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“Come for me, babe,” he says pounding into me.
My muscles clench around him and a deep growl joins my moans of pleasure as Logan loses control and comes in a rush of hot cream. His thrusts slow down until they come to a complete stop, and he lies down on my side.
He folds me into his arms and our breaths slowly return to normal.
“That’s the best alarm clock there is,” Logan says and tilts my chin to look into my face. “How are you feeling today?”
“Good, I’m glad yesterday went well,” I tell him softly.
Gabriel had brought Ivy just before six and she’d seemed happy. She’d even held on to Gabriel’s finger when he lifted her from the car seat, a sign that she had bonded with him.
“It’ll keep getting better and better and she’ll grow up knowing her biological dad,” Logan says. “But I’m planning on being her everyday daddy.”
His words hold so much promise they fill me with indescribable pleasure and hope for the future. Just knowing that Logan thinks of us as part of the future makes me happy.
***
“Boyfriend, huh?”
I look up from the screen of my computer, startled. I’m even more shocked to see Gabriel leaning on the door frame, staring at me.
“Gabriel, what are you doing here?”
I search my memory. Maybe we’d arranged for him to pass by, and I completely forgot about it. No definitely not. After he dropped off Ivy yesterday, we did not speak again or arrange to meet.
“I came to see my baby mama,” he says, a sarcastic tone in his voice. He enters my office and shuts the door.
I’m pissed off that he thinks he can just come into my office without arranging with me first. I run a business, not a social center. “This is not a good time, Gabriel. I’m busy.”
He ignores me and sits down. “So, you have a boyfriend?”
“What? Is that what you came here to talk about?” I ask him. I can’t believe that after all this time, he can be jealous or even interested in my love life.
“We need to talk about Ivy,” he says, an inscrutable expression coming over his features.
“What do you want to talk about?” I ask him.
He stares at me dead in the face. “Custody. I want custody of Ivy. That’ll give you the space to concentrate on your new boyfriend.”
My blood turns to ice. “What?” I’m sure that my ears are deceiving me and he did not just say that he wants custody of my daughter.”
“My wife wants a child and she really bonded with Ivy. I can give her the kind of life that you cannot. You’re dealing with a new business whose chances of success are less than ten percent. I’m the logical person to raise Ivy,” he says as if we are discussing a pet.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I ask him, my voice barely controlled.
“I’m perfectly serious, Vanessa. My wife and I want to see more of Ivy with the aim of formally adopting her.”
My anger is replaced by cold fear. He means it. He wants to take my daughter away from me.
“My daughter is not looking for parents to adopt her. She has a mother who looks after her,” I tell him, trying hard to keep the note of hysteria from my voice.
“Really? By dumping her at your sister’s house all the time?” he says, triumph in his voice.
“What?”
“I know everything about you and Ivy,” he says.
Fear clutches my heart and panic threatens to overwhelm me. What if he takes Ivy away from me? I know that he’s influential and he has the resources to hire the best lawyers. Why had I gone looking for him? Ivy and I had been just fine. Our lives had been stable and predictable. What was I going to do?
“Are you threatening me?”
“Threatening you? No of course not. I just think it would work out perfectly if my wife and I adopted Ivy. If not that, we’d like to share custody,” Gabriel says.
I try to think through this rationally. No court would award Gabriel full custody of Ivy. I haven’t done anything wrong and I’m raising her well.
“What do you really want, Gabriel?” I ask him.
“I’m glad we’re beginning to understand each other,” he says, a satisfied look on his face. “I miss you, Vanessa. You made me happy.”
I shake my head even before he finishes what he’s saying. “I’ve moved on, Gabriel and so have you.” I can’t believe that we’re having this conversation.
“I’m asking for another chance. I’m not trying to get into your bed,” he says. “I just want to spend time with you and Ivy. Be a family.”
My head throbs and I feel as if I’m going to explode. I stare at him incredulously. “We’re not a family.”
“We can be. I know it will take time to regain your trust but I’m willing to wait and to be patient,” Gabriel says.
