Page 58 of Whatever You Want

“I’m sorry that you had to hear that.” If there were a way to make that woman disappear from this planet, I would do it in a heartbeat. “Sometimes when people are hurt or angry, they say things they don’t mean. Your mom doesn’t know Ava well enough to say those things about her. She has the right to be concerned because things are changing, but she doesn’t have the right to speak like that. That’s not okay and I don’t want you to think badly of Ava because of it.”

Never ever would I want to put my daughter in the middle or make her feel like she had to choose between her parents. She had a relationship with both of us. If only I could get my ex-wife to understand that.

“I like Ava, she’s really nice.”

“She is very nice, and she loves spending time with you.” I kissed her head. “I’m glad you were open with me about this. I also want you to know that as long as I’m alive, no one will ever keep you from me. You are my entire world, Brina Marie, it doesn’t matter who I date or who I marry, you will always be my little girl. Nothing and no one will ever change that. So, please don’t worry about what your mom said. I’m sure those words slipped out and she didn’t mean them.” That was a lie, but I wanted to ease her discomfort. “I’ll talk to your mom about this, okay?”

“She’s going to be mad.”

000My heart pinched at the concern in her eyes. “You let me worry about that. But you know what you should be worried about?” I tickled her side gently, not wanting to get her too wound up. “If you don’t get back to sleep, I’m going to be very grumpy in the morning.”

She giggled and squirmed underneath the covers. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, princess. More than anything.”

I laid on my side and waited for her to fall asleep. I knew Vanessa was going to be a problem. Sometimes I wondered how I even lasted so long in that marriage. Maybe it was because she wasn’t always this bad. It wasn’t until she had Brina that I started to see how spiteful and unrelenting she was. Over the years, her obsession with me has only gotten worse. It made no sense to me. She could have any man she wanted with a snap of her fingers. It was keeping the man that was the issue. I knew for a fact that she’s dated since me. She loved to throw her hookups in my face, hoping I would get jealous. What she couldn’t seem to get through her head was that we were never getting back together.

I stood up and tucked the covers up to Brina’s chin. There was no way I was getting back to sleep now, so I went downstairs to my workout room and took my frustration out on my punching bag.

I set my coffee down on the counter when the chime of my doorbell rang. I walked over and unlocked the storm door. “I want to talk to you.”

Vanessa stood against the door and looked around. “Where’s Brina?”

“My mom took her out to breakfast so we could have some privacy.”

I held the door open for her to step inside. I looked across the street; my elderly neighbor was sitting on her front porch in her rocking chair pretending to knit or crochet or whatever the hell they called it. The last thing I wanted was an audience to what was about to go down, especially with her two grandkids running through the sprinkler in the front yard.

“I don’t have time for your games today, Logan. I have things to do and places to be.”

“Make time, your Botox injection can wait.”

She rolled her eyes as she passed me by. “Real mature.”

“Have a seat.” I pointed to one of the empty high-top chairs in the kitchen. I’ve had all night to rein in my fury. I didn’t sleep a wink, so I stayed downstairs and worked out until three a.m. After an intense workout of pull-ups, sit-ups, and a few extra rounds with the punching bag, I felt slightly better. Now, as I looked down at my ex-wife, I wondered what the hell I was thinking when I married her. My brother asked me before if I ever loved her. I think I convinced myself to try to love her, but the feelings never came. I married her because it was the right thing to do. It was times like this where I wished I had never met her. But as they say, you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, so here we were.

“Logan, what is this about?”

“Brina had a hard time sleeping last night.”

Genuine concern jumped in her eyes. “What was wrong with her?”

I leaned against the fridge and crossed my arms. “I think the better question is, what the hell is wrong with you?”

Her body locked up at my harsh tone. “Excuse me, could you repeat that please, because I’m not sure I heard you correctly.”

I pushed myself off the fridge and stalked toward her. “Your hearing is just fine but let me fill you in.” I leaned forward, getting up in her face. So much for trying to be calm and collected. “Brina was upset because she heard you on the phone talking shit about Ava and threatening to keep her from me.”

Her head tilted to the side, and her eyebrows drew together. “Oh, when I was talking to Debbie?”

I wanted to laugh, but it wasn’t funny. Her friend Debbie was a psycho bitch who made Vanessa look like a saint. I should have known it was Debbie who stoked the fire.

“Unless you make a habit of spilling your hateful words to someone other than your only friend then yes, and I see you’re not all that surprised either. Did you intend for our daughter to hear that conversation?”

“Of course not.” I studied her, searching for any signs that she was lying. I wanted to believe that even she wouldn’t stoop that low, but there wasn’t much I wouldn’t put past her.

“You can’t think that shit is okay?”

“I was being honest. The only woman who will be raising my daughter, will be me.”

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