But he cut her off.
“I want the money. I want the boy. Zara’s thirty-two, almost thirty-three. She had access to that money, she could have taken care of Zander. She had that money when she needed it, she could have ridden it through that rough patch and he fuckin’ knew it. He let his daughter swing.” He leaned back and ordered, “Bury him. You can land his ass in jail, do it. I want him fucked up, Nina. I want fuckin’”—he leaned in again, barely controlling the fury boiling through his fame—
“Okay, Reece,” she agreed quietly, dropping her hand.
“You throw everything you got at him, Nina,” he ordered. “I don’t give a fuck what the cost. You… make… him…
She nodded, studying him carefully. She did this for long moments.
Then Nina Maxwell smiled.
So pissed, he could barely see, after leaving Nina, Reece ran an extra two miles to try and work that shit off.
It didn’t touch it.
Now he had to get back to Zara. Share more news about her fucked-up family. Rock her world yet a- fucking-gain.
She already knew her father was an extreme asshole. He had no idea how she’d respond to those extremities expanding.
But he had to get home. He’d been gone longer than normal and she’d worry.
He wished he could keep running.
He couldn’t get it out of his head, the state of her house when he first walked into it months ago, that couch, that shit-ass coffee table, that fuckin’ TV. And her studio without a peephole and a chain he popped with no fucking effort.
His cookie, living like that. His woman, unsafe. His girl, nearly broken.
All because her dad was an asshole.
If Reece hadn’t come back, she’d still be there and she’d stay there. Even if she found out about Zander, she’d never approach Nina to fight for him. She’d never know she was a millionaire.
But he came back and it was fucking whacked but he had Dennis Lowe to thank for it. An ax murderer woke his shit, made him sort himself out.
It was insane but it was true.
Dennis Lowe had taken lives but saved his.
And Reece did not at all like thinking that shit.
Trying to control his fury, when he hit the parking lot to their apartment building, he slowed to a jog and forced his mind to the fact that, when they got her money, she’d be set. She wouldn’t have to worry about that shit ever again.
They also finally had the means to fuck her father and get her nephew.
And last, not the best of this news but not shabby either, the conversation he’d had with their landlord a while back had borne fruit. She’d not wanted to let them out of their contract unless they had someone to rent the space. But she’d called that morning to say she’d found someone to rent the unit. They were free to leave at the end of the month.
A new start. A nice house in a good neighborhood, shitloads of money in the bank, three bedrooms, one Zara’s sister’s boy would sleep in.
And finally, after a shit life and taking way too fucking many hard knocks, his girl would have it good.
On that thought, Reece felt his anger subside.
“Mr. Reece!”
His head turned and he stopped dead at what he saw.
Wilona Cinders, Zara’s aunt, was walking swiftly his way.
His fury instantly came back.
But instead of letting it loose, he forced himself to shake his head.
“We got attorneys. Your brother does, too. We talk through them,” he told her, turning away and moving toward the stairs that led up to their breezeway.
“Mr. Reece, please, you’ll want to hear what I have to say,” she called.
He could hear her heels on the tarmac and he didn’t pause.
But he replied, “That’s extremely doubtful.”
“Mr. Reece!” This was a cry. “Xavier is threatening to take Zander away from me!”
“Your problem,” Reece returned, taking the first four stairs in two strides.
“He’s taking him away because I told him about his mother and aunt,” she said, slightly breathless and her words made Reece stop.
He turned and looked down at her.
“Thank you,” she mumbled the instant he did.
“You got two minutes,” he declared.
“I need to talk to Zara,” she stated and he shook his head again.
“You talk to me first. Then I decide if you get to my woman.”
She straightened her shoulders. “I want her to meet Zander.”
At this unexpected announcement, Reece sucked in a breath before he crossed his arms on his chest.
“I’m listening.”
“I… I don’t want him taken from me. I don’t want to lose him. I don’t want his life disrupted. He’s only nine. He wouldn’t understand all this. He shouldn’t have to. I’ve been trying to protect him from what’s going on but it’s getting harder. He gets good grades. He likes his school—”
“Zara will make the decision about whether Zander stays in that school. If we can swing it, I’m sure he’ll stay,” Reece informed her, not letting on that he knew about the money, and that as soon as they broke Zara’s father, Zander’s school tuition would be no problem.
She took a step toward him, shaking her head. “You don’t understand. Xavier and I… we’ve, well… not agreed on a variety of things through Zander’s upbringing. I never got any legal documents to make me his guardian, so Xavier has all the power and—”
He interrupted her. “That’ll be changing.”
She lifted both hands, and her face, not unattractive and he’d only seen her a few times but her usual closed, hard expression made it less so, now looked pained.
“Please, Mr. Reece, I beg you, listen to me.”
Jesus.
If he could believe it, by the look on her face, the tone of her voice, she cared about this kid and not just a little bit.
Reece went silent.
“I don’t know what’s happening with the attorneys,” she stated. “I do know that any child will eventually want to know about their parents. And any child should have all the family they can get. From the beginning, Xavier and I didn’t agree about who would be in Zander’s life and he made it clear that if I didn’t tow his line, he’d take Zander away from me. But I always knew there’d come a time when Zander would ask questions about his mother and father. And when Zander started doing that, Xavier and I disagreed on how it should be handled. Now all this is happening but even before that…” She paused and then she admitted, “I wanted him to go to his mother’s funeral.”
“Clearly you didn’t get your wish,” he noted.
She shook her head. “No, but I got mad that he didn’t… It was the perfect time to tell him, if there ever was a time to tell him such things. Zander wouldn’t really understand it now but he might one day be angry that he’d been kept from his mother’s funeral. But Xavier wouldn’t let me bring him. Wouldn’t let me share about his mother, his aunt, so he wouldn’t be curious or upset if he saw Zara at the funeral. And then I saw Zara at the funeral and got angrier about all the pain Xavier has caused, keeping this family apart. So, after the funeral, I took him to get a sundae and I told Zander about his mom.” She held his gaze, took in a deep breath, and finished. “And I told him about Zara.”
