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The boys couldn’t care less that their mother is standing in the same room with them. Chase, as much as he annoys the hell out of me, isn’t the type of man who would bad mouth someone or try and turn his boys against someone, especially someone who should be so important to them.
The boys don’t care about her because she hasn’t shown them that she cares about them. I just met those two yesterday and this morning Cale ran into my room like he stayed awake all night missing me. That’s the kind of kids Chase has. There’s a reason they aren’t the same way with their mother, and just the thought makes me shift so I’m blocking more of her view of them.
I press my palm to Chase’s stomach and turn a little more so I’m closer to him. I give her the best smile I can manage when really I want to know what has happened that has made him so protective.
“I want to visit with my boys,” Emily says, instead of arguing about my existence in their lives.
I mean, she can’t really say much considering she brought the man she had an affair with to the meeting.
With a sigh, Chase steps to the side, pulling me right along with him.
I glare at him when Emily steps past us to crouch in front of the boys.
They both look up at her but don’t make a move to go to her when she opens her arms.
“Chase,” I whisper when the boys look over at him for reassurance.
“It’s fine,” he says. I don’t know if he’s speakingto me or the boys.
Cole looks less than impressed when Cale pulls the tablet from their laps and sets it to the side.
“We can arrange a time for you to come see them. We’re at the Entourage.”
“It’s easier to visit with them now,” she argues.
“It’s lunch time,” Chase counters.
“I can feed my children, Chase.”
“Chase.” We both turn to look at another man, one I presume is his attorney.
The guy shakes his head, telling Chase not to argue with her right now.
I can feel the sigh that leaves his lungs as he releases it through our connection.
“You’ll need to get their booster seats,” he says, stepping away from me. “Come on, boys.”
Dutifully, Cale and Cole follow Chase from the room. When it’s clear that Emily isn’t going to grab the iPad because she’s too busy glaring at me like I ruined her life, I say excuse me and step around her to grab it off the sofa.
She stands, frozen in her spot, making me walk around her a second time, and doesn’t move until my back is to her. For the entire trip to the elevator, I have to wonder if she’s going to trip me or pull a pen or something from her little designer purse and stab me in the back.
When we climb on the elevator, and I have the chance to watch her in the reflection, I realize she’s not as pretty as I once thought. There’s something about someone when even innocent children don’t like them that makes it so easy to change your opinion.
The ride down to the parking garage is beyond awkward, and Chase’s attorney as well as another man in a suit who I presume is Emily’s attorney, make the trip with us, no doubt acting as witnesses in case shit hits the fan.
Cory tries to pull Emily to the side, but she refuses to go, her stride sure and confident as she follows Chase to the SUV he rented for this trip. She looks to Cory when Chase reaches in and unlatches the safety belt holding Cole’s seat in place as if she’s too delicate to take it from him.
Dutifully, Cory steps up, looking unsure as he grabs the first seat.
I stand back, with the iPad tucked under my arm, so I can keep a hand on each boy’s back as Cory works to get the seats in his BMW. They fit but just barely.
“Daddy?” Cale asks, that same sadness in his tone as when Chase got on him earlier for not using the restroom when Cole did at the airport.
This time, Chase looks distraught rather than that look that made me wonder if he thought his son was manipulating him. Chase’s eyes dart to hisattorney, a plea there that speaks of the same fear I can feel in the tremble both boys have.
His attorney shakes his head, and Chase looks lost for a long moment before he plasters a fake smile on his face as he approaches the boys.
I can’t help the tremble in my chin because this situation doesn’t feel right at all.
