Page 11 of Theirs to Take

“Did you really think you had a chance to take Jack from me? You’ve already lost him once, it doesn’t matter who you get to handle your case, you will never win when you come up against me.”

Alex stood from his seat and put himself between Simon and Nova. “If you’d like to talk to my client, you will need to call my office and speak to me. I’ll happily relay any messages that you have for her.” Simon took a step back, swaying with the effort of trying to stand up straight. He was a big guy, but Alex was bigger, and he wasn’t drunk—both would play in his favor if Simon made a play at him.

“You don’t get to tell me that I can’t talk to my own wife, asshole,” Simon spat.

“Ex-wife,” Alex reminded.

Simon looked between the two of them and burst out into fits of laughter, his breath smelling like stale whiskey. “Oh—I see what’s going on here. You two are sleeping together, aren’t you?” he asked.

“What we do together isn’t your concern,” Alex countered. “Nova is no longer your concern.”

“She’s my concern as long as I say that she is,” Simon shouted, pointing his finger into Alex’s chest.

“You’ll want to remove your finger before I take it off for you,” Alex said, trying to keep his cool.

Simon let his hand drop to his side and looked around Alex, giving Nova a mean smile. “You know what, sweetheart?” he asked. “You won’t always have your protector here watching over you. At some point, you’ll have to go back to that rat hole you call home, and I’ll be there waiting for you. We’re going to go over a few things—you and I.”

“You won’t touch her again, asshole,” Alex said when he heard Nova gasp behind him. He hated that Simon was able to intimidate her like that. He had a feeling that Simon got off from intimidating women. If he had to guess, Simon had smacked Nova around to get her to comply with what he wanted from her. Guys like him were so predictable, it was pathetic.

“Oh, and how do you plan to stop me?” Simon challenged.

“Nova will have my full protection. You won’t be able to get to her—ever,” Alex promised.

“She’ll have to meet me to pick up our son on Saturday,” Simon taunted. “What will you do about that, McTavish?”

“I’ll be accompanying Nova to your home to pick up Jack. When she returns him to you, I will also be with her. I’ll be filing a complaint with the court to let them know that you have threatened Nova and she’ll be getting a restraining order against you. How does that work for you, Simon?” Alex taunted.

“Whatever,” Simon said. He looked around the restaurant at the people who had stopped eating their dinners to watch the little show that he was putting on and Alex knew exactly what he was thinking. Nova now had witnesses to help collaborate on her case and there was nothing that Simon could do about it.

“They don’t matter,” Simon whispered. “None of this matters because I have an ace up my sleeve—something that you’ll never be able to beat, McTavish.” Alex wondered what Simon was talking about until he remembered the rumors that circulated about Simon’s firm paying off judges. Nothing ever came of the investigation, but the firm wasn’t cleared of wrongdoing either. The accusations just seemed to disappear, and Alex always wondered why that was.

“You can pay off every damn judge in the county,” Alex said. From the way Simon’s eyes flared, he could tell that he had guessed correctly. “It won’t matter though. I’ll appeal this case all the way up and sooner or later, your reach, and money won’t mean a thing. Play dirty all you’d like, asshole. I know how to play even dirtier.”

Simon barked out his laugh and turned to leave. “See you soon, Nova,” he said over his shoulder, not bothering to even look back at her.

Alex sat back down at the table and took her trembling hands into his own. “What are those papers?” she asked, nodding to the envelope that Simon left behind.

“I petitioned the court to reopen your custody case. I guess Simon was served and he didn’t like what those papers had to say,” he said.

“You’ve already petitioned the court? But I don’t even have an apartment yet,” she said. “I’ve only known you for a day now, and you’re already working my case?”

He shrugged, “What can I say?” he asked. “I’m a fast mover.” He was too—especially when it came to Nova. Everything about her made him want to hurry things along, to get to the good parts. He knew that for her, getting her son back would be the best part and he couldn’t wait to make that happen for her.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’ve never had anyone do something like that for me. My last lawyer took forever to get anything done.”

“No problem,” he breathed. “And you really need to stop comparing me to your last lawyer, honey. I’m betting that we have very little in common.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I still have to find a place to live, and now, Simon is threatening to come after me. God only knows what he’ll do to me this time.”

“This time?” Alex questioned. “What did Simon do to you before, Nova?” he asked.

She looked down to where he was still holding her hands and back up to him. “He used to hit me,” she admitted. “I thought that he just needed to get some help—you know? I thought that making partner had stressed him out and that he was just blowing off some steam. Hell, I even thought that it was my fault for so long, but then, he did it in front of Jack, and I knew that I could never let it happen again. That’s when I started putting allof the puzzle pieces together and figured out that he was having affairs.”

“As in more than one?” he asked.

“Yep—too many to count,” she said. “I confronted him, and he told me that I should have kept my nose out of his business and that’s when he told me that our marriage was over.”

“I’m so sorry, honey,” Alex said.

---