She hung up and I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off.“You need to get ahead of this.Vance is willing to meet with you even though he’s in New York.He normally doesn’t do Zoom, says he can’t read people properly or something like that, but he’s going to make an exception for us.”She held out her hand.“Now, show me the documents.I want to read every word of what that microdick requested.”
Since I only understood about a quarter of what I’d read, I gladly handed it over.
Malena’s face grew redder and redder with every page she turned.By the time she got to the last sentence, she resembled Elana when she was about to throw herself on the ground.
“That disgusting spineless bazinga.”
My hands grew clammy at her rage because it couldn’t mean anything good.
“He wants them, doesn’t he?”
Malena rushed over, enveloping me in a hug.Keely joined in, rubbing my back.
“He can want them, but he’ll never get them.He doesn’t even know them.”
I flinched at Malena’s cutting—but honest—statement.
Keely kicked her, and she swatted her away.“Ouch.Sorry, chiquita, but we both know it’s the truth.”
Taking a deep breath, I untangled myself from the group hug.If I thought about this any longer, I would be a sobbing mess on the floor.This was a case of “ignorance is the only way forward.”“Okay.Let’s get back to work.And tomorrow I’ll meet with Vance to sort this out.”
Keely kissed my cheek.“You got this.And we got you.So don’t worry, this will all be okay.”
She disappeared to her office in the back, where she’d no doubt research divorce cases even though she wasn’t practicing family law and never had.
Malena squeezed my hand.“We’re here for you.Anything you need.”
Giving her a half-assed smile, I nodded.“I know.”
She went to her office, leaving me to sink into my chair.
I couldn’t understand why Cockalorum would want the kids.He had never spent any time with them.They barely knew him.Even when he was living with us, he was never around.He’d always wanted a son but got two daughters instead.Something he resented and had never hidden from his kids.
But I’d do whatever it took to stop him from taking my babies away from me.And the first step was to meet with the lawyer tomorrow.I only hoped he was as good as Malena promised.
Chapter two
Nobodytoldmelogginginto Zoom would be so difficult.I hadn’t had many online meetings, and I always forgot what I’d done the last time to make it work.When I finally found the correct link to click, I knocked my pen and paper off the table in surprise when a separate window opened up.
Bending down, I fished them out from under my chair.
“Did someone break into your house?”
The clipped voice drifted into my living room, and I shot up straight.My eyes darted to the kitchen visible in the background and the dishes stacked up in the sink.The counter was filled with drawings and pencils, and the floor was covered in toys and clothes.
Turning my attention to the screen, I wondered if I was in the right call.Because I was looking at the most striking man I’d ever seen.He looked like he was posing for a magazine.
He had tanned skin, jet-black hair that was a little longer on top, and a well-trimmed beard.His large frame filled the screen, and if I hadn’t been so stunned, I’d have been intimidated by his size.His wide shoulders strained the edges of the shirt he wore, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing off muscular forearms.He wasn’t classically beautiful; his nose had a small bump on top as if he’d broken it, and his features were too masculine to be called anything but rugged.
The last thing I’d expected was my lawyer to resemble a Hawaiian warrior who could throw me over his shoulder and… well, point made, I guess.
He narrowed his beautiful hazelnut eyes at my daughter, who was leaning into the frame, her face covering the camera almost completely.It seemed he was getting closer acquainted with the insides of her nostrils if he wanted to or not.“Hello, hello, hello.”
Picking up Elana and pulling her onto my lap, I nervously chuckled.“You must be Mr.Moore.”I shifted her to the chair next to me when she leaned over to reach her Play-Doh.“I’m Mae Porter.Sorry about the mess.Kids, you know.”
He didn’t look as if he knew; his face remained stoic, his attention flitting briefly to where my daughter was now seated before focusing back on me.“Let’s get started.”
I wiped my suddenly sweaty hands on my pants.“Of course.”
