Page 73 of Renewal After Dark

McKenzie swallowed the lump of fear that landed in her throat. “I’m not afraid of him,” she said with more conviction than she felt. “And I’m one hundred percent over him. The minute he lied and said he’d had a vasectomy, I knew he’d never been the person I thought he was.”

“Takes a special kind of guy to be that kind of deceitful. You may be doing his wife and kids a favor to blow the lid off his game.”

“I feel bad about the possibility of hurting innocent people, but I want Jax to have everything he needs. That would be a lot easier with financial help from his father.”

“You’re owed that by law. Let’s remind him of that, shall we?”

“Yes, please.”

Kendall withdrew her phone from her purse. “Give me your number.” She punched it into her phone as McKenzie recited it. “Tomorrow, I’ll reach out to get his name and anything else you know about where we might find him, such as an office or somewhere he might be during the day. I’ll put together a letter that I’ll run by you and then have delivered to him by certified mail. That’ll get his attention. He may propose a settlement that’ll allow him to keep you and Jax a secret from his wife. I’ve heard of that happening in cases like this.”

“I suppose it might be for the best if it worked out that way.”

“We’ll see what happens. I’ll reach out tomorrow about the letter, and we’ll go from there.”

“Let me know how much I owe you.”

“We’ll worry about that if we’re successful. I’ll send you a retainer letter by email and will be in touch.”

“Thank you so much.”

“Happy to help if I can.” She stood to rejoin her family. “More to come. It was nice to meet you.”

“You, too.”

A few minutes after Kendall had left the table, Duke returned with Jax. “How’d it go?”

“Great. She’s going to work on a letter to send him.”

“That’s good news. Sometimes all it takes to get someone’s attention is a letter from a lawyer.”

“Tiffany said the same thing the first time we talked about this.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“Kind of nervous. I hope it doesn’t get ugly.”

“If it does, he won’t have any idea where to find you.”

“That’s true.”

“Try not to worry. You’re doing the right thing for Jax by forcing him to step up. It’s the very least he can do.”

They were joined by Sierra and some of her colleagues from the massage studio, whom she introduced to McKenzie and Jax.

Like before, McKenzie had the same odd reaction to the sexy woman who was obviously close to Duke. She’d never been big on jealousy, as it seemed like a waste of time to want what other people had. But there was no way she could deny that Sierra got to her the way no other woman ever had.

It was so weird to be experiencing a brand-new emotion as she watched Duke chat with his friends.

Sierra was perfectly nice and friendly to everyone, so McKenzie couldn’t explain her reaction to the other woman.

“Are you okay?” Duke asked McKenzie.

“Yes, of course.”

“Where are you from, McKenzie?” Sierra asked.

“Coventry. It’s up by Providence.”

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