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He was her whole world.
Trying to calm Sophie’s anxiousness, I winked at her and smiled. She smiled in return. However, her gaze quickly went wide, and I didn’t have to wonder why.
I felt him.
Spinning around, I turned to face him. There he was, dressed in a black suit. I’d never seen him dressed like anything other than a businessman.
“Jax.” He nodded, extending his hand for me to shake.
I refused, losing respect for him a long time ago. He was lucky I’d let him come with my mom.
Seconds later, Ben came barreling into the living room.
“Hi!” he excitingly greeted. “I’m Benjamin Jax Colton.”
Hearing him say my last name instantly changed the tension between me and my father. Mom didn’t allow another moment to pass as she crouched to his level.
“Hi, Benjamin.” She adoringly smiled, looking at him with love in her eyes. “I’m your grandmother, but you can call me Meme.”
Ben didn’t falter, throwing his arms around her neck.
“Hi, Meme.”
My father was always a serious man. He didn’t have the same reaction to Ben, not that I thought he would. I couldn’t remember one time in my life when he’d hugged me or told me that he loved me or my mom.
He was a fucking bastard, and the longer he stood there staring at my son with such disdain, the more I wanted to lay his ass out for even trying me today.
Sophie’s mother shifted the mood, walking in next with a football in her hand.
“Benny! Look what I brought you.”
“Grammy!” Ben ran to her, thrilled to see her.
Right off the bat, I realized how close they were. The obvious comfort and ease between them, the way they looked at each other, they knew one another well. I made a mental note to ask Sophie how involved she had been with our son before I was around.
She made her way around the room, greeting everyone and saving me for last.
Nodding toward me, she expressed, “Hello, Jax.”
“Hello, Miss Carlisee. Nice to see you.”
It was all we said to each other.
Now that we were technically family, it was interesting to see everyone’s dynamic. Miss Carlisee and my mom got along great, they always had. She’d helped my mom run their estate for over a decade. My mom might have been a lot of things, but she treated her employees with grace and appreciation.
Everyone got along for the rest of the afternoon, except for my father who wouldn’t stop staring at my boy with an expression I wanted to knock off his fucking face.
Once Ben was playing outside with one of his friends from the neighborhood, I couldn’t hold back any longer.
Spewing, “What the fuck is your problem?”
“Jax!” Sophie chastised, standing beside her mom and mine. “What’s gotten into you?”
Dad didn’t cower, but I knew he wouldn’t.
“I thought I raised you better than this.”
“Rick,” Mom stated in a sharp tone, but he didn’t pay her any mind.
