“Leave my family alone.” I pulled the brake and slammed my feet down, barely resisting the urge to toss the bike and launch at the asshole. “Izzy already signed the papers.”
“Under duress. While vulnerable.” He turned the scooter around, annoyingly returning to me. “Before she knew she had family support available,” he said, forcing the words out through a clenched jaw.
“Jesus fucking christ. Can you stop?” I clenched the bike grip, my body inches away from shaking with the fury bubbling in my chest. “She doesn’t want your meddling so stay the fuck out of my business.”
He opened his mouth and I conceded that this was it. Julian would murder me but at this point I gave no fucks. I was going to deck the bastard and I’d enjoy every second of it.
Before he could get a word out, an electric scooter appeared ahead of us, carrying someone who looked like she’d stepped off a magazine cover.
“Finally found you,” she said, her cheery American voice doing nothing to ease my need to slam Callaghan’s face into the track. “We’ve got content to shoot and you’re out here wasting time.”
I glanced between them, noting how Callaghan’s fake sunny expression died the moment Harper appeared. His jaw clenched, shoulders stiffened.
The great Jesse Callaghan, world champion, reduced to a dancing monkey for social media because he couldn’t control his temper. The sight of his misery was the first thing that had made me smile since this conversation started.
“Just chatting track with Griffin.”
She snorted. Everyone knew we hated the other’s guts.
“Your followers are waiting. Move. Now.”
“Fine.” Callaghan sighed, but then his gaze fixed on me again and some of that venom bled back into his expression. “Think about what I said. It doesn’t have to be complicated.” His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “You just have to hand her over.”
“Careful, Jesse,” I drawled, pitching my voice loud enough for Harper to hear. “Don’t keep the boss waiting. You know how grumpy you get when you miss your screen time.”
His head snapped toward me, eyes flashing with murder. That name, combined with the humiliation of being ordered around like an intern, made a vein throb in his temple.
“Laugh while you can,” he muttered. “But let’s be real, Griffin. We both know an unstable playboy like you was never going to be allowed to keep her. I’m just doing the kid a favor before you ruin her like you ruin everything else.”
The bike hit the tarmac with a metallic crash as I dropped it, rage finally consuming me. Liam lunged forward, Al shouted something behind us, but I was already moving, closing the distance to Callaghan’s scooter in three quick strides.
“Get out of my face before I make sure you can’t drive this weekend.” My hands were shaking with the effort of not wrapping them around his throat. “Touch my daughter and I’ll end you.”
Callaghan’s eyes widened. Maybe he could see it in my face, that I was past caring about consequences, past caring about championships or careers or anything except the threat to my child.
“I saidnow, Jesse.” Harper’s tone brooked no argument.
Callaghan glared at me, but wisely followed Harper to the pit entrance, leaving me shaking on the empty track.
“That was a custody threat,” Liam said quietly.
“Every bloody word of it.”
“What are you going to do?”
I pulled out my phone and started dialing. “Shut him down before he can even start.”
I walked away from Liam, needing space, needing air that didn’t taste like Callaghan’s poison. The phone rang twice before she picked up.
“Griffin? Is everything alright?”
“No, it’s not.” My voice came out rougher than I’d intended. “I need to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me.”
“Okay,” Izzy said, her voice shaking.
“Do you want Hazel back? Have you changed your mind about the custody papers?” The question nearly choked me. “Because your brother seems to think you made a mistake.”
“What?” Izzy made a sound of disgust.“What’s my dickhead of a brother done now?”
