“I’m not going anywhere without April.”
“That’s not happening.”
“We’ll see about that. I’ll get a fucking lawyer. I’ve spent the last few years getting my life together. Unlike you, apparently, who has to mooch off some athlete to survive.”
His words sting, even though I know I shouldn’t let him get to me like this. That’s what he does. He finds the soft spots and presses until it hurts.
“My daughter isn’t leaving with you,” I say, squaring my shoulders and standing toe to toe with him. He might be bigger, but I’m not scared of him anymore. Not when it comes to protecting April. “Not today or any other day. If you want to fight this legally, fine. Get a lawyer and go through the courts. But you’re not taking her today.”
“Now listen, you ungrateful?—”
“No.” I pull my phone from my pocket, hating that my hand has started to tremble. “You need to leave right now, or I’m calling the police. Your choice.”
For a moment, we just stare at each other. I can see the calculation in his eyes, the way he’s weighing his options and trying to decide if I’m bluffing.
I’m not.
I unlock my phone with shaking fingers and start to dial 911.
“What are you doing?” His voice shifts, turning low and dangerous. He takes a step toward me instead of away, close enough that I can smell his once-familiar cologne. “Hang up. Right now.”
Instead of responding, I press the final number and hold the phone up to my ear as the call connects.
“You fucking bitch,” he hisses, his narrowed eyes boring into mine. “You never could just do what you were told, could you? Always had to make everything harder than it needed to be.”
“911, what’s your emergency?”
Steven freezes, his nostrils flaring.
“I’m at my daughter’s school,” I say, my voice thready but loud enough that he can hear every word. “My ex showed up here and tried to take her. He’s threatening me, and I need help.”
His jaw tightens. For a second, I think he might lunge for me to try to wrestle the phone away from me or do something far worse, consequences be damned.
Instead, he lifts his hands slowly, almost mockingly. “Jesus Christ.”
I give the dispatcher the address, my eyes never leaving his face. I answer the woman’s questions as quickly as I can, telling her what he did, where we are, and that he’s still right in front of me.
Steven backs away one step at a time, shaking his head. “This isn’t over,” he mutters. “You hear me? You just made things a whole lot worse for yourself. Hope you’re fucking happy.”
“Stay where you are,” the dispatcher says in my ear. “Officers are on their way.”
Steven must be able to hear at least some of her words even at a distance, because he turns and stalks toward the parking lot. I force myself to stay upright and to keep watching as he gets into his car. I manage to give them a partial plate number and the make of the car before he pulls away.
“He’s leaving now,” I whisper past the lump in my throat. “He’s gone.”
“Are you injured?”
My voice finally cracks. “He grabbed my arm. I think it’s bruised. I just—I need to get to my daughter.”
“The officers will meet you there. Stay on the line.”
The adrenaline drains out of me all at once. My knees wobble, and I sink down onto the curb with my phone still pressed to my ear, breathing hard.
I have to hold it together. I can’t let myself fall apart.
Not yet. Not until I have April safely in my arms.
Chapter 40
