Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“It’s not the same thing,” she says against my lips but wraps her arms around my neck while I pick her up.
That night, everything is back to normal, and the next day when we walk in together, it’s done with me not worrying about Andrew just popping up.
I don’t think I’ll see him until we are in court, and then one day when I run back to the SUV to get something, he is waiting beside it for me. I stop in my tracks, and Matthew pulls up at the same time, getting out of his car without turning it off.
“Relax,” Andrew says, holding his hands up. “I’m not here for anything.”
“Then you better get the fuck away from my brother,” Matthew says to him, and he smirks.
“What do you want, Andrew?” I ask him, standing here with my arms across my chest.
“I’m here with a proposition,” he says, and I see he’s wearing the same clothes as on Sunday.
“You have nothing that I want,” I say, and he just laughs.
“Oh, that’s where you're wrong,” he says, waving his finger. “I have Dylan.”
“The fuck?” Matthew says from beside me, and my heart starts to speed faster.
“Ten thousand.” He says the number as if he’s selling a fucking car. “You give me ten k in cash, and I’ll sign over my rights to him.”
Oh my God. “Bullshit,” I say, trying not to smash his head into the truck.
“Get the papers ready and the cash, and I’ll sign it,” he says, shrugging.
“Tomorrow,” I say, and his eyes light up. “You show up at my attorney’s office tomorrow morning, and I’ll have your cash ready for you.”
“Twenty k,” he says fast.
“Ten,” I say it again. “Not a penny more.”
“Give me the address,” he says, and I grab the card from my SUV and hand it to him.
“I’ll be there at eight. If you aren’t there by eight thirty, the offer will never happen again.”
“Fine by me,” he says, smiling and snickering. “Kid’s been a dark cloud following me ever since he came into my life.” His hand comes up. “I’ll be there at eight.”
He turns around and walks away, and I finally let out the breath I was holding and put my hands on my knees. “Did he just sell his fucking kid for ten thousand dollars?”
“I would have given him everything I have,” I say, watching him disappear.
“You going to tell her about this?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“Not until he signs the papers,” I say, and he just looks at me. “Nothing until he signs.”
I don’t mention it again, and that night when I get to tuck Dylan in and tell him I love him and he hugs me back, I put my hand on the medallion hanging around my neck.
The next morning, I make a stupid excuse about hitting the gym with Matthew, and I can see right away that Caroline doesn’t believe me. But I kiss her and walk out to Matthew, who picks me up, except he’s picking me up in an SUV instead of his car, and when I get in, I look in the back seat and see that all the men are there. “You didn’t think you’d do this alone?” my father asks, and I don’t say anything.
We get to my lawyer’s office at ten minutes to eight, and every single minute that passes feels like an eternity. My father and Matthew sit beside the lawyer at the head of the table in the conference room. Evan, Viktor, Max, and Markos are sitting two by two in front of each other.
When it finally gets to eight, I start pacing back and forth, and at eight ten, he saunters into the office. “I fucking hate that fuck,” Max says.
“You got the money?” he asks, and Matthew just shakes his head.
“Not until you sign this.” I put the paper forward, and my lawyer speaks up.
“This is you signing away your parental rights,” he says. “You at no time can contact Dylan Woods.”
“Don’t want to see his face either,” he says as he signs on the dotted line, and I think my father is going to jump over the table.
“Are you sure you understand what I just said?” my lawyer asks, making sure that he gets all this on camera.
“Yeah,” Andrew says. “The fucking kid isn’t mine; he’s his problem now.” He motions to me with his head. “Now where is my cash?”
My lawyer hands him the envelope that I gave him when I came in, and Andrew opens it to see the bills. “Should have held out,” he says, turning around.
When he is finally out of the room, Evan stands up. “I think I’m literally going to be sick.” He puts his hand on his stomach.
“The guy just signed away a kid,” Markos says.
“He’s sick,” Viktor says, and we all look at him. “Relax, I don’t like him. I’m just saying that he’s a sick man.”