Page 34 of Steele

“Don’t I?”

Sitting this close, I stared into his eyes. Whiskers shadowed his jaw. My body still carried the abrasions of his touch against my flesh. Holly was wrong. There was something wrong with me. Everything about him would wreck my life, but I think maybe he needed someone to confide in. “No. You don’t, but I’m here.”

“And I’m sitting here wondering why you’d believe me. Wondering why I’d care if you didn’t. But that’s the fucking rub. I care. Not just because of Lili. I don’t want you thinking my kid has a dad who would do this shit.” He stared at the paper. “I never forced my way into the house, and I never laid a hand on her.”

I could hear the conviction in his voice, but his persuasive tone didn’t mean Lili’s mom was lying. There were always two sides to a story. “Okay.”

“Okay? Nah. Nothing is okay.” He finished his beer and glanced down to the end of the bar looking for the bartender.

I slid the porter over to him. “I’m not going to drink it.” And he was going to need a ride home.

He set his empty beer glass to the side. “I can’t see my kid. I can’t call her.” He chuckled as he lifted the glass. His eyebrow cocked. “Actually, by talking to you, I’m sure they’d figure out a way to say I was breaking terms of the order. I’m not allowed at her school or to contact her teacher.”

“They don’t have to know.” They couldn’t know. We both had a lot to lose by being seen together. I couldn’t walk away from him, not tonight. We both had horrible days. I wasn’t going to make it worse for either one of us. “What happens now?”

“I get an attorney. The MC has a lawyer on retainer. Maybe he has some advice. His specialty is keeping Hellers out of prison.”

I struggled swallowing the bite of pizza in my mouth. “Have you ever been to prison?”

His lips twisted with a smile. “Need another reason to stay away from me?”

I shrugged. “I think we have enough of those, but I’m adept at making bad decisions.”

“I’ve been arrested but I’ve never served hard time.”

“Why were you arrested?”

“Drunk and disorderly conduct and trespassing, and I once got caught stealing road signs when I was a teenager. My best friend and I had the brilliant idea of having Slippery When Wet signs in our bedrooms. Served six months of probation for that one.”

“Did you get to keep the sign?”

He chuckled and took a drink of the porter. Part of me enjoyed watching Brett drink Jeff’s beer and eat his pizza. He took another slice of the Wise Guy, and I pulled a slice from his Margherita.

“I have some experience in lawsuits,” I said. I was currently being sued by my husband’s mistress and his parents. “The best defense is a strong offense.”

I reached for the papers and unfolded them. “You’ll want a family law attorney. I…uh…I know someone. You won’t be fighting the accusations because there isn’t any evidence.” I was going to believe him. “You’ll be fighting the way the court will perceive you.”

He rolled his shoulders and guzzled more beer. “I’m fucked.”

I rested my hand on his thigh. “No, you aren’t. You can’t contact the school, but your attorney can. They’ll ask for emails and interactions we’ve had. I won’t have to lie. You came in for progress updates on Lili. I can even explain why.”

“And if they discover I’m into my kid’s teacher?”

I stared into his eyes as he tucked my hair behind my ear. I didn’t know how to respond. The chemistry between us was too potent. My nipples tightened with the heat of his fingertips gently grazing the tendon of my neck. This was going to get messy.

“No one can know,” I whispered, my own warm breath gusting past my slightly parted lips. “You can’t risk losing Lili.”

His hand fell away, and he leaned back in the chair. “How do I fight Natalie?”

“You print out every text message you’ve sent over the last year. I’m sure there are some ugly ones in the mix. You want to highlight those conversations so you can show her manipulations. The attorney will want all your email correspondences. Find any documentation you have on how often she’s kept you from Lili. You have to challenge Natalie’s credibility because she’s going to make the court question yours.”

He groaned and with a palm to his chin, cracked his neck. Then he said, “She’s on social media constantly posting family shit with her, Henri, and Lili.”

“Screenshot the posts and see if they contradict text messages where she denied you access to Lili. Did she keep her on your weekend? Were you always ready to step up if she asked you for something for Lili. You’re not going to be able to prove what happened in the house, but if you show that you’d been in the house numerous times without incident, that shows a pattern.”

“There was an incident last week. We had an argument over Donuts with Dad. Lili overheard.”

“What were your intentions when the incident occurred?” I picked one of the pepperonis off the Wise Guy and popped it into my mouth.