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There’s hesitation to answer my question, but she surprisingly does. “Because I thought if I had joint custody, I could still see you.” For the first time, sadness laces her words.
I want to grab her by the throat and shake some parental sense into her. “So it had nothing to do with them,” I deduce, anger pulsing through me in waves.
She nods.
I can’t even accurately describe how much hate I have for her. It’s damn near suffocating. “They deserve better than you,” I growl, shaking my head. “Correct the goddamn papers and I’ll sign them.”
I can tell by the way Tara’s watching me, the jealousy in her eyes when she noticed my arm around Kacy, this girl, she doesn’t love the man who gave her that ring on her finger. At least not completely. There’s a good part of her that’s still in love with me. And though I want to hate her, there’s a fraction of my heart that cares for her as the mother of my girls.
I lean into the stone pillar next to me, inhaling a slow, steady breath. “Do they mean anything to you?”
Her gaze falters and lands on her ring. “What kind of question is that, Barron?” That’s my answer. I knew this answer. I expected it, but it still hurts like hell that the lives we created together are easily replaced. This is Tara though. I don’t think she’s capable of loving anyone besides herself.
“And me?” I ask, because I’m curious what my role in all this had been. A boy she used for a good time?
She rolls her eyes, as if that’s a stupid question. “Of course I do.”
I don’t miss the present tense she uses. That’s when I realize what a shitty person she is. She can love me, but not them? It’s obvious, they’re better off not knowing her.
Her eyes drift to the house again. “Can I see them?”
“No! Goddamn it,” I yell. That’s when I lose my shit completely and send my fist into the side of the house. I regret it immediately because I’m pretty sure I just broke my hand, but the pain is nothing compared to this anger pulsating through me. Tara yelps and jumps back, unprepared for my temper. I step toward her, close enough she feels my breath on her face, but I don’t touch her. “You left me with a fucking newborn and no reason. I haven’t had a life in three years, and you come here and rip it up again. Well, too fucking bad. You’re toxic. I don’t want you anywhere near them. You either change the papers and give me full custody or stay married to me. Take it to trial. You know I’ll win and get custody anyways. But you won’t do that, will you? You don’t want anyone knowing about your life here, do you?” She says nothing. “Ball’s in your court, sweetheart.”
She searches my eyes, scowling. “You don’t have to be so nasty to me.”
“Believe me, Tara, you haven’t seen just how nasty I can be when it comes to mykids’safety.”
“Safety?” She snorts, smoothing her hair in the wind. “It’s not like I’m going to hurt them, Barron. Stop being so dramatic.”
“Go. Get off my property.”
“I need to talk to Kacy,” she counters as if I should give her that much.
“Not a goddamn chance.” I pierce her with a stare as firm as my stance. “You need to get off my fucking property before I call the sheriff.”
Tara’s eyes lock on mine, a fuck-you plastered to her face. “You can’t possibly be into that girl. She’s the help, Barron. She cleans up my dog’s shit for a living.”
I hate the way she says “that girl,” as if Kacy wouldn’t be good enough for me. I don’t know the situation, and I know Tara well enough not to believe anything she says. But her acting like Kacy isn’t good enough, it clicks. Her leaving California probably had everything to do with Tara. She was running from everyone in her life who treated her as if she would never be enough.
Smirking, I drag my eyes up and down Tara’s body. “That girl is more woman than you ever were, or will be.”
Tara’s body shifts, her stance stick-straight, hands on her hips. “Let me talk to her.”
“No, you’re done hurting her too. Leave. It’s what you’re good at.”
Her jaw drops and her voice raises an octave. “You can’t be serious.”
I nod. “Oh, but I am, honey.”
She moves back a step, nervous for the first time. “Now I know why I left you.”
“And now I know why I never tried to get you back.”
They have consequences.
KACY
Why did she come here?