Julie put her index finger in front of her mouth. She quietly pulled the door closed, and we walked into the living room.
I pivoted and looked at her. “You’re not leaving.” My voice cracked, and I wiped my tears away. “You can’t, Julie. I won’t let you. You said Maddie was going to need me. Well, I need you.” My hands raked through my hair, and I looked up and prayed for guidance.
She stood stock still and stared at me. Her eyes were bloodshot, and I was sure mine looked the same. I scrubbed my face with my hands.
“You’re not leaving us. I won’t let you.” I closed the gap between us. “There’s no way in hell I’ll let that happen. How could I bear it if you left? How could you?” I cupped her cheek. “Do you hear me? No way! We will figure this out. I’m not going to fail my girls—you’re my family.”
I took her hand and led her to the bedroom. We sat on the bed and faced each other.
“I know everything you said is what you think needs to happen, but you couldn’t be more wrong,” I said.
She sighed as she attempted to calm her breathing, and I felt it in every pore of my body.
“Together, Jules. Okay?”
Her head bobbed as she threw herself into my arms. “I’m so scared. I can’t be what separates you two—I won’t survive it. How can I live with the fact that I’m the reason why everyone is in pain? You can say that I’m wrong, but I’m not.”
I rubbed her back. “I’m scared too, but you’re wrong. Even if you weren’t part of the equation, I still wouldn’t be with her. She’s trying to break us apart. She’s jealous she’ll never have what we do—real love. I’m not sure she even knows what that is.” I kissed Julie’s forehead and let my lips linger. “She’s not going to take Maddie from us. That little girl is as much yours as she is mine. You were willing to give up your happiness for hers. That’s what a real mother does—she sacrifices for her child. Nikki doesn’t know the first thing about being selfless, and there is no way in hell she’s getting her hands on our daughter.”
I held up her left hand and kissed her ring. “You’re my future… our future, mine and that sweet little girl’s. You told Maddie I’m very protective, and you’re right. I’ll guard us from whatever comes our way, and I’ll guarantee that when the bell rings, my hand will be hoisted in the air as the victor because I refuse to lose our family. But you need to be by my side, Julie.”
Her chest jerked as she tried to catch her breath. “I promise, and I’m sorry. I’ve never been so torn in all my life. There’s nothing I want more than to be here for you and to love you.” She looked in my eyes, and a flicker of strength flashed in her eyes. “Let’s do this… together.”
“That’s my girl.”
Our lips met, and I poured my love into her with every touch of my tongue and every breath I gave her. When our kiss broke, she looked at me. No more words needed to be said.
The sun had barely peeked through the slats on the window coverings when I heard sweet cooing. Maddie was such a happy little girl, and she had no idea what had transpired with Nikki—thank God.
I peeked in the door. “Hey, sweet girl.”
She was lying in her crib and reached for me.
“You’re wide awake this morning, aren’t you?” I picked her up and kissed her soft cheeks. “Let’s get you changed and have some breakfast.”
The last thing Maddie wanted was to lie down and get cleaned up, so I tickled her tummy to distract her as I secured her diaper. After I changed her, Maddie smiled at me, and right then, I knew Brett was right. I had actually known before that moment, but this solidified it for me. We were a family, and I’d do what I could to protect those I loved. Her adorable giggle made me grin from ear to ear. She looked at me with so much trust that my heart swelled. I’d never thought I could love her more than I had the day before, but with each passing moment, my heart expanded, and she owned more of it.
I secured Maddie in her high chair, which was slightly reclined and had colorful toys that hung overhead. She swatted them as I wound up the small music box that was attached before I went to prepare her breakfast.
“My favorite way to start my day.” Brett strolled in looking sexy as hell in his red-and-blue plaid pajama pants. My mouth watered at the sight of him. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling my back to his bare, muscular chest. He rested his chin on my shoulder. “So what’s on today’s menu?”
“Baby bananas and Farina. Would you like some?”
He looked over my shoulder at the beige food. “I think I’ll let her enjoy it.”
I giggled. “I’ll make you bacon and eggs.”
“No, just coffee. I’m not hungry, and I need to figure out our next move before I go to the club.”
Maddie squealed when I placed her breakfast in front of her. “Here you go, sweetie.”
Her eyes widened as she immediately grabbed the food.
Brett chuckled. “Let me help you.” He picked up the baby spoon and fed her. Her feet kicked her seat, encouraging him to speed it up. “You’re a hungry one this morning, aren’t you?”
Watching them together was the best part of my day. He was such an amazing father, and the love in their eyes was beyond pure. It was so natural, as if they were meant to be together. I placed a cup of coffee and one of Aubrey’s muffins in front of him.
“Looks like Mommy wants me to eat too.”
Mommy. I stopped in my tracks and stared at him.
“You are her mommy, and she knows it.” He looked back at Maddie. “Right? Isn’t your mommy so pretty in the morning when her hair’s all messed up?”
“Really?” I tightened my ponytail holder and smoothed my hair back before I handed him a bottle for her.
“You’re gorgeous no matter what time of day it is or if your hair is tousled all over the place.” His eyes bored into mine. “Although I like when I’m the reason your hair is messed up. What did you and Aubrey call it?”
I snickered. “JFL.”
“Yeah, that’s right.” He covered Maddie’s ears with his hands. “The just fucked look.” After he shot me a wink, he released his daughter and looked at her. “You will never have messed up hair because of that reason.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. God help the boy who ever knocked on her door.
Once Maddie was satisfied—and wore more food than she’d consumed—we cleaned her up and set her on her U-shaped pillow in the family room to play.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked.
Brett took a sip of his coffee. The worry that flowed from him broke my heart. His hand found my knee, and he traced it with his thumb.
“First, I don’t want you to worry,” he said. “Once I get to my attorney’s office and let her listen to the recording of Nikki’s ultimatums, that should be enough for a judge to deny her any rights. She isn’t fit to be a mother, and I honestly don’t think she wants to be. What bothers me about yesterday is that until we served her, she never once came looking for us. I didn’t think she was even in the same state. No one had seen or heard from her, then finding out she’d been here all along? Well, that irks me to no end.” He raked his hand through his hair. “Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t want to see her, but how could she not be curious about her child?”
We looked at Maddie, who was playing with stuffed blocks that rattled and played musical tones. She loved them.
“I don’t know. I could never do that.” I shrugged.
His eyes found mine. “No, you couldn’t. No decent person would, not to mention someone who wanted her daughter back. What does she have to gain now?”
“Money.” My right shoulder rose as he looked between Maddie and me. “I know she said she wanted you, but I think she sees that sweet baby as a monthly paycheck or a large payout.” That thought thoroughly disgusted me. “She wants me out of the picture and for you to be with her even though she knows full well you don’t love her.”
“Love? I don’t even like her. The only good thing she has ever done is
given birth to Maddie, and I’ll be damned if she thinks that entitles her to anything.” His face reddened. “Men have been called deadbeats or sperm donors for ignoring their children’s needs, so why should giving birth make her a mother in anything but the physical sense? She hasn’t reached out until now, and for what? Cash? She doesn’t even know the name of Maddie’s pediatrician.”
“Look, Nikki isn’t a stable woman. We both know she’s conniving, and now that she knows we’re engaged, she’s going to pull out all the stops. It would kill me to walk away, but if it would save you pain and heartache…”
He pulled me onto his lap. “I’m not going to have this discussion again. I appreciate your willingness to sacrifice your happiness, but you won’t be doing that. I need you. We need you. I’m going to give my lawyer a call.”
“Okay, I hope she can help.”
Maddie cried.
“She probably needs to be changed.” I pushed myself off Brett’s lap and went to Maddie. “Let’s go, sweetie.”
I watched my two girls walk out of the room as I made my calls. Once I’d told my attorney, Victoria, what was going on, she wanted to see me as soon as possible. I called Mike and had him cover me at the club.
I found Julie in Maddie’s room. “Jules, I need to head into the city to see my attorney. I’m going to call my mom to see if she can watch Maddie for us. I want you to come with me.”
She nodded. “Okay, I just need to hop in the shower. Maddie is cleaned up and dressed and will be ready for a nap as soon as we get to your mom’s.”
My eyes ravaged her body as I watched her strip out of her clothes and scurry into the bathroom. I looked at Maddie. “Your daddy is a lucky man.” I kissed her forehead and put her in her swing.
Once Julie was finished, we traded places. That was how our life was now, taking turns so one of us could be with Maddie, and I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
In the car on our way to my parents’ house, I looked at Julie, and she seemed peaceful. Once we pulled into the driveway, she glanced at me and smiled. We got Maddie out and headed toward the door.
My mother beamed as she held out her arms. “There’s my precious baby.”
“Aww, Mom, you know I love when you call me that.” I chuckled, and Julie snickered.
My mom took Maddie and peppered her cheeks with kisses. “You know I meant you, right? Your daddy thinks he’s so funny.”
“Thank you for watching her today.” I leaned over and kissed my mom.
She looked at me with joy in her eyes. “This little one is always welcome here, especially when you need to go take care of business.” Her eyes found Julie’s. My mom loved Julie was as if she were one of her own. “How are you doing, sweetie? Are you holding up okay?”
“Yes, thank you. It was a rough night, but I’m doing fine.” She linked her hand with mine.
“Thanks again, Mom, and we’ll be back soon. Everything you need is in her diaper bag. She just ate, so she should be ready for a nap.”
Julie and I went to the car after we showered Maddie with affection. It was so hard to leave her, even when she was in great hands.
Once we made it to the Law Offices of Allibaster and Drake, we were escorted to a conference room. Victoria was already waiting for us.
She stood and held her hand out to Julie. “I’m Victoria Drake. You must be Julie?”
Julie smiled. “I am. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Please sit down and tell me what’s going on.”
I cleared my throat. “Nikki followed me home from work and showed up at our door yesterday. She claimed she wants Maddie.”
Julie shifted in her chair, and I rested my arm on the back of it.
Victoria was writing on a yellow legal pad. “You said you had a recording?”
“Yes.” I placed my phone between us on the table and hit play. Hearing Nikki’s voice made my stomach roll, and I saw Julie’s knee bouncing up and down.
When the recording stopped, Victoria said, “Well, she doesn’t hold back, does she? So first she wanted Julie gone, and for you to be with her, and then she wanted five million dollars?”
“That’s right. Our family and friends were present as well. She never once said she loved Maddie or claimed to have missed her. She seemed more concerned with hurting Julie than getting to know Maddie.” I swallowed hard. “She’s not fit to be in Maddie’s world. I don’t have five million dollars, and I don’t want to buy her off, but I’ll do what I need to get her out of my life.”
Victoria pinned me with her eyes. “Absolutely not. Let’s get her in here with her attorney, Mr. Henry. I bet he doesn’t have a clue what she did. I’ve met him. He’s a good lawyer, and he would never have advised her to come to your home demanding money or making threats.”
“So what’s our next step?” Julie asked with determination etched in her features. “You don’t know me, Victoria, but I’ll do anything for this little girl not to be taken from Brett—”
I interrupted her. “From us.”
She smiled. “Yes, from us.”
“And I’ll do everything in my power to ensure that doesn’t happen. Please excuse me for a moment.” She left the room.
Julie and I stared at each other. “This will be okay,” I said. I wasn’t sure if I was attempting to reassure her or myself.
Victoria walked back in with a smile. “Well, it seems as though Nikki already filled him in but with much different details. Mr. Henry had no idea about her financial demands. I’m going to schedule a meeting between us to see if we can resolve this without having to go to court.”
“So where does that leave us?” Julie placed her forearms on the table and leaned forward as if she was ready to take charge of the meeting. Her business savvy was surfacing, as was my pride in her.
“We wait. He’ll call. I’ll give him—” Her phone rang, and she looked at the screen. With one index finger up, she answered the call. “Drake.”
My eyes were glued to her, waiting for any indication of what the other attorney was saying, but Victoria showed no emotion whatsoever.
“I think that would be in your client’s best interest.” She glanced at us. “That will be fine. My clients are in my office, and I’ll inform them. See you next week—and, Mr. Henry? Be sure to advise your client that we don’t intend to lose and keeping this out of Family Court would be wise. I wouldn’t want a judge to charge her for extortion.” She listened while I began to sweat. “I’m not sure a judge would agree. If we go in front of Judge Hutchinson, he’ll eat this up. You know how he feels about paternal rights. Not to mention getting his name in the law review for pioneering a cause.” Victoria leaned back in her chair and swirled the top of her pen between her lips. “I’ll look forward to your call.”
After she hung up, all I could do was stare at her with my mouth open. “Extortion?”
“It’s a stretch, but she asked you for an extremely large sum of money in exchange for you to remain with your daughter and Julie. I’ll have my associate study some case laws, but it could work.” She gathered her notes.
“Could Nikki go to prison? I wouldn’t want that.” The thought of being responsible for Maddie’s biological mother going to jail made me nauseated. “I couldn’t do that to Maddie.”
“Understood. Trust me, once Mr. Henry describes the evidence against her, I highly doubt she’ll proceed. Please email me a copy of the recording.”
We all stood and shook hands.
“Thank you, Victoria. I’ll look forward to hearing from you,” I said.
On the way back to my mom’s, the tension in the car was thick. We both wondered what may or may not happen.
“I don’t want Nikki charged with a crime either,” Julie said, her voice so soothing. “But I also don’t want that to be used against her.”
“What do you mean ‘against her’? How could we do that?”
“I don’t want her to think we’ll press charges unless she signs the adoption papers. I want her to eit
her sign on her own or because the court tells her to. We can’t stoop to her level.”
“Don’t worry about it. Something tells me we won’t have to.” I pulled up to my parents’ place. “It’ll work out. We need to believe that.”
Julie nodded. The crisp air blew her golden tresses over her shoulders.
“Come on, beautiful, let’s go see our girl.”
Over dinner, we explained everything to my parents.
Afterward, we took our daughter home, and after we placed her in her crib, we went into our room. Julie strolled out of the bathroom after changing into a pair of short pajamas. The way her body moved awakened me, and made me think of anything but going to sleep. Her slender arms rose above her head, exposing her taut stomach.
I could feel my cock stir, but Julie let out a yawn as she crawled into bed next to me. I pulled her close and snuggled up to my girl, inhaling her sweet scent as I closed my eyes.
“Sweet dreams, Jules.”
“Sweet dreams, Brett.”
“I love the way your lips feel against mine. I love the softness of your breasts in my palms, the taste of your skin as I run my tongue from your pussy to your hardened nipples and back down. I love to watch the way your skin prickles and your hips buck as I blow on your clit.”
His words were my undoing, and I let out a guttural moan.
“The way I can feel how warm and wet you are when I slide my finger in you. Do you like that, Julie?”
“Yes! More, please… I need more!”
He added another finger and moved them in a circular motion before pulling them out and bringing them to his lips. “So sweet and all mine.”
“Brett, please!” I swallowed hard and tried to catch my breath.
“Tell me, what do you want?”
“You!” My body tensed up as my orgasm took hold of me.
He grabbed my breasts as he filled me with his length.
“Oh my God, Brett!”
“Jules?”
I felt as though I was being shaken.
“Hey, Julie?”
My eyes slowly opened.
Brett hovered over me with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Are you awake?”
A Heart's Forgiveness Page 24