Page 14 of The Comeback Road (Leaving #2)

Lexie

How do kids have so much energy? And why have we not figured out how to bottle it up and sell it?

I thought as I chugged from the to-go cup of coffee I brought with me as Raya — literally —ran in circles around me as we walked to the park.

“Kid, you’re making me dizzy.” She ignored me and kept running around and ahead of me, making it look like she was herding me to the park.

Once we made it there, Raya tore off without a backward glance in my direction. I made myself comfy on the bench, my cell phone buzzing with an incoming text message.

Luke: Marco.

I frowned. That meant he needed to talk to me, and soon, but there was no way I was going to distract myself from watching Raya. Especially after what had happened to Magnolia. There was danger lurking in even the safest of towns.

“Raya!” I heard a loud, commanding voice from somewhere that had my head snapping to find the owner. There was something behind that tone—something that made my insides curdle.

My eyes found him quickly as his movements were bulky, loud—those of someone who wanted to be seen and heard.

But what had my hackles rising and my body kicking into gear was that he was making a beeline toward Raya, who had stopped swinging.

Her face was a shade paler than it had been a few seconds before.

Hell no. I was fast, and I made it to Raya at the same time the man did.

I promptly inserted myself between them, and recognition took over.

I hadn’t noticed it before because he had his back on me and was in a suit. Lance.

“ You, ” he half snarled in my face. “What are you doing with my kid? Where’s your mom?” He moved his eyes from me to Raya, and I did not like what I saw when he took her in. It had me stepping closer to him even more just to create as much distance as possible between the two.

“She’s at work. Princess Lexie is…” she mumbled at the ground, her voice trailing off as Lance talked over her.

“Look at me when you’re talking to me, girl.

” He once again tried to step closer to Raya, and I knew I was right the first time I met him.

Everything in me screamed that Lance wasn’t a good guy, that he was someone one stayed far, far away from if they could.

I immediately brought my hand up and gave him a light shove on his chest, trying very politely to let Lance know that he was getting entirely too close for my liking.

The action caused his angry glance to go from Raya to me.

No one was going to treat Raya like he was, let alone look at her like that.

I didn’t give two fucks if he was her dad.

“Listen here, that’s my kid.” He pointed his finger in my face, and I was two seconds away from breaking it.

“That’s funny. I’ve never heard her mention you.

Not once.” He didn’t need to know that Raya and I were new friends.

It didn’t take a genius to realize there was a reason Remi called others to watch Raya.

There was a reason Lance wasn’t talked about, not even mentioned in passing.

And, of course, there was Raya’s immediate reaction to him.

Lance didn’t seem to care that we were very much in public because he stepped back up to me anyway, towering over me, crowding me, expecting me to back down.

But he was in for a nasty surprise if he tried anything.

While my combat training and tactical training were all but zero, I’d been extensively trained in self-defense and hand-to-hand combat. I wish he would try.

I saw the way Lance’s eyebrow ticked up in mild surprise when I met his hostility with my own.

I had a feeling no other woman in his life had ever done that.

With his surprise, I managed to completely shield Raya behind me.

Lance was still so fucking close, and he noticed it.

Smirking, I could see his plan before he acted.

Lance tried to step around me to reach for her, but I used my right hand to shove Raya away from us.

I planted my feet in a fighting stance, hunched down a bit, and slammed my left shoulder into Lance’s stomach, which had him faltering back at the force of it.

While it wasn’t much, it was enough to give me enough space to prepare myself for an incoming attack.

His face was red in embarrassment, the sound he made sounded like a bull ready to attack. But before he could try anything else, we heard footsteps coming toward us. I refused to take my eyes off him.

“What the hell is going on here?” His voice felt like shards of ice raining down over me.

Jace. I could see his head flicking back and forth between Lance and me.

Once he realized I wasn’t going to move or answer him, Jace turned toward Lance.

“Who are you?” he questioned. I could just make out his assessing gaze from my peripheral, and I saw mild recognition, just proving my earlier assessment that he wasn’t involved much, if at all, with Raya. Jace knew Remi well enough.

“That’s my kid,” Lance spat out at him, but the majority of his anger was aimed at me.

I knew there was no way he was going to let that little encounter go, and I couldn’t help but smirk at him, the challenge accepted.

Anytime. I was basically shouting at him without having to say anything, and if the grumbles emitting from his chest said anything, it was that he completely understood what I was trying to convey.

“One who signed his rights away and isn’t involved,” Jace spoke again, and I felt him come up beside me.

Even though he tried to put himself between us, I sidestepped him so we were shoulder to shoulder.

We were close enough that I could feel his fingers scrunch in and out of fists to remain calm, but I could also feel the way his body trembled in rage.

For a split second, I felt inexplicably at peace.

Like my mind and soul knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to Raya, to me .

He’s someone else’s husband. The thought tore through me, and suddenly, being so close to him felt like I was being ripped open.

I had to hold in my flinch because the thought was enough to knock the air from my lungs.

Lance took in both of us and finally stepped back, shrugging his shoulders.

Shaking his head, he turned to leave, muttering every foul word one could think of under his breath, just loud enough for us to hear.

Before he got too far, he moved so our gazes locked. “This isn’t over,” he called out to me.

Anytime, I mouthed at him, smiling. Lance turned red as a bull, stomping off back toward wherever he must have come from.

Once I could no longer see him, I turned to Raya.

The poor kid was all but shaking. “You okay, sweets?” I whispered and bent down so I was eye level with her, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear.

Raya didn’t say anything, just nodding at me, her eyes still firmly on the concrete.

I put my finger under Raya’s chin and prompted her to look at me.

Her eyes were filled with tears, and I saw red.

I’m going to kill him. “Stay here,” I said as I shot up and started walking in the direction Lance had taken off in.

I was lost in a haze of red at seeing Raya’s tears.

I didn’t hear Jace calling after me until I felt his hand circle around my wrist and tug me back, which ended up bringing me back to reality.

I found myself looking at him in mild confusion.

“What are you doing?” he asked, looking every bit a disheveled mess.

“What does it look like? I’m going after him. He made Raya cry ,” I snapped, twisting my wrist out of his hold without second thought and turning around to keep walking.

“No—would—you—stop,” I heard him pant out behind me.

“No, and how is it that you had no idea that prick is Raya’s dad?”

“Remi isn’t the most forthcoming. She’s very private. I didn’t pry. Sloan hasn’t even met him, and most of what I know about Remi is from him.” I didn’t feel the need to respond. “Lexie, stop . You can’t just leave Raya.”

That stopped me dead in my tracks. I pivoted so fast I almost crashed right into Jace’s chest. “Move.” Even though I had told him to stay, Jace was right; I couldn’t just leave Raya.

The harshness of my voice had him wincing, and he made a move to reach for me.

I sidestepped so fast to avoid his touch that he moved his arm back like I had burned him.

“Lexie…” he whispered. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said a look of agony overtook his features, but I knew better now .

“Jace, what the hell, sweetheart?” a sickly-sweet voice sounded. I saw his body tense and his jaw clench, but his eyes were screaming in pity.

Pity for me.

A gorgeous girl I could never compete with came into view and wrapped her perfectly pink, polished nails around his forearm.

“Sweetheart, you just took off. Is everything okay?” She swept her worried eyes over him from head to toe as if assessing for any injuries.

He finally looked over at her, and I saw an unspoken moment pass between them.

Suddenly, I felt like I was on the outside, looking in at my own heartbreak.

The look seemed to be one of longing—one of love —and I wanted to disappear.

“Jess, not now.” His voice definitely didn’t match the look he was shooting in her direction. Jace shot his arm out to stop me as I was trying to skirt around them. Thankfully, Raya ran over, the whole encounter not lasting more than five minutes total.

“Can we go?” She asked as she reached for my hand. I latched on to it like it was a lifeline. “Absolutely. Lead the way.” I did my best to crack a smile at her as she tugged me away from Jace and Jess.

“Lexie, this isn’t done,” I heard Jace holler at me. While I didn’t say anything, I couldn’t help thinking, yes, it is .