She blanched at his words, but she held herself tall, all five feet of her ramrod straight. “I know my stepdaughter—”
He put his hand up again. “Do not talk to me aboutMallory. I asked you to leave.”
The huff of air she let out dropped her shoulders, and he knew she was going to heed his words, but the glare she threw at him rivaled his own. “I had hoped to do this the easy way but if you insist on being hostile, you’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”
Jake watched as she slowly made her way down the path toward the street. It was only then that he noticed the high-end Mercedes parked at the curb. He stood in the yard and waited until the back of her car disappeared around the corner. Taking a deep breath, he tried to focus past the flood of betrayal filling him.
Lory had lied to him. She was exactly like her sister, lying and deceiving him to get what she wanted.
She’d been in his house,played with his son, and all along she was the sister of the woman he hated and never wanted anywhere near Mad or himself again.
He sent a quick text to Ry letting him know to watch Mad, then he called the one man who might know what the fuck was going on.
Keaton picked up on the first ring. “Hey. I’m throwing some things in a bag. Roark is flying me up there this afternoon.”
“What the fuck, man? Renee has a mother and sister? Where the hell have they been the last ten years? Where the fuck were they when she left my infant son alone for hours?”
“I don’t know the answers to most of those questions but I have one for the first. Renee got herself a shiny new lawyer and they managed to get an emergency hearing with a sympathetic judge—”
“Don’t you dare tell me that bitch is out!”
“Calm down, Jake. She’s not out. But they have moved her to a secure psychiatric facility so she can receive treatment for postnatal depression.”
“Fucking motherfuckers!”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I’ve also been contacted by a guy named”—papers rustled—“Clark Garrison. He’s going to be representing Maddox—”
“What the fuck?”
“I’ll explain it all when I get there. We’re got a lot to go over. This Clark guy is flying in from New York now. We’ll meet with him Friday.”
“What the fuck?”
“You’re repeating yourself.”
“Keaton,” Jake growled.
“I’ll be there in a couple of hours. I suggest we meet at Jack’s. It’s somewhere Mrs. Dawson won’t know to look. Ry has already taken Maz and the boys over there. Maz has a key Alyssa gave her. Jack and Alyssa can’t come up today but I’m bringing a team anyway. I’m putting them on Maddox.”
“You think this woman will take him like her daughter?”
“I honestly don’t know. I’d prefer to prevent it if that’s her plan.”
“I don’t understand why this is happening now. Why didn’t she show up when Renee was arrested and went to court?”
“I wish I had answers for you. I don’t. But I do intend to get them. For now, go to Jack’s and hug your boy.”
“I need to do something else before I do.”
“Don’t you dare talk to Mrs. Dawson.”
“I have no intention of talking to her.” He didn’t tell Keaton he planned on talking to her stepdaughter. Jake figured he’d get the same warning if he did. “I’ll see you when you get here.”
“Jake.”
“Yeah.”
“Try not to worry. We won’t let anything happen to Maddox.”
