Page 75 of The Only Goal

“You’re divorcing me now? What the fuck, Tamara? Were you even going to talk to me about this?”

I grit my teeth. “I take it you’ve been speaking to my mother.”

“Actually, my mom told me.”

“Of course she did.” I roll my eyes. Our parents are way too close, sitting in the background trying to organize our lives for us. It doesn’t matter that we’ve moved away from Gladstone and are grown-ass adults now. They still want to control everything.

“You can’t do this.”

“Actually, I can.”

“You said you wanted space, and I’ve given you that. You can’t just cut me off, ignore me, and then decide you want a divorce without giving me any say in the matter. This is ridiculous.” I clench my teeth again, gripping the phone as he lets out a huff, then lowers his voice. “It’s time for you to come home. I don’t know where you’ve been, but it’s obviously given you no perspective. You’ve had plenty of time to process what you saw, and now we need to be mature adults and work through this.”

Frowning at my reflection in the window, I open my mouth to deny him, but he just keeps going.

“I need to know where you are.”

I shake my head.

“You need to tell me where my son is.” His tone gets harsh and snappy.

I blink in surprise. “He’s with me. Safe and happy. You can talk to him right now if you like.”

“I called to talk to you!” he barks. “Tell me where you are. Right now.”

“I—” Biting my lips together, I force air through my nose, willing myself not to start yelling into the phone and alerting everyone in this villa of the heinous phone call I’m enduring. “I don’t want to tell you where I am, but if you’d like to talk to Kai, I can pass him the phone.”

“It is my right as his father to know his physical location. You are essentially kidnapping him if you don’t tell me that.”

“What?” I squeak. “You’re accusing me of kidnapping my own child?”

“He’s my kid too!”

“Really? Because you know, we’ve been away for three weeks now, and not once have you texted to ask how he’s doing or called to talk with him. Every communication I’ve had with you has been about us, not him.” I tut. “Where is this even coming from, anyway? You work such long hours, he barely knows who you are. It’s not like you ever play with him or?—”

“He’s my kid, and I miss him. I want to see him. I want to see you.” He sounds so desperate that it makes my heart stutter.

I snap my eyes shut.

“Don’t make me take you to court over this, Tamara.”

The sudden threat and his icy change in tone makes my heart go from a stutter to a dull thud. My breath catches, my brain pulsing with a sickening beat that makes me want to throw up.

“You can’t just divorce me and walk away with my kid. I have rights too. He’s my son, and I’m not just handing over custody without a fight. You know I’ll demolish you. Why would you risk losing him?”

My insides run cold. What the hell is he doing? Why is he saying this stuff? Where is?—

I go still, a dull ache spreading through my system like a virus when it hits me. Hudson’s parents. His mother is a force to be reckoned with, and as soon as my mother mentioned the D-word to her, she would have gone into battle mode. She’s probably demanding Hudson step up and start getting tough with me.

I can just hear her voice in my head. “Stop pandering to her need for space and rattle her cage, Hudson! Kai’s your son, and you will fight for him. Do whatever it takes!”

“You don’t have to do this.” I wish my voice was coming out stronger, but it’s getting shaky as I rest my head against the cold glass and try not to cry.

“Don’t think for a second that I’ll just back down and let you do this to us. What do you think a judge is going to say when he hears you just took off with our kid and refused to tell me where you were?”

“What do you think they’ll say when they find out I left because you cheated on me?”

“That has nothing to do with parenthood. Now stop denying me access to my son!”

---