Page 11 of His Custody

“Go right ahead. If you don’t mind me making some phone calls of my own.”

Sarah stopped in her tracks, the first time he’d ever seen her less than confident. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about a certain senator who’ll be interested to know you were fucking her husband for six months behind her back while she paid you through the nose to redo their beach house in the Hamptons. I’m talking about a certain society maven whose Park Avenue penthouse you were hired to design. You promised to choose every detail yourself but your intern handled ninety percent of the project.

“When those women find out how badly you’ve fucked them, they’ll make sure you never work again. Maybe you’ll find a gig at a split level in Hoboken, but that whole ‘I won’t show up for less than a million dollar job’ thing is going to be right out the window. And I’ve seen your books, Sarah. They aren’t clean.”

She blanched, and he could’ve left off there, but now he was feeling vindictive. She wanted to threaten him? She wanted to take out her anger and insecurity on a kid? One he was responsible for and who was hurting already? No fucking way. She could’ve walked away, but no. And now he was going to burn the whole thing down.

“When I say I’ve seen your books, I mean I’ve seen them all. You’ve been living like a queen for the past ten years, trying to rub elbows with the right people and fit in with your clients, but you’ve only been getting paid that way for the past three. That leaves some big debts. What happens when those start getting called in because some people owe me some favors? I can destroy you, and if you come after Keyne I won’t hesitate. And the thing is? In the end, I’ll get her back and you know it. Some way, somehow. I will be fucking ruthless about it.

“So put your phone away and get the fuck out of my house. We’re done here. I don’t want to see your face or hear your voice ever again. If social services shows up I’ll know who called them and I will set those dominoes in motion. Try me.”

The blood had rushed out of Sarah’s face, leaving her as pale as if she’d dusted herself with the coke instead of blowing it all over his den. She hadn’t known. Maybe she’d thought the descriptions of him as a wolf had been exaggerations. That he was some housebroken lapdog who liked to growl occasionally. Notion, disabused.

“Jasper...” Sarah’s wide-open, unblinking eyes made her look wounded and disbelieving but he was unmoved. Her crass self-absorption had turned him to stone.

“Get out. Now.”

She shook her head, the vulnerable look disappearing, her brassy ponytail swinging behind her. “I’m right. You’ll see.”

She turned on her heel and walked out, leaving footprints in the fine layer of dust that had settled on the rug while Jasper stood there, his hands clenching into fists.

As soon as the front door slammed shut, he stormed off to find Ada, kicking his shoes off as he got to the threshold so he wouldn’t make more of a mess than necessary. He’d have to check that Sarah hadn’t left any surprises on her way out either. Thank god Keyne was out like a light and wouldn’t know; she didn’t need the guilt of feeling like she’d broken them up even though it’d been inevitable. She wouldn’t see it that way.

***

When Keyne woke up in the morning, it was to a note from Jasper on her bedside table.

Keyne,

I have a few things to discuss with you. After you’re up and have eaten, come find me in the library.

-J

It was funny he wrote her notes instead of texting like a normal person. But she liked the paper, the way a little bit of Jasper must be etched into the surface because of the aggressive way he wrote. She knew he did it because if he was in a rush, he couldn’t even read his own writing. But this, the forceful way he painstakingly made sure she’d be able to read it, it made her feel like he cared.

Even if he was awkward, and didn’t know what to do with her, he was trying. The least she could do was try too.

She took a shower and got dressed, headed down to the kitchen where Ada had some waffles keeping warm in the oven for her, and tried to eat. Food used to be something she looked forward to, but now it was another chore on the long list of things she needed to do. More accurately, that Jasper told her she needed to do.

It was something he tried not to make a big deal out of, but he got edgy when she didn’t eat. Maybe he was worried she’d refuse in a bid to waste away into nothing? Come to think of it, that didn’t seem like such a terrible idea. There had to be worse ways to go than starving yourself to death. Like drowning...

She shook her head and cut off a few bites. Objectively, she knew the waffles were delicious but they may as well be sawdust in her mouth. It was like the guys her friends thought were cute. She could play the game, and gossip about the same boy-band stars and hot actors they did because she knew she was supposed to find them attractive, but she... didn’t. Didn’t fantasize about them, didn’t hang their posters on her wall. Had sometimes wondered if there was something wrong with her.

She took another bite of her waffles, this one a square she’d cut so it was filled to the brim with syrup, and still. No pleasure at all.

Jasper had looked almost hopeful when he told her Sasha’s mom had called him asking if Keyne wanted to spend the night. Was it because he wanted some time with Sarah? She tried to give them privacy, space. Jasper hadn’t seemed to mind if she wanted to be around them, to hear other people breathing, living, even if she pretended to read a book. But Sarah had given her dirty looks. Had she done something wrong? She couldn’t think of it if she had, but for the first month or so she’d been here, she’d been more of a ghost than a person and she couldn’t remember. It seemed far away.

When she’d said no, though, he hadn’t seemed irritated. Accepted her answer with a nod and headed out of her room, saying into the phone he had tucked against his shoulder that it was kind of them to offer, but Keyne wasn’t ready yet...

She took one more bite and then pushed her plate away. Giving Ada as much of a smile as she could manage so she wouldn’t think it was her, she also said thank you. Because her parents had taught her manners, dammit, and she’d hold onto any bit of them she could.

Next on her list was finding Jasper. He’d said he’d be in the library, which was one of her favorite rooms in the house. She liked it better than his office because the chairs in the library were meant to sink into. Some were so big she could hide inside of them.

When she got there, the door was open, and she could hear Jasper on the phone.

“Why the fuck is he dragging his feet so hard on this? Because I’m not—”

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