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“Lawyersalwayshave tricks up their sleeves.” Her cruel eyes flicked over to Travis before coming back to settle on mine. “Travis will do anything to keep me from my daughter!”
“No, he’d do anything to protecthisdaughter from you. Just like I would. If that means keeping her away from you, so be it! You, on the other hand, see no problem with trying to sell your rights to her.”
“I’m owed that money! I wasted my youth because of them!” Tami snarled through her clenched teeth.
“No, you’re not!” Travis exploded. Anyone with eyes could see he’d had enough. I’d only seen that hard, focused stare in the courtroom or while sitting at a table in some boardroom, but never outside of it. The rage radiating off of him sent a cold chill down my spine and a wave of heat straight to my core. Pissed off protector was averysexy look on him.
“You got plenty during our divorce settlement. I’m not giving you another cent ofmymoney!”
“Oh yeah? We’ll see about that! I deserved a hell of a lot more than what I got for putting up with your boring ass all those years! I certainly deserved a lot more after having to carry that brat for nine months and having her ruin my body!”
Amie’s howl pierced the air. The small crowd surrounding us was suddenly in an uproar. Amie sniffled against her father’s neck before crying out, “I want Dee! I want my Dee!” Travis quickly transferred her back to me before turning on the ungrateful bitch who didn’t deserve to be called a mother.
“Money! That’s what it’s always about with you! Money! I’m only going to say this one last time, Tami. That money belongs to Amie, and I will never let you get your hands on it.”
“If that’s how you want to be, then you’ve left me no choice. I’ll take you to court, Travis. I’ll get what I’m owed one way or another.”
“Fine. Take me to court if you have to, but we both know you’ll lose. Your past choices saw to that.”
Tami’s face flamed to the point I thought she was going to boil over. She attempted to threaten Travis again, but he was over it. Without another word to the monster who’d ruined such a wonderful day, Travis pulled a handful of business cards from his wallet before handing them out to the witnesses.
“If any of you are willing to support me, you can contact me at that number.”
“Don’t you dare!” Tami threatened but again, Travis had reached his limit. Ignoring his fuming ex, Travis wrapped his arm around Amie and me. I continued to comfort Amie while Travis gathered up our stuff before we headed back to the car. After getting her settled into her car seat, Amie quickly fell asleep.
Neither Travis nor I said much on the way back. When we reached his penthouse, Travis parked his SUV and gathered up our stuff. We carried our precious cargo up to his place, in desperate need to decompress and digest all that had happened. While Travis put Amie to bed, I remained downstairs and because I had nothing better to do, started to put a simple dinner together.
“What a fucking nightmare,” Travis spat out as he hit the bottom stair. Heaving out a weary sigh, Travis closed the space between us and pulled me into his arms.
“Is she okay? Did you have trouble getting her back to sleep?” I was all ready to help if needed. More than ready.
“She’s fine. She never woke up because I didn’t change her clothes. I just took off her socks and shoes and put her into bed wearing what she had on at the park.”
“We can change her if she wakes up during the night,” I said, giving him the support he needed.
“Have I said how grateful I am to have you?” He dropped his head and let it rest against mine.
I’m the lucky one, I wanted to say, but answered him with a kiss instead. “You look tired. What can I do? How can I help?” I brushed his hair back from his forehead to soothe him. Travis leaned into my touch before banding his arms tighter around me.
“Just be here for me. That’s all I need. Just you.”
“Then that’s where I’ll be.” I hugged him close, sensing his need to talk. “Do you remember when you told me I could tell you anything?” I felt him nod against me. “Whatever you’re thinking or feeling, you can always talk to me, baby.”
“I’m just ready for this whole Tami thing to be over,” Travis confessed after a heavy beat. “But I know it’s not even close to being over. That woman won’t quit until she gets what she wants.” He sighed wearily, his shoulders tensing under my touch.
Dealing with his ex weighed him down and it killed me to know there was very little I could do. Stepping out of his embrace, I escorted him over to the island and made him sit down upon one of the stools. Once seated, Travis’ head fell into his hands. “What do I do?” he asked. “How do I protect my girl from her mother? I don’t want Amie to go through any of this shit, but how do I keep all this from affecting her life? If I give Tami what she wants, she’ll just be back again in six months wanting more money!”
“You do what’s right, Travis.” Grabbing the pair of ham and swiss sandwiches I’d made, I came around to where he sat and instead of taking a seat, plopped myself down onto his lap. Turning to him, I cupped his face between my hands and looked deep into his soft, warm brown eyes.
“You show Amie that her daddy loved her enough to fight for her. That her daddy loves her more than anything in this world.”
Travis turned so we held each other, standing chest to chest. He buried his face into the crook of my neck and clung to me as if were about to disappear. “I love you, Dee. I love you so much. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you with me right now.” He sighed again, but I heard the words he hadn’t spoken.
“You’d find a way because that’s who you are. But I’m glad to stand by your side and support you through this. That’s because I love you, Travis. And Amie. I love your little girl so much too.” Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes as I slipped my arms around his neck and nestled myself against his chest. A few minutes later, I moved to the seat next to him. Travis kept one arm around my waist while we ate our cold cut sandwiches before shutting everything off and headed up to bed.
Sex was not on either of our minds that night. Instead, Travis and I took a shower—together, of course—before changing into our sleep clothes and promptly falling asleep. There was no need for us to talk tonight. Whatever needed discussing could wait until tomorrow when we were in better frames of mind and we’d had some time to process what went down with Tami. Until then, I’d choose to be grateful for the man in my arms and the little one sleeping down the stairs. Right now, I was safe and loved. Travis hadn’t just opened up his heart to me. No, he’d opened up his arms and brought me into his family, giving me a place where I was not only welcome, but wanted.
twenty-nine
