Page 83 of Love and Other Lost Things

Nik whirled around. “I was just a kid, too, Jane. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing with that condom. You don’t remember that?”

Jane shook her head slowly. So many terrible things had happened right after that night. All she remembered was how Nik had made her feel safe, loved. She’d hung on to that feeling for a decade.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

“Yes,” Jane whispered. “I know you have no reason to believe me. But when I realized the possibility a few days ago… I knew I couldn’t keep it from you.” Jane’s voice broke, and suddenly, she was crying. Sobbing over the heartbreak of everything she’d lost, that Nik had lost. And Scarlett. To have grown up with a man like Matteo instead of Nik. “I was going to talk to Martin and figure out a plan.”

Nik inhaled a sharp breath, and the next thing Jane knew, his arms were around her. “Hey,” he whispered against her hair. “Come on.” He steered her to the living room couch. “Where is Scarlett now?” he asked, brushing her hair off her wet cheeks.

“Still at Hannah’s. I need to text her and ask her to keep Scarlett another night.”

Nik nodded. “I’ll sleep here on the couch tonight.” He looked at Mom. “If that’s okay with you. Just in case he comes back. And then tomorrow…”

“I’ll look into DNA tests,” Mom said. “Jane will go meet with Martin, and we’ll figure out where to go from there.”

Jane looked from Mom to Nik. Nik might be sleeping on the couch, but he was staying, and he had his arm around her. And Mom… she couldn’t believe how Mom had talked to Matteo. She’d never stood up to Dad like that. But she had now, finally. Maybe they could face this together. Maybe everything would be okay.

THIRTY-TWO

“I need your help,” Jane said. She’d been sitting on the bench in front of the Lefkowitz Law Offices for the past hour, waiting for Martin to arrive after his court appearance that morning. He wore a dark gray suit this time, with a vest and pocket square, and Jane had to admit that he looked like a high-powered New York attorney. The thought reassured her. “Did you win your case?”

Martin scoffed at her. “Of course I did.” He unlocked the door and waved for her to go inside. “You said over the phone that this is about custody of your daughter? And protection from”—he dropped his briefcase on the desk and when he turned to look at her, his eyes widened—“oh my Go…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “Protection from whoever did that to you.”

Jane’s hand flew to her cheek. As soon as the bruise on her face had healed, Matteo had put another one there. But this one would be the last. “Yes.”

He nodded for her to sit. “Okay, start from the beginning.”

She laid it all out, her history with Matteo, living in LA, the abuse she’d suffered. Martin nodded, took notes, stopped her and asked to go back to clarify a point. And then she told him about Nik, and how she suspected he might be Scarlett’s father.

Jane leaned in, trying to get a look at his notes. “So, knowing all of that, can you keep Scarlett away from Matteo forever?”

Martin sat back in his chair and met her eyes. “I want to be honest with you. If this guy really wants to make this hard for you, he will.”

Jane blinked. “But… I thought you were the best.”

“Oh, I am. But I need you to know this isn’t going to be easy.”

“Nothing is ever easy. I don’t expect it to be.”

Martin gave her a long look. “Did you put Matteo on the birth certificate? Did he act as the child’s father for a significant part of her life?”

Jane’s chest filled with dread. “Yes.”

Martin scribbled something else in his notes. “Then it might not matter what biology says. He probably has custodial rights.”

Her mouth dropped open. “But he’s an abuser.”

“Has he physically abused Scarlett?” Martin checked his notes. “I thought you said he hadn’t.”

“No.” But that didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of it. Dad hadn’t physically abused Jane until one day… he had. “But who knows what he’ll do to punish me.”

“I’m afraid a judge won’t necessarily go on speculation. They may allow him to see her.”

“How is this fair? How is this right?” Jane shouldn’t have been surprised. Hadn’t Mr. Morgan, the lawyer in LA, told her the same thing? But, somehow, she’d allowed herself to believe that it could be different. That somewhere, somehow, women like her had a chance. “The system is rigged against victims and their children.”

“It often seems that way.” Martin leaned in with a sharp nod of his head. “It’s fucking terrible. And I’m going to fight like hell for you. But I need you to know what we’re up against. This could be long and drawn out. We may not be able to keep Matteo away from Scarlett in the meantime. It’s going to get ugly.” He looked at her sideways. “Are you prepared for that?”

On the drive home, Jane’s phone rang with a Western New York area code. She pulled the car to the side of the road and quickly swiped to answer it.

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