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“She got put into care,” he says bluntly.
“She did,” I say, nodding, then I look up at him. “I messed up. That won’t happen again.”
“Sure,” he says, rolling his eyes.
“And if you think I won’t bring up your past in court—and the fact you’re quite happy to fuck prostitutes, hence how Ivy came to be—you’re mistaken. Because I might suck cock for a living, Grizz, but I spent many years being silent while the men around me talked. I know so much about you and your past, it’s enough to put you back inside.”
He closes the gap between us, his face full of rage. “Are you threatening me?”
I nod. “Yeah, I think I am.”
“You have no idea what I can do to you.”
I smirk. “I think we just established I do know. And for the record, stick your fucking job up your arse.”
Fifteen
GRIZZ
Idon’t bother to find Cali. My hard-on disappeared the second Luna made that threat. After everything I’ve done for her, she repays me with threats. Fucking bitch. I snatch the bottle of whiskey from behind the bar.
“I just had Luna sitting here doing the exact same thing,” says Coop. “You’re both so angry, you think the bottle will solve it.”
I slam it down. “Makes sense she’s drunk,” I snap, “seeing as she just threatened me.”
“Oh, yeah, with what?”
“My past, like that’ll get her Ivy. Doesn’t she realise a judge will end up putting the kid in care permanently?”
“The way I see it,” he says, taking the bottle from me, “she’s fighting for her daughter.”
I narrow my eyes. “What did you say to her?”
“I told her the truth, that she’s a good mum and she should fight for what she wants.”
“So, you’re the reason she’s up there coming up with crazy ideas about food vans?”
“Don’t you think that little girl needs her mum?”
“I think she needs someone who won’t let her down,” I snap.
“When I look at Luna, yah know what I see? A product of her environment. She loves Ivy, and up until recently, she was a good mum, working hard to provide as a single parent.”
“She didn’t have to do that. I was right fucking here,” I argue.
“No, but she chose to do that. Have you even asked her why she’d bring a baby into this world and choose to do it alone rather than tell you? And have you thought about what happened in her life to have her go from being a good mum to having her child taken into care?”
Her hurt expression at seeing me with Danii filters into my mind and I shut it down. “Her kid should always come first, no matter what. You took Lexi from Widow for the same reason.”
“I loved Widow,” he tells me. “I didn’t care about her past. I only left when it was clear she was so hard into drugs and drink that she couldn’t give them up for us. I thought leaving would make her see what she’d lost. All it did was put Lex at risk. And when I took her, it was the hardest thing I ever did. I prayed Widow would get her shit together and come back for our baby, cos Lex needed her mother in her life, but when she didn’t, it about broke me all over again.
“I didn’t take Lexi to spite her or to teach her a lesson. I wanted them to have a relationship, but Widow didn’t feel the same way. Luna is different. Up until you came into her life again, she was doing good. And all I see right now is a heartbroken, vulnerable woman who messed up. I told her she’s a queen. I told her she’s a damn fine mother. I told her the things you should’ve told her when she came to you for help. You have the chance to help her so that you can both be good parents to that little girl. Don’t blow it.”
It’s almost eleven in the morning when the social worker finally brings Ivy home. Luna sweeps her into her arms and takes her over to the couch, where she buries her face into our daughter’s soft body, whispering how much she’s missed her.
Becki gives me a reassuring arm rub as I watch them together. “It’s good she’s got you to support her,” she tells me.
Once she’s gone, I take a seat beside Luna, who eyes me cautiously, probably waiting for my next blow. Instead, I smile. “It’s good to have her back.”
