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She took in a deep breath and stared at her while she continued to rock Zara. She felt her throat grow dry, and she knew she needed to talk. If she wanted out, maybe she could convince Sher this wasn’t right. Wasn’t the past few hours evidence of that?
“I am indeed the tiger whisperer. I know Henry jokes about it, but it’s true,” she stated in the hopes of lightening the moment. Sher didn’t say anything.
She swallowed and relaxed her shoulders.
“Sher, this doesn’t have to be how everything goes. Henry is more than open to talking to you. You didn’t have to go to these extremes.”
“You feel that you know Henry more than I do? Or have you forgotten I was his ex-wife while you are just some bimbo he’s picked up? Don’t think you’re anything special.”
It was a bite at her, and she knew it. Yet, it didn’t hurt like she expected it would. She knew that Sher had divorced him. She knew that she had given up on Zara. She knew that things hadn’t gone as she had planned.
“It would appear I know your baby well enough to make a defined assumption about her father. I figured you would see that.”
Sher narrowed her eyes, and she swallowed. She continued to bounce Zara, wanting to keep her calm.
“This doesn’t have to be how it goes. Henry will forgive you if you tell him what’s happened. Think about what’s best for Zara here. You’re not thinking everything through.”
“I am thinking about what’s best for Zara. I’m her mother,” she growled.
“You gave up your rights,” she countered. “So, what you’re doing is wrong.”
“Whether I have rights or not doesn’t matter,” she snarled back. “She’s my child, and I know what’s best. I am what’s best.”
“And Henry isn’t?”
Sher took a step towards her. “He allowed you to be close to my child. So, no. Henry is not. I shouldn’t have left. I wouldn’t have left if I knew this was how it was going to go.”
Kirsten fell silent for a moment. She didn’t know what to say. What could she say to soften what was going on?
It was clear that Sher didn’t like her, and she didn’t want her around Zara but to go to these extreme lengths? She didn’t understand that.
She licked her lips. “I’ll leave. I’ll leave, and you won’t see me again. I’ll leave Zara with you and Henry. You guys can be a family and be as happy as you want. Is that what you want? If it is, it’s yours.”
She snorted, shaking her head, and almost seemed to laugh. “I don’t want Henry. I wouldn’t want him after everything. The only person I want is my child. Zara.”
She felt her stomach dip. She knew that wasn’t how everything was going to end. Once Henry got here, he was going to put a stop to everything.
“That isn’t how this is going to go,” she said. “You have to know that, Sher. You can’t just kidnap Zara and me and expect everything to be sunshine and rainbows afterward.”
Sher narrowed her eyes. Kirsten held her ground, though, still bouncing Zara.
“I guess we will see, won’t we?”
I guess we will.
THIRTY-NINE
HENRY
He paced. He walked up and down, surveying the way that the guards walked and the way they moved. His eyes were looking for even the slightest giveaway of a weakness. A bum knee or a trick ankle. He was bound and determined to find one.
A few minutes passed before the others came back, and Henry looked at one of them.
“We could hear Zara crying inside on the main floor. Her entire family must be here. They didn’t seem impressed. There was a bit of yelling for a while.”
Zara. God, Sher wasn’t taking care of her. She probably doesn’t even know how to. She hardly held her after she was born. Did she know how to handle her at all?
He ran his hands through his hair and nodded. “And?” He needed more.
