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“Oh, really?” Ben sneers. “And what about Ward? Do you see him like a brother? It didn’t look like that when you were cuddling him just now.”
“That’s nothing to do with you.”
“I think it does! He can’t love you like I can.”
This is going nowhere, and I can feel myself wanting to scream. This is not what I want after I’ve been told by Dad that he only wants contact with me to get my daughter back. I step back and turn away.
“Get whatever you needed from the house and go back to work, Ben. I’m not doing this now.”
“I’m not going to let this go, Elle. You can’t walk away from this.”
“Well, I am.” I reach the house and swing around on him, only to find that he’s been following me and I almost bump into him. “I’m dealing with a sociopathic father and a psychotic woman he calls a wife. The last thing I need is for you to declare your love for me and act possessive over me regarding Luke. That’s not helpful!”
“At least tell me that there’s nothing beyond being a co-parent with Ward,” Ben insists. “Amy was meant to be my daughter. Ward’s already taken her from me. I’m not about to have him take you as well.”
He is beginning to sound mad. I shake my head.
“You’re seeing things that aren’t there. You’re beginning to scare me.”
“That’s how serious I am about this!”
“Then you can stick your head in a bucket of cold water and get it out of your head. It’s not happening, and I’m not going to discuss it. Now, get what you came back for and get out of here.”
“Elle.”
I storm into the house, and I go up to my bedroom, slamming the door hard behind me. Then I slump against the door, sliding down to sit on the floor. I need a moment to myself, or my head is going to explode.
This day could just not get any worse.
Chapter 20 Luke
I’m relieved when the last meeting is done. Given the incident earlier in the day, I’m not really in the right mindset to deal with anyone regarding his multiple businesses. But it has to be done, and I did push these back so I could see my daughter back from kindergarten.
I’m glad I got to spend time with Amy. We went to get ice cream, where Amy would talk fast about what she had been doing during the day. She is like a sponge, absorbing everything around her. It is rather fascinating.
I like spending time with her. She’s a real sweetheart.
At least being around his daughter makes me feel a little better after what happened earlier. I’m still shocked over what Kevin said to his daughter. How could he think that telling Elle to hand over her daughter for him and his wife to raise was going to go? He had to be insane. Sure, his situation was sad, and I do feel for him to have to go through that, but their process of getting a child was just ridiculous.
Will they try to snatch Amy? If they were that desperate…
I push that out of my mind. That is not how I want to spend my evening.
Closing my laptop, I get up and head into the kitchen. My stomach is growling, reminding me that I haven’t eaten since the ice cream treat with Amy, and now it’s almost midnight. I need to have some sustenance before I sleep, otherwise I’ll be tossing and turning.
And with my thoughts as they are right now, I don’t want to be kept awake all night.
I’m looking through the fridge, wondering what to rustle up for myself, when I hear a knock on the door. That has me straightening up. I’m not expecting anyone, and if Elle was coming over she would have told me beforehand. And I have a doorman, so nobody unauthorized will be outside the door.
One of the neighbors? Have I done something to upset one of them? I doubt it, seeing as I keep to myself. Unless someone is complaining about the loud music I was playing earlier.
The knock comes again. Sighing, I close the fridge and head to the door. Sadly, there’s no peephole, so I hover my hand over the lock.
“Who is it?”
No answer. I wait, but I can’t hear anything.
“Hello? Anyone there?”
