Page 115 of After the Vows

“But if I leave town, I’ll miss the custody hearing.”

Which is the entire idea.

“The custody hearing is a waste of time anyway.”

“Waste of time?” She hisses. “Getting custody of my daughter isn’t a waste of time.”

“Except you don’t care about Natalia. You want custody to get child support so you don’t have to work.”

“Child support is only fair if I have to raise our child alone.”

She won’t be raisingmydaughter.

“Do you know who was in the restaurant this afternoon?” I ask.

“The slut you’re pretending to be married to.”

I growl and step forward. Weston clears his throat and I stop. I force my anger down. As satisfying as wringing Holly’s neck might be, it won’t solve the problem.

“The judge for the custody hearing,” I tell her.

She pales. “The judge?”

“Yep.”

“How do you know who the judge is?”

“My lawyer, who was also at the restaurant, pointed her out to me.”

“Your lawyer?”

“Yep. I probably have to pay for his lunch seeing as it became a business lunch, but it’s a small price to pay.”

“There must be more judges on this stupid island.”

“Actually,” Weston interrupts. “There are but Judge Clara is the juvenile court judge.”

“You couldn’t have chosen a better time or place to have your little hissy fit.”

She scowls. “A couple of chairs broke. It’s not a big deal.”

“If you don’t accept this deal, you’ll be charged with attempted assault. In addition to spending time in jail, the owners of the brewery could start a civil suit to have you pay for replacing the chairs.”

“Take the deal,” Weston says. “Considering how many people saw you attempt to assault his wife, you’ll probably end up with the maximum time in jail.”

Holly studies my face. If she thinks I’ll be lenient because she’s the mother of my child, she doesn’t know me at all. She tried to injure my wife. She’s lucky I was with Weston when the call came in or who knows how I would have responded.

No one – not even my ex – is allowed to harm my wife.

“Fine. Whatever.”

“You’ll take the deal?” I ask.

“I’ll take the deal.”

“I’ll drive you off the island,” Weston offers.

“Right now?”

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