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CHAPTER THIRTY

SILAS

“Aren’t you supposed to be inside?” I called out to Rachel as I tried to balance my umbrella against the wind and rain. A wave of brutal heat had given way to massive thunderstorms all throughout the city. We’d managed to land on time, but the worst of it seemed to hit just as I parked my truck around the corner from Rachel’s house.

She swirled around, her gorgeous eyes lighting up when they met mine. She was soaked from her shorts to her sneakers as she jogged to me across the puddles on the sidewalk.

“So much for a welcome-home barbecue,” she said, gripping her umbrella in one hand and fisting my T-shirt with the other to pull me in for a kiss too wet and deep to be outdoors, especially when we weren’t supposed to be seen together. But the sheets of rain and large umbrellas gave us enough shelter for a good hello.

“It’s okay. Indoor grilling is fine.”

“No, it’s not,” she muttered, her beautiful mouth pulling into a frown. “Taylor and I were so pumped to finally have someone use the barbecue who knew how, but the charcoal we put in last night is already soaked. Hot dogs and hamburgers on the stove don’t hit the same.” She held up the bag. “I ran out to get the hot dog buns we forgot. My sister is upstairs, making this big pasta salad for you, so just tell her how good it is, no matter how it comes out.”

“I’m sure it’s great. We have until early fall to use the grill.” I tucked a wet lock of hair behind her ear. It had been almost two weeks since I’d seen her, and I’d been going out of my mind. I’d grill and sit in the rain as long as I’d be next to her.

“We got you an apron and everything,” she said, curling an arm around my waist. “Maybe you can wear it later.”

I laughed when she popped her brows.

“So, you have a chef fantasy too? I mean, that’s fine, just making sure I keep up.”

She shoved my chest and pulled on my soggy shirt sleeve. “Let’s get upstairs. My feet are soaked and gross, and I’m starving.”

I followed her inside, shaking the rain out of my hair and my umbrella before I set it down next to her front door.

“What?” I asked when I caught her staring.

“You look good wet.” She shrugged, her gaze drifting over me as a smile curved her lips. “Can’t help it if I notice.”

I stalked over to where she waited at the bottom of the inside stairs.

“I always love you wet, but that’s for later.” I swatted her denim-covered ass. “Get upstairs so we can eat with your sister.”

Her giggle was music to my ears and frayed nerves. The Bats were having their best season on record, but the closer we inched toward a possible play-off spot, the more pressure settled into my chest. I was constantly checking on the guys and making sure they didn’t have any injuries they weren’t telling me about.

Nate insisted his shoulder had never felt better whenever I’d catch him wince at the plate. He was making contact more than striking out, and Lee had been keeping a close watch, but I had a bad feeling Nate had been holding back about how much pain he was really in.

Which was what I had to do with all this anxiety. In my playing days, I’d just go extra hard if I suspected anyone on my team wasn’t feeling right to make up for it, but as I was the manager and not an active participant in the games, I had to just watch. It was frustrating enough to make my skin itch from the dugout.

I ran into Rachel’s back when she stopped short.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, fear and anger lacing the tone of her voice.

I rushed in front of her and found a man and woman perched on Rachel’s couch. The woman was slim, her black hair making her pale skin seem even whiter, with brown eyes that matched Rachel’s.

“We haven’t met,” the woman stood, ignoring Rachel’s question as she beamed at me. “I’m Christy. Rachel and Taylor’s mother. This is my fiancé, Jared.”

“Fiancé?” Rachel coughed out a laugh as Christy extended her hand to me.

I eyed it for a long minute before I took it.

“Yes, fiancé. My daughter is a little judgmental,” she whispered to me, holding on to my hand when I tried to slip it away. “I guess we’re crashing a party today.”

My gaze drifted to Taylor, standing by the kitchen with her arms tightly crossed around her torso as if she were shielding herself. I could spot her tremble from across the room.

I’d known her mother was a piece of work, but the way she shot the breeze with me despite the obvious discomfort of both her daughters made me see red.

“No, you’re not. Take your fiancé and go. I told you not to come back.”

“I came to pick up Taylor. Jared and I got an apartment in Fort Lee, and I thought she could stay with us and check out the local high school.”

“Why would she want to do that?” Rachel asked her mother, her tone low as she took slow, deep breaths.

“I was thinking it was time she moved in with me. Get away from dirty Brooklyn,” Christy scoffed, sweeping her gaze around the living room.

“I’m her guardian. You signed over all your rights, remember?” Rachel said through gritted teeth. I stepped close to her, grabbing her arm when I noticed it shake.

Christy waved a dismissive hand.

“I figured it was more convenient that way. In case I wasn’t around for some random form or permission slip. Why are you fighting me? You finally have a life.” She nodded toward me. “Taylor, pack a bag, honey.”

“No!” Rachel bellowed, loud enough for Taylor to flinch, but her mother barely made eye contact. “Taylor is my kid now, legally. I can take you to court. And what the hell do you want with her after all this time?”

“I’m ready for a family,” Christy said, squaring her bony shoulders. “Jared and I discussed it.”

“I’m definitely ready for kids,” Jared said, still sitting on the couch as he lifted a tattooed hand to scratch his head. “So, it’s good that Chris already has one.”

His clueless laugh made my vision blur, enough rage surging in me for my hand to ball into a fist at my side. This was what Rachel had been forced to deal with her entire life, and thinking of all she’d had to endure with such a cruel and selfish parent turned my fucking stomach.

Yet, somehow, she’d grown up to be the most beautiful person I’d ever known.

This would be the last day she or her sister would ever deal with this again. Picking up both these two lowlifes by the neck and tossing them onto the sidewalk wasn’t the conduct my contract had told me I had to uphold, but I didn’t give a shit.

“My buddy says Fort Lee has a good girls’ softball team,” Jared said, nodding at the photo of Taylor with her team on the wall. “With legs like that, it would be a waste to stop playing.”

Blood roared in my veins as his eyes raked over Taylor.

“You shouldn’t be looking at a teenage girl’s legs,” I growled, eating up the steps between the door and couch in two strides to get in the fucker’s face. “Or looking at her, period.”

“I’m just saying. Chill out, man,” Jared said, holding up his hands.

“So, you want her as a prop?” Rachel said, her voice still shaking. “Like when you took her for ice cream when she was little because you were screwing the owner of the shop. No. Fucking. Way,” she said, her jaw so tight I caught it ticking. “I don’t want you or your loser fiancé anywhere near my sister.”

Christy rolled her eyes, unaffected and bored when she met Rachel’s gaze. “You know they always side with the real parent in things like this. What lawyer would you use? Aunt Lucy’s?” She snickered. “He’s two steps away from an ambulance chaser, and not big steps.”

Rachel stepped in front of her when Christy shifted toward Taylor.

“And what happens when he moves on and you have no use for having a daughter around? You’ll just drop her back off?”

“She’s fourteen.” Her mother shrugged. “She can fend for herself.”

“Thirteen!” Rachel yelled back. “And she’s still a kid.”

“Fine, you know her age better than me. Really, I thought you’d appreciate me giving you a break. But if you want to fight me in court with some dopey lawyer who won’t win, I guess you could try?—”

“I have a lawyer,” I interrupted, glaring back at Jared on the couch. “A savage, really fucking expensive one.”

“Holy shit.” Jared popped off the couch, stretching out his arm to point at me. “Do you know who he is?”

“No. Who is he?” Christy asked, her eyes narrowed as she looked between us.

“That’s…that’s Silas Jones,” he stammered. “He’s a baseball legend. A five-time Gold Glove winner, and he has like five championship rings.”

“Six,” I corrected, a smile twitching at my lips when I met Christy’s panicked gaze.

“You were in my fantasy league so many times. I made a shit-ton of money off you,” Jared said, laughing from behind me as I strode up to the wretched woman Rachel and Taylor ended up with as a mother.

“I made a ton of money too,” I said, my tone low and menacing as I stood over Christy, shooting her a wide grin as the color drained from her face. “My salary was in the millions all throughout my career and still is. If you try to take Taylor today, and you won’t because you’ll never get past me,” I gritted out and looked back at Jared, still too starstruck to register my threat, “it would be my great pleasure to make your life a living hell. Harassment, child endangerment, child abandonment charges. I could have every paycheck of yours until you’re an old woman go to Taylor for back child support.”

“No, you couldn’t,” Christy said, trying to sound indignant despite the fear in her vacant eyes.

“Oh, but I could.” My smile deepened. “And it would be my honor and privilege to make you suffer for as long as I can afford to.”

She squinted at me, her jaw tight and quivering.

“And so you know,” I leaned in to whisper, “I can afford to for a long, long time.”

“Why would you even do that?” Christy asked, her voice shaky from obvious nerves.

“Because I love Rachel. More than anything in this world. And there is nothing I wouldn’t do for her or Taylor. Somehow, even with a mother like you, Rachel grew up to be the most amazing person I’ve ever known. And they’ve both suffered enough, thanks to you.”

Christy backed up with each step I took toward her.

“So, if I were you—” I nodded to the door behind me “—I would get out and never come back. Because if you try to reach out to either one of them or come within fifty feet of this house, I’ll make sure you spend the night in a dirty Brooklyn jail.”

Christy sniffed, giving Rachel one last glare and shaking her head.

“Come on, Jared. Let’s go.”

He followed, shuffling to the door as he dug into his pockets.

“Hey, before we go,” he said, holding up a pen and a crumpled receipt. “Can I get your autograph?”

I grabbed the pen and the receipt from his hand and flung them across the floor.

“I think that’s a no,” Rachel said, her voice calmer despite how her nails dug into my arm.

Christy pushed Jared out the door, not looking back at either of her daughters as they rushed toward the stairs.

“I’m sorry. I thought she was you,” Taylor said in a small voice after I shut and locked the door behind them. “I went downstairs to let you in, and I didn’t know what to do when she pushed past me.”

“I know, sis.” Rachel rushed over and grabbed her face. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“She can’t…” Taylor trailed off, her eyes welling with tears. “She can’t really do that, right? Make me go with her.”

“No, and she won’t,” I said, coming up to them and squeezing Taylor’s arm. “We’ll start a restraining order as a precaution, but I don’t think she’s coming back.” I tapped her chin so she’d look up. “No one is taking you away from your sister. I can promise you that.”

She nodded, dropping her head into my chest.

“Thank you,” she murmured into my shirt, her words muffled with sobs.

“Shh, don’t cry, kiddo,” I crooned, wrapping my arms around her. “It’s going to be okay. They’re both gone and not coming back. And if they’re stupid enough to try, they won’t know what hit them.”

I rocked her back and forth as she cried softly into my collar.

“So, we’re going to regroup a little,” I started, gently pushing her back by her shoulders. “And then we’re going to have the best damn indoor barbecue in history. I was promised pasta salad.”

She let out a watery laugh and wiped at her cheeks.

“You really scared them.”

I had no doubt that Rachel would have fought her mother and won, but if I hadn’t been here, it would have been a scary night for them both. I had another thing to worry about while I was on the road, but I’d call my lawyer in the morning to see what I could do to protect them while I was away.

Because I’d meant every word I said. Rachel meant everything to me, and I?—

Shit. I’d said I loved her. I’d told Rachel’s mother that I loved Rachel before I told her. It had just slipped out.

When Taylor trudged back into the kitchen, I looked for Rachel in the living room, and she was nowhere to be found. As I moved down her short hallway, the sobs coming from the other side of her closed bedroom door made my stomach drop.

I knocked and opened the door before I gave her a chance to answer.

“Don’t cry, baby,” I said, rushing to the bed where she was crumpled into a ball. “No one is taking Taylor.” I lay next to her, gently rolling her over until she faced me. Her eyes were red as they met mine, thick tears snaking down her cheeks.

“Of all the shit I’ve been through with that woman,” she said, wiping her face with the back of her hand like her sister had done a few minutes ago. “This was the first time I’ve ever been scared. She’d come and go when I was a kid, but I had my grandmother. And then when Taylor was born, she pretty much handed her off to me because she couldn’t be bothered. I knew she was planning something, but I didn’t think she’d try to take her.”

I had to focus on calming Rachel down and not running after her mother and fiancé to make damn sure they never came back.

“She’s not.” I rested my head on the pillow next to her. “Trust me. My lawyer is the biggest asshole on the planet. He can hit her with all kinds of lawsuits and charges.” I swiped her tears with my thumbs. “I will make sure she never hurts you again.”

“I’m not crying because I’m hurt. My mother hasn’t hurt me since I was little.” Rachel sat up, rubbing at her eyes. “I’m crying because if it weren’t for you, I could have lost my sister tonight. I would have fought to get her back, but I’m not sure I would have been able to stop them from taking her.”

“You would have. Jared is a tool. You’re a tough cookie with a powerful punch. I speak from experience.”

I coaxed a laugh out of her as she scrubbed a hand down her face, a soft smile curving her lips when her gaze found me.

“So, you love me, huh?”

“You caught that? Not how I wanted it to come out.” I wove my hand into her still rain-soaked hair. “But yeah. I love you. So fucking much.”

Her face crumpled before she grabbed the back of my head, pressing her mouth to mine in a desperate kiss. Now that the words were finally out, the relief was palpable. Her mouth was salty and sweet, her tears still staining her skin.

I’d set the world on fire before I’d let anyone or anything hurt her.

“I probably loved you from that first day, and that’s why I couldn’t let you leave,” I said against her lips, not wanting to tear my mouth away from hers. “And now I’ve got you, and I will never let anything happen to you,” I said as I gently grasped a fistful of her hair, giving it a pull so she’d look up. “So you’re not going to worry about this.”

“I love you too, so much.” She feathered her hand down my cheek. “But I can’t make you spend money on a lawyer.”

“You can. He’s on retainer and he’s been bored. The most action he’s seen from me is when I had him take down a video montage of my dick in baseball pants.”

“He took it down? It’s not anywhere to look up?” Her brow quirked up.

“No, because he’s good at his job.” I glided my hand up and down her thigh. “I told you I wanted to take care of you. So let me do it, okay?”

“I still wonder if you’re real sometimes. Like I conjured you up on the page and you’re some kind of fever dream.”

I smiled at her soggy chuckle and drew her into my chest.

She melted into me, her body relaxed for the first time since we’d come through the door.

“I’m real, Slugger. And all fucking yours.”