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Chapter One
BECKETT
My life was spiraling out of fucking control.
I paced my office, ten steps forward, ten steps back. Even the view outside my floor-to-ceiling windows of the clear blue skyline of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, didn’t help like it usually did. Anger rolled through me, anger that I couldn’t get rid of and only seemed to grow with each passing day.
“Mr. Hunter. We’re gathering evidence, but limiting your daughter’s contact with her grandparents might be in your best interest until we go to court.” My lawyer’s voice came through the speakerphone of my cell lying on my large wooden desk.
I rubbed my thumb and forefinger across my forehead hard enough to leave bruises. The urge to scream or go for a long run to escape my current situation scraped at the back of my mind. “How exactly am I going to explain to my eight-year-old that we need to limit visits with the same grandparents who helped raise her?”
“Mr. Hunter, I know this is difficult—”
“I didn’t expect a response, Reese,” I answered sharply. No one had advice on how to easily navigate this situation. “And I think we know each other well enough now that you can call me Beckett.” I’d been on the phone with him daily since Heather’s parents, Zoey’s maternal grandparents, had dropped this bomb on me a week ago.
“Beckett, we’re doing everything we can to fight this. You’re Zoey’s biological father. They must build a strong case of neglect before any judge grants them custody.”
“I’m a good father.” I dropped back into the chair behind my desk. My hands slammed down on the desktop. I couldn’t lose my daughter. I couldn’t even fathom the gaping hole that would be left behind if that happened. And I’dneverwalk away from her like my own father had done. “I’ve always been a constant in her life.”
“I know, and the fact that you never missed your weekends with her will help your case. In addition to that, relocating from New York to keep Zoey’s life the same after her mother died will go a long way too. We have a strong case against them, Beckett.”
I sighed. Reese was right. We had a strong case, but I couldn’t help but wonder if I was missing something. Ever since Heather died, Zo and I had been trying to find our new normal. My business partner and former best friend, Grayson Wolfe, and I opened a new branch of our company, Otzarreta, in Rhode Island so that I could be here for her. And now I had to face Heather’s parents, Marjorie and Glen, in court to fight their petition to gain custody ofmydaughter.
“We need to gather character witnesses. People who play a role in Zoey’s life. Family friends, Zoey’s teacher.”
I let out a mirthless laugh. “The teacher might not be on our side, I’m afraid.”
“Then you need to fix things with her, Beckett.” Reese’s voice sounded resigned. “She’s a big part of Zoey’s life right now. She sees her during the day, she’s the advisor to the after-school club Zoey attends, and from what you’ve told me, she’s taken an interest in Zoey’s well-being. You don’t want Heather’s parents to use her against you. That would be bad for us.” Zoey’s second-grade teacher, Wren Winter, only tolerated me enough to send updates about my daughter and her increasingly erratic behavior at school. One minute Zo was her sweet self, and the other she was verbally lashing out at her friends. I’d tried to talk to her about it, but she stayed strangely tight-lipped.
I shook my head. “I’ll see what I can do.” There was no way I had any chance in hell of changing Wren’s mind. The curvy beauty had me twisted in knots in more ways than one.
My mind drifted back to our first meeting.
She delivered pastries to my company’s board meeting with her best friend, who owned the bakery. Wren’s beauty far surpassed every other woman I’d ever met, surprising me. I had to act like I wasn’t affected when I opened the door. Her pale skin, deep brown eyes, hair as black as night, thick hips, and an ass I wanted to grab onto as I plowed into her from behind were not the thoughts I should have of my daughter’s second-grade teacher. Although, to be fair, I had no idea who she was at the time.
I couldn’t remember when I’d responded so fast to a woman.
When her light pink tongue had darted out to swipe over her bottom lip, I immediately waved her into the room and turned away. It didn’t matter if I was being rude. I didn’t need my dick to get any harder than it was. I’d been in the middle of a critical acquisition update, and there was no way I could continue presenting to our board with a raging boner.
“You better, Beckett. We need as many people on our side as we can.”
“I know,” I grumbled. “I have a meeting with her after school today to discuss Zoey’s progress this year and how we can support her. I’ll find a way to fix things.”
“Perfect.” Reese sounded more confident than I felt. Once Wren had realized our board meeting was about demolishing the building she and her best friend, Ruby, lived in, she declared us enemies. And I’d done nothing to change that.
My phone beeped with an incoming call.
“Reese, I need to run. Zoey’s calling on the other line.”
“Get in touch with me later this week to check in.”
“Sure,” I answered, my attention on the incoming number flashing across my screen. “Bye.”
I tapped the button to answer.
“Daddy—” Zoey wailed on the other line.
“What’s going on? You okay, princess?” My breath caught. Her tears slayed me. I had to fight the urge to run home to her. Logically I knew her after-school caregiver, Lila, would have called me if it was significant.