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My frown deepens. “Why are you at work? You should have stayed in bed.”
Benjamin shakes his head, then puts a hand over his mouth. Rushing past me, he darts to the bathroom, the sound of him vomiting making me and Tanner cringe.
“He’s been ssss-sick for d-d-d-days. I told him to sss-stay home.”
The frown seems stuck on my face as I stare at the restroom door, waiting for Benjamin to come out. Stomach bugs don’t last this long. He might have the flu.
“Are you feeling any symptoms?” I ask Tanner, slowly dragging my eyes away from the door with great effort. “Do you need to see a doctor?”
My young alpha shakes his head. “I’ve had a h-h-h-headache, but that’s a-a-a-all.”
“Huh.” Before I can say more, Benjamin exits the restroom, cleaning his damp face with a paper towel. I rush over to him, pulling him into my arms. “You need to see a doctor. Stomach bugs don’t last this long.”
Sighing against my chest, Benjamin snuggles in and whispers, “I know, but there’s an email that you need to see. I got the notification before we came in. We need to talk about it.” He glances behind me at Tanner, who has his head down, air pods stuffed in his ears while he listens to some loud, indecipherable music.
I look down at Benjamin and see his sallow cheeks and red eyes and want to tell him no, he needs to go home and take care of himself, but that will only cause a fight that he’ll win. I’ll just skip the middleman and give my mate what he wants so he doesn’t stress while he’s ill.
Blowing out a hard breath, knowing I lost without a fight, I take his hand and lead him to my office. Tanner pays us no mind as I close the door.
Instead of having Benjamin sit in the chair in front of my desk, I sit him in my chair, my arms caging him in while I open the document he told me about. Quickly, I scan it and my eyebrows dip.
According to the private investigator I hired, Tanner’s father has been located and is willing to sign over his parental rights. For a fee.
Growling, I type furiously, telling the PI to set the meeting up for this week and I’ll have the money for him.
“That’s a lot of money, babe. I’m sorry that—”
“Don’t you apologize for that greedy piece of shit. How can he think to sell his own fucking son? Tanner’s not going anywhere, you hear me? He’s ours and I won’t let something frivolous like money keep him away from us!”
I didn’t realize how loud I was speaking until I hear a soft knock and the door slowly opens. Tanner is standing on the other side, face pale and eyes wet. Sighing, Benjamin gives me a soft look before walking around the desk, opening his arms for Tanner to collapse into.
Feeling like shit for basically shouting that his father really is a dirtbag, I walk around and wrap them both in my arms. Tanner’s shoulders heave with his sobs and I vow to make his father pay for treating this sweet child this way, when all he wants is to be loved.
“Don’t you worry, Tanner,” I murmur, rubbing his back. “I’ll fix it. I’ll make it right.”
He nods, tucking himself closer to us, holding on tightly.
Benjamin was right. Tanner needs us. And I’ll do anything I can to make sure he doesn’t suffer another day.
When Benjamin and Tanner are settled back in the outer office, I go to my computer and pull up a form, fill it out quickly and send it to Benajmin. His reply is fast. When it’s complete, I send it to a judge who owes me a favor and hope he can get it back to me in the next couple of days.
My family depends on it.
The next few days pass by in a haze of anger that I have to bottle it up so I don’t take it out on my loved ones. I spend more time than normal in the gym, running myself ragged on the treadmill and hitting the bag until my knuckles are red and sore. I opt to stay at my own place—not making me or Benjamin happy—so I don’t risk lashing out at them. As soon as Tanner’s father is out of the picture, I won’t have a reason to be angry. He can take his money and go.
I still don’t know if I should feel bad about basically buying Tanner, but there can be no reason for his piece of shit father to come around and make our lives hell. He doesn’t get the right to fuck up Tanner’s life anymore.
Benjamin told me not to look at it that way, that I’m doing what I can to ensure Tanner’s future. I want to believe him, so I focus on that.
Honestly, I’m surprised Tanner’s father only asked for fifteen grand. I’m sure if he knew I was an attorney at a top law firm in New York, he would have tried to squeeze more out of me, but I didn’t give him the chance. As soon as the PI told him I accepted, I had a courier send over an ironclad contract agreement for him to sign, saying that fifteen thousand dollars is all he’s seeking.
Unfortunately, he has to have his own legal representation for this meeting and it has to be held with a scribe, so he can’t claim that he was mistreated. I called in a favor from a friend of mine to find an impartial legal aide to sit in and a recorder to take the minutes. I don’t want there to be any reason for Tanner’s father to go back on this deal. Tanner doesn’t need that shit.
The morning of our meeting, I arrive at Benjamin’s apartment to hear yelling from behind the door. Hurrying to take out my key, I let myself in and see Tanner, red faced, staring Benjamin down and Benjamin with his hands out, trying to placate him.
“Listen to me, Tanner—”
“No!” he shouts, hands balled into a fist. “I n-n-n-n—” He growls in frustration, pulling at his hair. When he takes a few deep breaths, he rounds on Benjamin. “I need to be there. I shhh-should be there.”
