Page 130 of The Long Game

The angry old man scoffed. “Never that. No son of mine associates with the likes ofhim.” He gestured at René, who looked more amused than insulted. “You’re René Gauthier, aren’t you?”

“I am,” he agreed mildly.

Grady’s father eyed Grady. “What will your command think of this?”

The threat wasn’t subtle, and Jack was worried. Having René in the home of a member of the RCMP probably wasn’t ideal.

Grady arched an eyebrow at Jack. “When you said you had a friend with connections…”

Jack shrugged. “I did mention we exchange Christmas cards.”

Grady snorted. “I thought you were kidding, and I certainly didn’t realize it was…” He gestured at René, then shook his headand laughed. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. What matters is Hannah is safe.”

Jack glanced over his shoulder to find Hannah, tears streaming down her face, whispering furiously to Daphne. Colton held her hand while Sam rubbed her back, which made Jack’s chest feel full to bursting with tenderness and pride. They were such good people and he loved them to fucking pieces.

God, when had he become so…gooey?

“See something you like?” Hannah’s father asked in a cruel and lecherous voice.

The only sounds in the room were Barnaby gagging and the minor skirmish of Callum holding Rupert to his side, lifting his feet off the ground to keep him from coming over and…god only knewwhathe’d do.

Jack looked the man up and down. “You, sir, are fucking disgusting.”

The older man’s color went deep red, cheeks mottled, his anger—hisviolence—clear to see. Jack almost wished he’d go for it. No one in this room was going to let him touch the kids, or hurt Jack, but Jack wouldn’t mind getting a few shots in while he tried.

Daphne stepped in front of the wretched man. “Are you Donovan Jacob Michaels, father to Hannah Michaels?”

“Yeah, she’s mine.”

Jack’s throat burned with bile.

“She has stated she does not wish to return home with you. She claims you’ve attempted to force her into a marriage, at age sixteen, that she does not want, and that she’s been punished for refusing to agree.”

“She’s pregnant!”

Hannah curled in on herself, her arms crossed over her abdomen. Colton and Sam still held her between them, fierce protectors. Jack adored them.

“Quite,” Daphne agreed. “She has also assured me she will run away again if forced to return home with you. She believes the punishment for her actions this week may include physical abuse.”

“She’s earned it,” he ground out grimly.

Jack blinked. Was that…meant to be a defense?

“So you admit you intend to physically harm the minor child, Hannah Michaels,” Daphne stated.

Donovan’s eyes darted around the room. “Uh…”

“Sir, I have”—Daphne made a show of scanning the apartment and counting—“Eleven? Eleven adult witnesses to you indicating you mean to cause the pregnant minor child Hannah Michaels physical harm. Do you deny this?”

Grady’s father glared balefully at his brother-in-law. Jack bit back a smile of pure vindictive glee. He hoped Donovan would be the one on the receiving end of some corporal punishment after this.

“Mr. Michaels, I can’t, in good conscience, send that child home with you until this is investigated further, and I, and the courts, have assurances that the child will not be harmed or coerced into marriage.”

“They can’t just keep her,” he said, gesturing at Jack and Grady.

“She can be taken into the provincial care system and assigned to foster parents.”

Rupert stood straighter and Callum smiled, slow and wide. “We’re registered foster parents.”

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