“And you’ll put the custody decision in writing and sign the divorce papers. Immediately.” He opens his mouth to argue, but I talk over the top of him. “You’ll tell yourparents it was irreconcilable differences or something. I don’t care if they blame me, but you’ll do it.”
His nostrils flare. “What if they ask about the children? They’re going to wonder?—”
“That’s your problem,” I interrupt. “But know that if they come after me for the kids, all bets are off. I won’t just go to your parents with everything I have, I’ll go to everyone, including the media.”
His mouth goes tight, but he’s got no choice, and he knows it. “Fine. Anything else?”
“From you?” I say sweetly. “Absolutely not.”
He glares at me balefully. “I don’t even recognize you anymore.” He drops it like an insult, but I scoff.
“Why? Because I’m not letting you walk all over me? All that’s changed here is me, finally learning my worth. And Christopher?” My lips curve. “We’re not even in the same playing field.” I give him a dismissive look. “Go ask the kids if they want to come with you.”
“What?” His eyes bug out. “But the party…”
“I haven’t forgotten,” I say serenely. “And I’m happy to attend and make it a birthday your father will never forget.” His eyes fall shut, defeat slumping his shoulders, but I feel nothing for him—not even pity. “We made a deal, Christopher, and it starts now. Go ask them.”
Chapter 24
Grafton
The moment Lynley steps off the bottom stair, I lift the remote and turn the television off. Her head tips up, warmth-filled eyes meeting mine. Surprise fills my chest as she comes to sit next to me, her pants-covered leg pressing against mine, her shoulders resting on the arm I have slung over the back of the couch.
She usually tries to keep a little bit of space between us, but the surprise quickly gives way to pleasure as I twine a strand of her dark hair around my finger, tugging it playfully.
“Hello, darling,” I murmur, loving the way the color spreads over her cheeks. “Kids asleep?”
She blows out a breath, a divot forming between her brows as she stares at the black television. “Yeah. It took a little longer than normal. That’s probably to be expected after… Well, after today.”
Her hands are in her lap, and I look down as she twists them together, unable to hide the tremble of her fingers. I reach out, resting my hand over both ofhers, holding her steady. She looks up at me, her eyes wide and pleading. “Did I do the right thing?”
Lynley called me from the house after leaving Christopher in the park. She told me quietly that the kids were distracted with a movie before she recounted everything that happened, her voice quivering with anger. My own fury had reared its head at the part my niece played in the fiasco, knowingly exposing Mase and Ginny to that goddamn mess. But I shelved it so I could give Lynley the impartial ear she needed.
When her steam ran out, I quietly asked, “We had plans tonight, but do you need some time?”
“No,” she immediately asserted. “Come over. Please.”
“On my way, darling.”
Mase had been thrilled by the distraction, happy to forget about his father for the time being, but I know it’s never going to be as simple as “out of sight, out of mind.” Christopher’s betrayal wasn’t just against Lynley, but their whole family. He burned their world to the ground, uncaring of the fallout for his wife and children. His damage was more than skin-deep, and it would do more harm than good to pretend otherwise.
Ginny… She spent the evening clinging to Lynley like a vine, bursting into tears at the smallest of things. It wasn’t until we put a movie on, and she cuddled herself in between me and her mom—one of her little hands wrapping around a couple of my fingers while her head rested on Lynley’s shoulder—that she seemed to calm down.
“You did the right thing,” I tell Lynley now.
She wets her lips, eyes shining, the anger giving way to devastation. I know it’s not about Christopher, secure enough in the knowledge that he took a blowtorch to every single feeling she ever had for him. This grief is for the lossto her children, their world suddenly unstable and irrevocably changed.
“I never expected him to just give in like that,” she whispers. “The fact that his image would be more important than his legal rights to his own children? In all of this…this…fuckery”—my lips twitch, but I stifle the amusement—“I never actually expected that he’d just wash his hands of them. How does anyone do that?”
Still holding onto her hands, I slide my other one down her shoulder and arm, tugging her more firmly into me. Her face still grave, she doesn’t resist, sinking into my side as I tuck her as close as I can get her.
“Nothing he does will ever make sense to us, but I know you did the right thing. You know how? Because you protected your babies today. You did the only thing you could in that situation. And his reaction? His choice? That is solely on him. It’s not a reflection of you or the kids.” She hums thoughtfully, but doesn’t comment, so I continue, “Now, you’ve left that door cracked open?—”
“More like a window I can slam shut,” she mutters.
I don’t stop the smile this time. “Now the power is in Mase and Ginny’s hands. They can decide what to do going forward, and what their relationship with Christopher looks like from here on out.”
Her mouth works from side to side. “Ginny’s too young for that. They’re both too young. But Ginny doesn’t understand why any of this is happening, and tonight…” She closes her eyes, pain tightening her features. “She asked me if it was her fault.”
