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I shrugged. “Carson, this neighborhood is safe. As safe as you can get here. It’s a gated community, we have security patrolling the area, and they’re pretty tight at the entrance.”
“Tight, my ass. They didn’t even ask to see my ID before they buzzed me in. I could have been an axe murderer for all they knew.”
An axe murderer driving a Mercedes S-Class?I thought in amusement. “They’ve probably seen you come in here a few times already, and no one has gotten murdered yet, so they figured you were alright.”
“That’s the problem,” he said. “They can’t just assume that. That’s the kind of negligence that criminals thrive on. My father would have had them fired for such a thing.”
That’s because your dad is a grade-A asshole, I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut. As much as I despised our father now, I didn’t want to get Carson involved in our disputes.
“You should move in with us,” Carson said so suddenly that I nearly dropped my bag on the way to putting it on the hook.
“What?”
He looked resolute and rolled his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “It’s the best solution to the current problem, and you know it.”
“We don’t have a problem, Carson,” I said vexedly, trying not to get frustrated.
“You do. You live in an unsafe neighborhood in a tiny house where my niece can’t have a piano. So the answer is to move into a bigger house. Like the mansion.”
“Never.” My stomach tightened, and even I could hear the steel in my voice. “I’m never moving back to that house. Never again.”
Carson’s face showed sympathy, but it warred with his frustrated self-assuredness. He didn’t know much about my relationship with his father, but he did know that we didn’t get along.
Carson typically went with whatever the mayor said and thought his father’s word was law. It wouldn’t surprise me that the mayor was the one who made the suggestion so that he could punish me some more for spilling the beans about my parentage to Carson.
“Dad is concerned about you guys, too,” Carson said, proving me right. “He wants you home, where he can keep an eye on you.”
Do you mean where he can torture me and remind me daily what a disappointment I am?
I shook my head resolutely. “I’m not going back there, Carson, and I don’t want anything from him. That’s final.”
I turned around, but Carson wasn’t leaving, and when I turned back, he seemed to be fighting something internally.
With a deep sigh, Carson then said, “I didn’t want to have to tell you this.”
“Tell me what?” I probed with a frown.
“Dad wants to fight for custody of Violet.”
Those words were like waves crashing in my ears, and my heart pounded angrily. The words didn’t make any sense at first. Didn’t make any sense at all. “What?” I demanded.
“I overheard him talking about it with the judge last week,” he said with a sigh. “He thinks you’re an unfit mother.”
“He doesn’t even fucking know me,” I exploded with a storm of emotions. “I haven’t done anything. He can’t take my daughter! Can he?”
Carson didn’t answer, but I could already tell from his face.
He could. He was the mayor. He had judges in his pockets and could do anything he wanted.
And my past gave him the possible ammo he needed.
“Look, just don’t provoke him, okay?” Carson looked at me with sympathy. “You know how he is. He just wants what’s best for her.”
“Bullshit,” I snarled, and Carson’s eyebrows flew into his hairline. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Like I was on the verge of a panic attack. But one thing was for sure. My father wasn’t doing this because he cared about my daughter. He just hated seeing me happy, hated to know that his punishment hadn’t worked. I hadn’t run crying to him. No, this was about his revenge, and I knew it. He wanted to take the last bit of happiness from me. He wanted to punish me for ruining his spotless reputation.
Oh god, I was going to pass out.
I saw Carson rushing forward, but I shook my head, bracing myself against the wall instead. No, I wasn’t going to fall apart now.
