He dipped his head, but it wasn’t in acquiescence.He wasdeigningto listen to my story.
“You don’t have to talk about that now,” Paloma said.
She’d pocketed her phone and set her hand on my shoulder, shooting daggers at Gunnar, who didn’t bother to look at her.I kept my gaze focused solely on this man, who seemed just like my father—a man who didn’t care about the people who worked for him or surrounded them.So long as he got his money and the organization remained successful, the rest of us were just chess pieces to move and throw away.
“Trent slid a ring on my finger andinformedme we were getting married.Later that night, he pinned me to the bed andinformedme that I was getting pregnant, regardless of my feelings or goals, so I ended our relationship.Before that moment, I would have sworn he loved me.”
I tucked my lips into my mouth.This was why I’d given up on men.Trent was the last in the string of men I’d dated—and slept with—who’d failed me.He went right along with my father’s plan to try to tie up my life and choices in a conservatorship.
“What does that have to do with your father suing for custody of one of my players’ kids?”
Right.Gunnar Evaldson had an agenda.I met his gaze.
“After I left Trent, my father sided with him, explaining that it was my job to keep my husband happy—and that no one else would want me after Trent, anyway.He threatened to set up a conservatorship because I wasn’t in my right mind to turn down Trent.”
“Your father threatened you with legal action if you didn’t marry Trenton Cox?”Paloma asked.She’d turned a sickly shade of white.“Holy crap!”
I nodded.“I left this city after my father sent me a series of videos of me with other men.He’d been documenting my dating life and told me he’d use it against me in court.”
“To force you to marry the man you didn’t love or want?”Gunnar asked.
I nodded.“You don’t get far or have much freedom when those two men intend to make you suffer.”
Gunnar’s eyes narrowed, and he steepled his fingers.“I’m going to be honest with you, Ms.Jones—”
“Millie.Just Millie.”I wanted nothing to do with my father.Ever.I’d been so excited when Luka mentioned me taking his name.There was nothing I wanted more.
Gunnar inclined his head.“I talked to your father earlier.He painted you as too flighty to handle his business and fortune.He insinuated drug use and mental illness.”
I laughed, but choked on the emotion in my throat.“I was on antidepressants after my mother died.Pills he insisted I needed.”
Now I understood why: my father had been building the case against me, even then.He’d planned to force the conservatorship on me, force me to bend to his whim and will.
The door banged open and Cruz strode in, much like an angry bull, ready to fight.
Neither Gunnar nor I flinched.I was too busy sorting through the details of my father’s betrayal.I swallowed and plotted the molecular formula of a sodium oxalate, a complicated ion made up of sodium, carbon, and oxygen.
“Your father seemed concerned for Luka and your child, worried that you’d destroy his career and cannot provide a stable home for your daughter,” Gunnar continued.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake!”Paloma cried.“That’s ridiculous!She’s an attentive, wonderful mother.”Her mouth twisted.“And it shouldneverhave been questioned.”
“You’re here,” I said.“To test my intelligence and my story.”
“Seriously?”Cruz growled.
Paloma gave a curt nod in agreement.
“You’re leaving,” Cruz said.“Not sure what I’m most mad about—that you showed up knowing Luka wasn’t here, or that you interrogated a woman who just had a baby about a merger.”
“My timing is intentional, and I have a few more questions.”Gunnar’s tone remained mild.I would never underestimate him.
Again Cruz made a sound—almost inhuman—as anger radiated off him like heat.
“Too bad,” Paloma snarled.
Oh no, she’d gone all mama bear, too.I stared up at two people I really didn’t know well—two people who were defending me from their boss.“It’s okay, Paloma, Cruz.Really.I’m okay.”
“I’m not,” Cruz said, fisting his hands and moving in front of me.I had to crane my neck to see around his bulk.Gunnar appeared perturbed for the first time.Clearly, he wasn’t used to Cruz’s anger.
