husband. He doesn’t like Paisley being around, and Regina likes her freedom. Paisley’s always been a tool for Regina to use, and she’s old enough now to understand that. I don’t know what to do. Paisley is furious with me because I can’t fix this. She thinks I’m not fighting hard enough. She’s threatened to run away if Regina tries to take her back.”

“Ah, now I understand the emergency.”

He was a man torn between his desire to protect a girl he loved as his own and a woman that seemed hellbent on wounding him.

I placed a comforting hand on his. I didn’t know how else to take away his pain. “You are in a horrible position,” I said. “I just don’t know how to make it better for you.”

He nodded with the weariness of an old man that has seen too much. “I just want what’s best for Paisley. I want her to be happy, to have a chance at a normal life. But I feel like my hands are tied. Do you want to know how serious I am about this?”

“What do you mean?”

He rubbed his jaw. “I probably shouldn’t even say the words out loud. I don’t want you to be an accomplice.”

My eyes widened. “Please don’t tell me you are considering hiring a hitman.”

He chuckled. “No, but that’s not a bad idea. Although Paisley would probably go to her stepdad. That’s the worst possible outcome. Murder was not on my mind. I was thinking about, well, leaving. With Paisley.”

“Ah.” I nodded. “I understand. That’s certainly drastic. I don’t blame you for considering the idea. You have the money to do it, but I’m not sure you will look good in prison orange if you get caught.”

“The trick is not to get caught.” He grinned.

I sighed and patted his leg. “We’ll figure this out, Timothy. For Paisley. We’ll find a way to untangle this mess and give her the chance she deserves.”

As we sat on the bench in silence, I tried to put all the pieces I knew about Timothy into the man sitting beside me. There was the hot, passionate side of him. The broody one. And the cold one that I really didn’t like.

“She takes after you, you know,” I said.

“What do you mean? She’s not mine. We don’t share any DNA.”

“You’re the only dad she’s ever known, and she acts like you. All moody and dramatic. Nature or nurture. I think you make a strong case for nurture in this case.”

He chuckled. “I’m not dramatic.”