Page 86 of Nanny for the Protector

I went to the desk and picked up the custody papers. “Don’t worry, you’ve already done that.”

“I want another chance to be the mother Lucy deserves. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“No. Because, like always, Lisbeth, your reasons are selfish. This time, it’s all to do with a man.”

“That’s why I had Lucy in the first place! For aman!”

I froze. “I never pressured you.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“I would never have —”

Lisbeth growled. “It doesn’t matter what happened anymore. It’s in the past. What matters now is that I’m with the right man.”

I no longer loved Lisbeth. But I’d loved what we had, until she ran out on me and her daughter. I had no idea my memory was so…wrong.

“I’ll see you in two weeks for mediation. If you refuse, I’ll take you to court. Goodbye, Wesley.”

Lisbeth hung up first. She always left first. Always the deserter. She was good at that.

The reality of the situation settled over me.

I could lose Lucy to a woman who didn’t really want her. Didn’t trulyloveher. Not the way a child should be loved. It didn’t matter how good a case I had. Courts and lawyers always had more sympathy formothers. Never fathers.

Every time I thought things could work out with my company, my daughter, my girlfriend…Cara. Shit, not again. Lisbeth was coming back once more and making it nearly impossible to move on.

I gripped the phone as tight as I could until I snapped.

“Fuck!” I threw the phone against the wall as hard as I could.

Lisbeth was about to ruin everything. Again.

Chapter27

Cara

Waking up was hard that morning. I wasn’t sure if was the physical activity from the night before or the mental anguish of dealing with my parents.

I had prepared for my parents not to like Wesley. I thought I’d prepared for the worst. But clearly, I didn’t know how bad it could get.

I hadanticipated my parents being judgmental and disapproving, but not to the extent of telling me I wasn’t welcome in their house if I chose Wesley; if I chose what I felt like was turning into love. It was becoming clear to me they wanted a little girl and were not prepared for me to grow into a woman who could make decisions for herself.

But why have children if not to watch them grow and make their own life choices?

I wasn’t going to waste my time mourning what could have been last night. Or rather, I didn’t have the time. I had to prepare for a meeting with my worst new enemy. Danny Morden.

Since the walk through, we had been back and forth about numbers. Or should I say, he andWesleywere going back and forth. It was just through my email and with my signature. I had learned a lot but still needed a bit of hand-holding. And I wanted as much hand-holding as I could get from Wesley.

Now that we had developed our relationship, I loved watching him shift between his personal and professional sides. One second he’d be tenderly kissing my cheek, the next he’d be in a heated phone discussion about Readly. Something about his duality really turned me on.

Anyway, it was time to get up and face the day. I shook off my sleepiness and the nauseous feeling I had from all the drama of the day before, not to mention my upcoming meeting with Danny. I mentally prepared to go about my morning as usual — head to the Taves house, sneak a kiss with Wes, take Lucy to school, and then continue with my day.

On my way to meet Danny, I sent off a text to Wesley:Feeling nervous…

Usually, he was pretty prompt with responses, even if his day was jam-packed. But not this time. I stared at my phone, waiting for the three dots to appear.

Nothing.

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