Page 30

A s soon as Midnight walks through the doors, exiting county lockup, I rush toward him. Relief fills his face when he sees me, and he catches me right as I jump on him.

“Thank God you’re okay,” I murmur into his ear.

“I missed you,” he rasps against my neck.

The lawyer clears his throat. “I hate to interrupt, but we need to get over to the courthouse.”

I pull back, but before I can jump down, Midnight kisses me.

“Let’s go get our girls,” he says when he pulls back.

I jump down, and he takes my hand in his.

We head out to the car, and I sit in the back seat while the lawyer and Midnight sit up front. While they quietly discuss the case, my mind wanders.

He called them our girls. It’s something we’ve both called them, but for some reason today it means a little more than it did yesterday or the day before.

I know they aren’t biologically mine, but they are mine. I’m the one who makes sure they do their homework, the one who takes them shopping and makes sure their needs are met. I’m the one who listens about their day. Not Miranda. She doesn’t deserve them, and I’ll be damned if she takes them from us.

When we arrive, we rush up the steps of the courthouse and into the courtroom after going through security. I try to take a seat behind the defendant’s table, but Midnight pulls me with him.

“United front,” he murmurs as we sit down.

“Positive?”

“You and me, Flower. You and me.”

I nod and take a deep breath as I wipe my sweaty palms on my thighs. I’ve only been in a courtroom a few times, and never has it worked out in my favor.

The feeling that someone is watching me dances across my skin, making me shiver. I turn and see Miranda sitting behind the plaintiff’s table, glaring right at us.

I’ve never wanted to hit a bitch more than I want to hit her.

Midnight squeezes my thigh. “Look away. Ignore her.”

“I don’t want to,” I mutter as I tear my eyes away from her, looking at the empty judge’s seat.

Midnight chuckles as the bailiff steps into the room.

“All rise.”

With shaky legs, I stand. The judge walks into the room, and everything becomes a blur. I sit when Midnight pulls me down, but otherwise it’s as if I’m not in the room. Everything sounds muffled, and my vision goes blurry.

Don’t pass out. Don’t pass out.

Midnight grunts, pulling me back into the present.

“Objection, Judge. The defendant is an upstanding member of society. He doesn’t have a single traffic ticket on his record, he’s a business owner, his taxes are paid on time, and he donates to charity,” out lawyer says.

“He’s a member of an MC, Judge. Are we really calling criminals law-abiding citizens now?” Miranda’s lawyer sneers.

The judge bangs his gavel. “Order!”

He scans over us, and I watch as the corner of his eye twitches.

God, I wish I would have thought about looking up this judge’s history and seeing if there were any videos of him online. Maybe then I would be able to tell if his eye twitch works in our favor or against us.

“While I appreciate that Mr. Garcia pays his taxes on time, that has nothing to do with today’s case. We are here to decide the future of two little girls, and because of that, I believe the right place for them is in their mother’s home. Girls specifically need their mothers for things us men will never understand.”

Miranda laughs as my heart sinks to the floor.

No. No. No. This can’t be happening. They belong with us.

“Judge, before you make your final decision, how about we ask the girls? I know they are under the age to decide, but it’s in my opinion that we should take their wants into consideration,” our lawyer pleads.

The judge studies him for a moment before nodding. “Very well. Bailiff, bring them in.”

“It’s going to be okay. No matter what,” Midnight says under his breath.

I don’t know if he’s trying to reassure me or himself, but it’s not working.

When the girls walk into view, my heart shatters, and I can’t help but gasp. Midnight grabs onto me, and it’s only then I realize I started to stand to go to them.

The twins’ hair is disheveled, and they are still in the clothes they wore when they were pulled from us. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Sienna has purple marks under her eyes. I can’t tell if it’s from lack of sleep or because of something else, but I hate it. When my eyes drift to Selena, though, I can’t help but sob. She’s got the markings of a handprint wrapped around her tiny arm.

“She hurt our babies,” I rasp.

Midnight pulls my face into his chest and releases a shuddering breath. Both of us are doing a piss-poor job of keeping it together. God, that bitch. If I could just have five minutes alone with her, I would kill her, and I would never lose sleep over it. Especially if it meant my daughters never had to spend another moment with her.

“Look,” Midnight murmurs into my ear.

I pull myself away from him and dry my tears as I look at the judge. The man is frowning as he studies the girls.

“Forgive me, but which one are you, dear?” he asks gently.

“Selena,” she says with zero hesitation.

“Do you understand what it means to tell the truth?”

Selena nods. “Yes.”

“Will you please come up here and tell us who you would like to live with?” he asks, pointing to the witness stand.

Selena looks over at Sienna, and they have a silent conversation before Selena nods. I watch as our strong little girl strides forward and makes herself known.

“Now tell us, Selena, what is it like living with your dad?”

Selena’s eyes fly to us, and she smiles. “I love living with my dad. In fact, it’s the only place my sister and I have ever wanted to live. We love going to his house.”

“And what do you do there?”

“We play games, watch movies, and hang out.”

“That’s just on the weekends, though, right?”

Selena shakes her head. “No. If we are good and we’ve done all of our homework, then we get to choose what to do. I love living with Dad and Lainey.”

“Why is that?”

“Because they never hurt us,” she says, rubbing her arm. “Lainey makes us breakfast every morning, something hot because she says it’s important to start the day off right. Then after school, she picks us up. If Dad has a late client, she makes sure we stop by and visit him on his break, and we eat dinner together. I like living with them because I never have to worry about anything.”

“What do you worry about?”

“Having clean clothes, asking for help when I need it. Both my dad and Lainey are real patient with me when my mom isn’t. They never forget to sign my planner so the teacher doesn’t get mad, and we always have lunch money.”

“And what about your mom? You like living with her, don’t you?” the judge presses as he looks at Miranda.

I don’t know why, but that one look alone makes my heart sink.

Selena’s nose crinkles up. “No, I hate living with my mom. She’s not nice.”

“You understand that sometimes parents can’t be nice, and it’s because they are trying to teach you a lesson, right?”

“That’s not what I mean. My mom doesn’t want us to make a sound. She doesn’t like it when we leave our bedroom, and if we do, things like this happen.” Selena raises her arm, showing off the bruise. “Daddy taught me that you should never lay a hand on someone in anger, but Mommy does. At Mommy’s house, we often go without food. My sister and I were always late for school because she couldn’t bring herself to get up and take us. That doesn’t happen at Dad’s house, and that’s why we want to live with him and Lainey. They love us.”

My jaw clenches in anger. I try to remind myself to hold it together, but I’m barely holding on by a thread. I knew it was bad, but I never realized how bad.

The judge clears his throat. “That’s all, Selena, thank you for telling me.”

Selena hops down from the witness stand and goes back to sit in the pews behind us. It takes everything in me not to jump over the lawyer to pull her into my arms and comfort her.

The judge clears his throat. “While that was enlightening, and while there are some valid concerns, I stand by my statement that the children belong with the mother.”

The courtroom erupts in outrage, and I hear the twins cry out behind me. I shake my head in disbelief as Lainey sobs, holding my hand.

The judge bangs his gavel. “While the father might present as an upstanding citizen, it’s only a matter of time before he is caught. Aside from that, little girls should not live alone with men, even if they are the father.”

I choke back the bile that’s fighting to get out. I’m going to be sick. My worst nightmare is coming true right before my eyes, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I feel as if I’ve gone numb.

Our lawyer stands, leaning forward he rests his palms on the table. “Judge, you can’t be serious. Placing the children in a home with evidence of physical abuse goes against the code of ethics.”

“I will not have you question me, son,” the judge sneers.

“Then I will,” someone says.

Midnight and I turn and see a man in an expensive suit stand. We watch as he buttons the button on his blazer.

“In case you don’t know who I am, Judge Witman, I’m Attorney General Samuel McDuff. It was brought to my attention early this morning that this custody hearing was supposed to fall onto Judge Cane, but at the last minute was placed on your docket, and there were some concerns. I decided to investigate, and I’m glad I did, because based on what I’ve seen in your courtroom today alone, I’m going to go downstairs and file for an investigation done on your past cases.”

A man in a judge’s robe stands, and I can only assume that he is Judge Cane, the man who was supposed to be hearing our case. Judge Cane strides forward and doesn’t stop until he is right below the judge’s bench.

“What I’ve heard today is disturbing at the very least. It’s clear based on what we’ve heard today that the children should be placed in their father’s care,” he says, making me sigh in relief. “While the father might have some questionable ties, there is nothing on record to prove he’s done anything nefarious, and until evidence is brought forward, all it is, is rumors. The same cannot be said for the mother, who has only had them for a short time, and yet the children are clearly injured and unhappy.”

“That’s bullshit!” Miranda yells.

The judge shoots her a pointed look. “Because of the mother’s actions, I am placing the children in the care of their father, Michael Garcia. Meanwhile, Miranda Day will not be granted access to the children until she completes one hundred hours of anger management. Once her hours are complete, then we will revisit and see about having supervised visitation.” Judge Cane spins around, grabs the gavel from the gaping Judge Witman, and slams it.

Once again the courtroom erupts. I feel one of my brothers shaking my shoulders, but all I can do is stare ahead. This is it. I’ve dreamed of this day a million times over the years, but never once did I imagine it going in my favor.

Two soft hands cup my face, and I blink, Lainey’s beautifully blotchy face comeing into view.

“You’re crying,” she says softly.

“They get to come home with us. I never…”

“Yeah, love, they get to come home with us.”

“Daddy!” the twins scream before they run into the back of my chair, wrapping their arms around me.

I move and grab them both, pulling them into my arms. “I missed you., I murmur.

“We missed you more,” Sienna whispers, making my heart clench.

“Not possible, sweetheart.”

Selena pulls away, making my heart hurt for a split second until I see her jump into Lainey’s lap.

“God, I’ve been going crazy without you two!” Lainey watery laughs.

“Admit it, we’re pretty awesome,” Selena teases.

“So freaking awesome. I’m so, so proud of you for getting up there and speaking your truth too,” Lainey tells her as she brushes her finger over the bruise.

“I’m glad this all worked out.”

I turn and see the club’s lawyer, packing up his briefcase.

“Thanks again, man. I can never repay you for what you did for me today.”

“It was my pleasure. Just do me a favor and get those girls home. I think they’ve seen enough of a courtroom today.”

“You girls ready?” I ask them.

“Ready,” all three of my girls say in unison.

Lainey and I stand, still securely holding onto a twin, and together we walk out of the courtroom surrounded by my brothers. For once, everything is as it should be, and nothing could be better than this.