Page 65 of Finding You

Adele was right. His stomach sank all the way to his shoes. He knew it was going to be bad. He just hadn’t realized he might be chased out of his own home for it. A wave of fatigue stole over him, and he almost tripped over Bowen’s prosthetic leg before Frey saved him and got him to the couch.

“I’ll pack. You call,” Frey told him. He shoved Dallas’s phone at him.

His hands were shaking so hard he nearly dropped the damn thing. His entire body was starting to ache from tension, and he rolled his shoulders several times before he could force his feet to move. The guys were staring at him. He could feel their gazes like a physical touch, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up.

“Go, honey,” Frey urged, softer this time. Kinder.

Dallas nodded, then shuffled down the hall and into his office. The door shut with a soft click, and it was when the silence descended that his throat got thick. He wanted to scream. He wanted to run back out there and force her to see reason. She hadn’t been like this before. He didn’t know why she was acting this way now.

He’d been far too kind to her during the divorce. He gave her child support. He didn’t drag her dirty laundry out in front of a bunch of strangers. When their mutual friends all cut him off because she told them all he’d been a terrible husband, he just took the blows.

So why this? Why now?

All he wanted was the right to see his daughter more.

His fingers trembled as he pulled up Monty’s contact. There was the office number where he could leave a message or his personal one he said to use for emergencies. Dallas supposed this counted.

It rang three times before Monty picked up. “I was hoping I wouldn’t hear from you tonight,” the lawyer said.

Dallas let out a sigh and cleared his throat to keep his voice from trembling. “It’s bad.”

“How bad?” Monty asked, his voice suddenly sharp.

Dallas dragged his hand down his face and groaned. “Katie is outside my house right now, screaming and threatening me and demanding I hand Audra over to her.”

Monty was quiet for a moment. “Don’t give the baby?—”

“No, I know,” Dallas interrupted. “I haven’t. I’m with my friends right now, and they’re keeping Katie from getting inside. I’m going to go stay at one of their houses tonight.”

“Okay. You two have joint custody,” Monty reminded him. “Which means if you have your daughter in your possession, your ex can’t make you hand her over. If you do?—”

“I won’t,” Dallas stressed. “I knew she was going to be pissed. I didn’t realize she was going to take it this far. I’m not giving Audra back until she’s calm.”

“I need to make a couple calls,” Monty said. “You can leave once it’s safe, but make sure you’re listening for your phone.”

“Okay.” Dallas didn’t feel better, but he didn’t feel worse. And the fact that he was told not to give Audra over by someone who knew the law helped. “Talk soon?”

“Don’t worry,” Monty said like he knew Dallas needed to hear that, “it’s going to be okay.”

The line went dead, and Dallas dropped his back against the door and squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t hear Katie anymore, but he didn’t trust she was gone. He wanted to leave, but he couldn’t risk her trying to physically grab Audra out of his arms either. Fuck, what a mess.

Staring down at his phone again, he opened up his messages and stared at the last ones he’d exchanged with Kylen. He wanted him right then. He wanted to hear his voice, to let his low rumble comfort him. But he was also shit-scared that the moment Kylen realized how dramatic his situation could—and would—get, he’d take off running.

It all felt so fragile. He had just started accepting both himself and the idea that he could have this one good thing with Kylen, and now it felt like it was about to shatter.

Maybe he was being punished. He didn’t know what about him could be so awful that the universe would want to torment him like this, but maybe, deep down, he really was a bad person.

“Knock, knock?” It was Adele.

Dallas stepped away from the door and opened it, casting his friend something close to a smile. “Sorry.”

“Don’t start that shit. Not now.” Adele walked in, shut the door behind him, then yanked Dallas into his arms.

The moment they wrapped around him—warm and safe—he collapsed. He didn’t cry. He didn’t scream. But all the fight drained out of him like Adele had pulled a plug, and he was nothing more than a hollow shell.

“It’s going to be okay,” Adele murmured. “What did your lawyer say?”

Dallas swallowed heavily. “To keep Audra. He’s making some calls right now. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I still want to leave, but I’m afraid she’s still out there.”

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