"Because I was terrified of you."
"That's not how I remember it." His voice dropped, intimate and poisonous. "I remember you loving the lifestyle. The money. The attention. Mycock,” he sneered. “You weren't exactly complaining when I was paying for everything."
"I remember splitting the bills. Mostly I remember you hitting me."
"You remember wrong." He said it so smoothly, so confidently, that for a second she doubted herself. Then he softened. "But hey, I forgive you. For running. For taking my son. For hiding from me for all these years. I'm a changed man, April. I did my time. And now I want my family back."
"Never," April said. Her voice was shaking but firm. "Never happening."
Vince studied her for a long moment. Then the mask finally dropped completely. What was underneath chilled her to the bone.
"We'll see what a judge says. You can't keep a father from his son, April. I have rights. Parental rights. And I'm going to exercise them."
She pointed to the door. "Get out.Now."
"Oh, I'm going." He stood, pulling his sunglasses back out. "But I'll be seeing you soon. In court, if that's how you want to play it. Don’t expect to win a jackpot there.” He paused, looking down at her. "Do you even have that Speedy Thirty? Hope you didn’t hock it to keep this shithole running."
She sat up as straight as she could. “As a matter of fact, I do, and fuck you, Riversong is not a shithole. Now. Get. Out."
Vince held up his hands in mock surrender. "I'm going. But think about what I said, April. I'm not the bad guy here. Just remember, I tried to play nice first and you fucked it up. I just want to knowmyson. Little KevinRomano." He put on his sunglasses, turned to leave, then looked back over his shoulder. "See you soon, baby."
He walked out of Riversong like he just bought the place. Like he knew he’d just shattered April's entire world with twenty minutes of smooth lies and veiled threats.
April sat frozen at the table, her heart hammering so hard she thought it might crack her ribs.
Hannah and Sonny appeared at her elbow. "April? Baby girl, you okay?"
She looked up at her sister, then her dad, and whatever he saw in her face made him crouch down beside her chair.
"What’d he say to you?" Sonny asked, though his tone suggested he already knew.
"He knows about Kevin," April whispered. "He wants custody."
Sonny's expression went thunderous. "I should have thrown him out the second he walked in."
"You didn't know." April tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't cooperate. "I need to call Shane."
"Already did." Sonny pulled out his phone. "Called him the minute the two of you sat down. He should be here any?—"
The door burst open hard enough to rattle the frame.
TWENTY-FOUR
Shane camethrough it like a hurricane, his gaze scanning the room until he found her. Behind him came the rest of Mountain Division—Gabe straight from the rec center, Elias and Waylon still in their EMT uniforms, Ben, and even Bear down off his mountain.
Shane crossed the distance to her. "Are you okay? Did he touch you?"
April shook her head. She still couldn't seem to make her voice work properly.
Shane cupped her face in his hands, tilting it up so she had to look at him. "April. Talk to me. What happened?"
"He—" She had to stop, swallow, try again. "He wants custody. He's going to sue for full custody."
"The hell he is."
"He said he has rights. That a judge will?—"
"No." Shane's voice was flat and absolute. "He's not getting near Kevin. I promise you that."
