AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m serious. I’ve done the math, and I need five hundred grand.”
He’s kidding himself if he thinks I believe for a second that he needs that money for Katie. He’s been asking for payouts his whole life, and I’m the idiot that started giving them to him.
“And if I don’t do this—”
“Katie suffers.”
He’s bullshitting. She’s going to suffer either way. He won’t spend a cent on her.I’m calling his bluff.
Shaking my head, I get in his face and sneer. “I’m not doing shit for you. You need to realize how amazing that little girl is,beforeit’s too late. She deserves a father that understands moneycan’t buy happiness. She just wants your love.”
“Says the guy with millions of dollars. I’m just asking for enough to give her the life she wants.”
“You don’t even know her. How could you possibly know what she wants?”
Greg’s lips pull into a smile and he huffs out a laugh. “Lucy’s with you, so she’s obviously attracted to money. It’s not hard to think Katie would be too.”
“You really have no clue.”
“It doesn’t matter anyway. Pay the money or lose them both.” He shrugs like he’s going to win either way, but his voice wavers. He’s nervous. He’s not going to report me. He’s too gutless. Plus it will piss Lucy off and he doesn’t want that.
“I’ll take my chances, asshole. Now get off my property.”
I step back again and slam the door in his face with more force than my previous attempts, watching as he moves out of the way just in time. Five hundred grand? The nerve of him. Money may mean so little to me, but I’m not about to hand it over to a piece of shit like Greg.
What a fucking day. After tossing and turning for an hour with no sign of sleep, I get up and start pacing the room.
I feel sick about Katie. What if I hadn’t been there for her? What would Greg have done? I thought I was clueless when it came to kids, but Greg… I have no words. And then to ask for money? He’s insane. He must be. And he’s going to be in Lucy’s life forever.Fuck!
Pulling out my phone, I text Lucy to check in. Katie would be well and truly asleep by now, and I have a feeling Lucy would have fallen apart the second she was down.
Wes: I’m so fucking sorry. I know I messed up, but you and Katie are my number one priority. I’m here for you if you ever need me. Any time. For any reason
It’s going on eleven p.m. when I click send, so I don’t expect a reply. However, thirty minutes later, I get one.
Lucy: Thank you for being there for Katie today. It means a lot to me. More than you’ll ever know
It’s not hard to read between the lines of that message, so I call her before she has a chance to leave her phone. When she doesn’t answer on the first try, I call straight back, desperate to talk to her. On my third try she answers.
“Hello.”
“Answering on the third call? Taking a page out of my book?” I joke, hoping to lighten the mood right off the bat.
“Huh? You do that?” Lucy asks, her tone flatter than usual.
I huff out a laugh anyway. “Only every time someone calls.”
“You’ve never done it to me.”What?
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” She softly giggles and the sound brings me so much joy.
“Well, there you go. Sorry to call when we were texting, but I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Lucy sighs, but it’s so quiet I wouldn’t have noticed it if I wasn’t looking for signs of her feelings.
“I’m okay. Just tired,” she lies.
