Harder Than Words

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Meghan clenched her jaw. “You’re not coming into my house. I don’t care if you get married.” Her babies would have a stepmother, but that was something she’d deal with later. She didn’t care about Richard in any other respect. “Now get off my porch before I call the cops.”

  “My children are inside that house, Meghan. You can’t stop me from seeing them.”

  Meghan raised her chin. “Go. Away.”

  Richard frowned, his gaze raking her body once more. She’d need a shower after this. “I don’t know where you got this backbone, but I don’t like it. I’m here to give you warning. Ambrosia and I want children, but she doesn’t want to ruin her body like you did to have them. Children would be good for our image and since I have two to spare…”

  The hollowness that had once taken over her body at Richard’s presence filled with fury. “What? No. You will not have my children.”

  “Our children, Meghan Warren. Our children.”

  “I’m a Montgomery, you asshole. You aren’t taking my babies. You didn’t want them when we were married, and you didn’t fight for them in the divorce.”

  “You mean when I left you because you weren’t good enough? Is that when you’re talking about?”

  The barb stung, but she ignored it. Her children were more important than any hurts of her own. “You can’t have them. Don’t threaten me, Richard.”

  “Oh, but I can. I have more power than you could ever dream of. Ambrosia wants the children, and she will get them. You’re just a dried-up housewife who had to go back to Mommy and Daddy for money. Your brothers took you in and gave you a job you don’t deserve. You live in a rundown neighborhood. And now you’re fucking the help in the same home where you raise our children. Compared to what I can give them, you have nothing.”

  She buried each word, each remark. She’d deal with them all later. What she felt, what she cried for, that was hers and hers alone. Not Richard’s. How he had found out about Luc, she didn’t know. The fact that he might be watching her or, knowing him, having her watched made her skin crawl, but once again, she ignored that.

  “I give them love, attention, and my soul. You’re the one who gives them nothing.” She prayed her babies had locked themselves away in the bedroom. They did not need to hear Richard’s painful words. She needed to close the door on him physically and metaphorically.

  “You make them weak like you. Ambrosia will have the body she has now, and we will have the children for what we need. She’s not a weakling. She comes from money. You come from tattooed trash. Blue collar garbage.”

  “You married into the family, Richard,” she bit out.

  “I married you thinking you were smart enough to leave the pathetic idiots you call family behind you, but no, we had to see them every fucking week. With Ambrosia, I don’t need to do that. And with her, we hire the best people to take care of me, as I deserve. She doesn’t fuck up my shirts like you used to. She doesn’t lay cold in bed and act like a damn corpse when we’re fucking. With Ambrosia, I am now with the people I deserve. I have an important job and know people who will help me get to better places. With the children, we will have the perfect family, and I don’t have to deal with fucking babies again.”

  Dear God, this man’s emotional abuse knew no bounds. Everything he said about her he’d said before. She’d had eight years of him telling her she wasn’t good enough, and yet she’d stayed with him for her kids. Because she was scared. Well, she wasn’t scared anymore. No, that was a lie. She was fucking terrified, but her newfound strength would provide any motivation she needed. She knew the children would be shipped off to boarding school as soon as they weren’t needed anymore. There would be no way in hell she’d let her babies get anywhere near him.

  “You’re not touching my children.”

  “I came here as a courtesy,” Richard snapped. “My lawyer will be drawing the papers soon. It would save you time and money you clearly don’t have to back off now and give them to me.”

  “They aren’t something to be won, Richard. They are my babies.”

  “And you aren’t good enough for them.”

  She balled her fists at her side. “No. You aren’t.”

  She stepped back and slammed the door in his face, locking it with shaking fingers. Holy God. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t lose her babies. No judge would give them to Richard after her ex hadn’t fought.

  Except the bastard did have money, and as she’d learned, money talked. She put her hand over her heart, praying it would stop beating so hard she could barely think. She wouldn’t put it past her ex to bring everything he had to court. If the woman who lavished him in money and self-importance wanted children, then he’d get them for her. It didn’t matter that he’d be breaking up a family—the same family he’d broken so callously before. Everything was always an end game for him.

  She couldn’t lose her babies. She’d give her life for them. Her throat worked as she swallowed hard. What was she going to do? She didn’t have the money for a lawyer or a long custody battle. She also didn’t want to have to rely on her family for it. They each had their own problems—her father’s medical bills alone were putting a strain on her parents. The family might own two businesses, but as Richard put it, they were still blue collar. She had never once thought ill of that fact—except now she wished she had the money to keep her babies safe.

  “Mommy?”

  Meghan quickly wiped the tears from her face, not even aware she’d let them fall in the first place.

  “Yes, Sasha?”

  “Is Daddy gone?” she asked, her little lip wobbly.

  Meghan nodded. “Yes, baby.”

  “Good. I don’t like him.” With her arms spread, Sasha ran to her mother. Meghan fell to her knees, holding her daughter closer. Cliff moved forward but didn’t touch them, putting his arms around Boomer instead.

  Sasha’s words broke her heart, but not as much as the tears that leaked onto her shirt. That bastard had made her babies cry. She held her daughter close for a moment, her eyes on her son who had pulled away when Richard had left. Her ex had done this. Had tried to break them.

  She wouldn’t allow that to happen again.

  She didn’t know if she could lean on her parents and family for this. It might be too much, and she’d spent enough time learning to stand on her own. However, standing on her own didn’t mean being alone. There was only one person she wanted to call right then, if only to hear his voice.

  The fact that she wanted to at all should have scared her, yet she couldn’t find the fear…only a need to have someone next to her when she faced the greatest challenge of her life.

  Luc would come if she called, would be there.

  And finding the balance between giving in and leaning on would be something she’d fight for. It was the only thing she could do.

  ****

  Luc wanted to leave. He loved his family, but weekly meals were grating on him. Tessa was still being a bitch, even if she might have toned it down some, and his mom kept badgering him to bring Meghan over. He knew Meghan wasn’t ready for that so he hadn’t pushed, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be long until his mom invited her over herself.

  He didn’t want to think about how that would end.

  Luckily, he had only a few more minutes, thirty tops, until he could leave and go see Meghan. It wasn’t that he didn’t like or appreciate his family. It was more that they thought he needed to be there every hour of every day since he’d been gone so long. He didn’t blame them. Hell, he loved being near them most days, but every weekend, when he didn’t have a lot of time to begin with, was too much.

  “Luc? Are you listening?” Tessa snapped.

  He took a deep breath, determined not to get in a fight with his sister once again. She didn’t understand that he didn’t care about her opinion when it came to Meghan. Tessa still thought he and Meghan were the same people they were years ago. Neither of them was, yet Tessa couldn’t get that out of her
head, although in reality, his sister hadn’t much liked Meghan even before Luc left town. He couldn’t change that, couldn’t fix it, and he hoped one day Tessa would get over her misconstrued feelings.

  “I wasn’t,” he said honestly.

  “You’re thinking about that woman again.”

  “Tessa,” he warned.

  “Tessa, I don’t know when you became so bitter, but you need to stop badgering your brother about Meghan. What has she ever done to you?”

  He could have kissed his mother. She really got it sometimes.

  “She made Luc leave, Mom. Why are we forgetting that?”

  “Meghan didn’t make me leave. I left of my own accord. She didn’t even know I was leaving town. Frankly, this is an old conversation, one we’ve had over and over. I’m done with it. I know you don’t like it, but Meghan is in my life now. So if you can’t figure out how to live with that, then I don’t know what to do. Your anger is misplaced. If you had any other argument, then I’d try to help, but I just can’t see it.”

  His phone buzzed, and he checked out the screen.

  I know you’re with your family, but can you come over soon? I need you. Richard came by.

  Are you okay?

  I’m fine. We’re fine. I just…come here when you can?

  He stood up before he even knew he was doing it. “I’ve got to go. Meghan needs me.”

  Tessa threw her napkin down on her plate. “Seriously. She says come, and you trot right to her?”

  Luc pushed in his chair and picked up his plate. “Her ex stopped by the house. I don’t know what’s going on, but she’s there with the kids. So, yeah, I’m going. If you got a problem with that, then fuck you, Tessa.”

  “Put your plate down, baby,” his mom said, worry in her tone. “Go see what that dick did to your girl. Let us know if you need us. We’re here for you.” She narrowed her eyes at Tessa. “All of us.”

  He set his plate down and kissed his mother on the cheek. “I’ll let you know. Thank you. I love you.” He nodded at the rest of his family then made his way his truck. It was only a fifteen-minute drive to Meghan’s, but it felt like the longest fifteen minutes of his life. He had no idea why Richard had shown up at her place after so long, but the fact that he’d been there at all pissed Luc off.

  He pulled into the driveway and was out of the truck as soon as he turned off the ignition. Meghan stood in the doorway, her face pale, but she appeared unharmed. She held up a hand as soon as he got near her. He pressed his chest up against her palm, needing her touch but not wanting to crowd her.

  “The kids are inside. So we’re going to be calm. Okay?” Her voice shook, and he wanted to rip Richard’s balls off.

  “What happened?” His voice came out as a growl, so he took a deep breath. “What happened?” he repeated, this time calmer.

  She closed the door behind her so they both stood on the porch. “Richard came by to tell me he was going to sue for custody.” As she told him word for word what the fucking prick had said, his shoulders tensed, raw fury roaring through him.

  “That’s not going to happen,” he said as softly as he could. He didn’t want to rage, didn’t want to scare her with the depth of his anger. “I’ll fight with you. We’ll do everything we can to keep him out of their lives. You tell me what you need, and I’m here. I’m not going to say I’ll take care of it because I don’t have the first clue, but you need me? I’m here. Hell, even if you don’t think you need me, I’m here.”

  A single tear slid down her cheek, and she leaned forward, kissing his chest. “Thank you. I knew you’d come. I don’t know how I knew, but I knew. What you just said? That was perfect. I don’t know the exact game plan because my mind is still whirling, but thank you. Now, the kids are inside, and they know something is wrong, but I haven’t told them everything yet. I need to formulate a plan of action.”

  He nodded, giving in and pulling her close. His hand rested on the small of her back, and he let out a breath. “You want me with you when you do that?”

  She bit her lip then nodded. “Yes. I know we’re not clear on the future between us, but no matter what, you’ve always been good for my kids. I’m selfish, too, because I need you.”

  “Never think you’re selfish for that.” He kissed the top of her head. “Are we still going to your parents’ tonight?”

  She nodded under his hold. “Yeah. I need to tell them, and since most everyone should be there tonight anyway, I can get it over with all at once.”

  “Are you going to let them help you?” he asked. She tried to do so much on her own when she didn’t need to, so he honestly didn’t know the answer.

  “I…I don’t know.”

  “Okay then. You ready to go inside?” He pulled away and lifted his chin toward the window. “I just saw Sasha look through the curtains, so she knows I’m here.”

  “I guess so.” Meghan stood on her toes, and he leaned down, letting his lips brush along hers. “Thank you. Thank you for dropping everything.”

  “You’re worth it, Meghan. That and more.”

  She gave him a wobbly smile, and he followed her into the house. There was no way in hell Richard would get his greedy hands on those kids. He’d find a way to help, find a way to keep that bastard out of their lives forever.

  Even with all the tension in the air, the uncertainty, one fact remained.

  Meghan had reached out to him when she needed help. And that was progress.

  One step closer, he reminded himself. One step closer to everything.

  Chapter Twelve

  “That’s not happening.”

  Megan let out a breath at the heat behind her father’s words. He might not have the body mass or strength he once had due to the cancer ravaging his body, but beneath it all, the Montgomery will burned deep.

  Luc squeezed her hand, anchoring her in a way she’d never thought possible. He hadn’t said a word since they walked in, but he was there, her rock, her sanctuary.

  It scared her how much she wanted to rely on that. She pushed that thought away, knowing she’d have to deal with her fear and dependency sooner or later.

  “I’m not going to let it happen,” she said softly. She hadn’t meant to speak softly. In fact, when she’d come over to her parents’ house and had spoken with the entirety of her family and Luc, she wanted to yell and scream. Only her voice emerged soft, a calmness that veiled the sheer panic growing within her.

  “We’re getting you a lawyer,” Wes said as he pulled out his phone, presumably to either call or look up someone.

  Storm put his hand on his twin’s, stopping him. “Doesn’t Meghan already have a lawyer?” He raised a brow at her. She loved all her brothers, she really did, but sometimes Storm got her better than the others. He might look like the calm and collected one, even with the scruff on his face, but he’d blow up when he had to. His temperament matched her own, which, considering that her organization skills matched Wes’s, just reminded her that the twins were close to her heart.

  “I do, but he was what I could afford at the time.” She winced as she said it, trying her best to ignore the accusing glares on the faces of most of her family.

  “Well, you wouldn’t let us help last time,” Maya put in, her voice not as loud as Meghan would have expected. In fact, her sister hadn’t blown up at all. That, in itself, told Meghan how worried Maya was for her. When her sister had shown up at the house with Jake, she’d taken one look at Meghan’s face and told Jake to watch the kids. To his credit, he simply kissed both women’s brows and did as he was told. He wasn’t a submissive man by nature—even with the force of Maya’s personality—so he must have sensed what the others clearly had.

  “We’re helping this time,” Miranda said, her hand in Decker’s. “Between all of us, we can get you a top-notch lawyer. That fucker isn’t touching those babies.”

  Decker grinned slightly, mirroring Meghan’s own quirk of the lips. The man loved it when his fiancée got all fiery. Meghan l
oved it as well since her sister had been through hell and back. It was good to see that none of that had tempered the woman within.

  “I know a few people,” Griffin said, the sadness she’d glimpsed in his eyes before becoming more apparent. She didn’t know what was wrong with her brother, didn’t have time to dwell on it right then, but she promised herself that she’d find out. “I’ve worked with them before for research in a couple of my books. If they can’t take you, then they’ll know someone who specializes in custody cases. They’re damn good at what they do, too. So, no, you won’t be using the same lawyer as last time.”

  She narrowed her eyes at his tone, but Luc squeezed her hand once again, pulling her back from anything she might have said.

  “Your lawyer got your kids for you last time, but this is different,” Austin put in. “This time Richard is actually saying something. I don’t even think the guy we used when we were officially taking in Leif would help.”

  “He wouldn’t,” Sierra said. “Completely different situations in all cases. Even the lawyers I used in the past with my own legal battles won’t work for you. But we’ll find you someone that is perfect.”

  “Does it bother anyone that we all seem to have lawyers on speed dial?”

  Meghan inhaled through her nose and looked at Alex. He didn’t have a drink in his hand, but by the way he spoke—slowly as if he was trying to keep each word precise—told her he was either hung over or already drunk. Decker and Miranda had picked him up, thankfully, so he wouldn’t be behind the wheel, but she didn’t know this brother. The two of them had married Richard and Jessica within a few months of each other, and both unions had ended in divorce around the same time. She knew her own pain, knew the battles she’d fought, but she didn’t know Alex’s. Didn’t know anything about them. She hated herself for not knowing, for not being able to help, but her kids had to come first.

  Only she had a feeling her own worries had come at Alex’s expense. Her brother was on a path to destruction, and no matter how many times her siblings tried to help, he wouldn’t find his way until he wanted to.