Page 58 of Under My Skin

Another kiss landed on my head, and his voice was muffled by my hair as he spoke. “You don’t have a single thing to be sorry for, sweetheart.”

“I…I told you it was your fault,” I sniffled. “It’s not. I need you to know that. I don’t blame you for what happened to her. Not anymore.”

Pulling back just enough so he could look at me, Braden let out a soft snort as he looked at me with sad eyes. “Maybe you don’t, butIdo. I don’t know if I’ll everstopblaming myself. But that’s not why we’re here, or why I want to make sure you and Isaac are taken care of.”

I took a shaky breath as I swiped at the tears on my cheeks. “Whyarewe here?”

One corner of his mouth turned up in half a smile as he unwrapped his arms from around me and held out his hand. “Come on. There’s something you and I need to do. Together.”

“Braden. Fancy seeing you here.” The middle-aged man I’d met a month ago – who reminded me a little of the character Michael Cutter from the reruns of the originalLaw and OrderI used to watch with my mom – gave us a smile as we walked into his office.

Braden snickered. “Yeah. Long time, no see.”

With a chuckle, Glenn turned to me. “Dani, nice to see you again.”

“Hi,” I mumbled self-consciously.

Glancing around this office at the solid oak desk that sat in the middle of this sleek, modern-looking room with abstract art hanging on the walls, I took a seat in one of the four plush chairs that had probably cost more than Isaac’s hospital bills. I felt like I couldn’t even afford to breathe the air outside this building, much less be sitting here. But, then again, I was here with someone who couldabsolutelyafford to keep this man on retainer.

“Glenn, do you have the paperwork Dani and I signed the last time we were here?” Braden sat in the chair next to mine, reaching over to give my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “The contract, the NDA, all of it?”

Glenn dragged out the middle drawer of a filing cabinet and retrieved a manila envelope. Opening the envelope, he pulled out all the paperwork Braden and I had signed together that laid out the details of our arrangement.

“Yep. It’s all right here.”

“Good. Now, do me a solid and stick all that shit in the shredder. Delete any digital copies. It doesn’t exist anymore.”

Glenn must have known about this ahead of time, because he grinned as he made a show out of putting his trash can shredder on top of his desk and sticking the stack of papers into the slot at the top. I couldn’t help chuckling at the satisfying whirring of the motor as it tore that stupid contract and non-disclosure agreement up into a thousand pieces.

“Did you…really ask me to come here just so I could watch your lawyer shred our contract?” I asked.

“Hell yes, I did. Because you’re worthsomuch more than a stupid piece of paper to me, beautiful. And whatever relationship we have from now on, it’s not going to be based ona bunch of legalese,” Braden said. “But Glenndoeshave some other paperwork for us to sign, I think.”

“Not quite done yet, unfortunately,” Glenn said apologetically. “I’m sorry. I meant to have it all squared away for you two to sign by the time you got here this afternoon, but I’ve been talking to Bob Higgins at Garman for the past hour trying to negotiate a settlement on your lawsuit. Just like I figured, they’re trying to do everything they can to handle this quickly and quietly.”

I turned to look at Braden, my head tilted to the side in confusion. “Lawsuit? What?”

He sighed. “Not my idea. He wanted to make sure the PR firm understood how serious what Vicki did was, so he suggested suing both the company and her personally for negligence and emotional distress. No amount of money can bring your sister back or give me back the time I’ve lost with Isaac, but that’s where the other paperwork he’s working on comes in. I’m setting up a trust for you and Isaac. I want to make sure you’re both taken care of, no matter what. Not because I feel guilty or obligated, but because you’re my family and I care about you. And in addition to contributing to it myself, I’m going to put every cent Glenn manages to squeeze out of those assholes into the account.”

I would havelovedto see my face as I processed what he was telling me. Isaac and I wouldneverhave to worry about how we were going to survive again. I’d be able to keep paying the woman who had been a literal godsend for us until he didn’t need a nanny anymore.

No matter what happened between me and Braden, I would always know that my nephew would never want for anything a day in his life. And I knew – I justknew– that he’d tried to have his lawyer finalize everything for that account before sayinga word to me so I wouldn’t be able to stop him. That was how strongly he felt about it.

If only everything else about the gnarly mess we’d found ourselves in was that simple.

“Come back to my car with me?” Braden asked as we walked out of the office building twenty minutes later. “I, uh…I have something for you.”

“Something that doesn’t involve money, hopefully?” I chuckled humorlessly.

“Well…” he trailed off. “Yes and no. It’s something specifically foryou, not for you and our little man.”

Our little man.

He’d just called Isaacours.

I had to close my eyes to prevent the tears that welled up from trailing down my cheeks as I swallowed the lump in my throat. Not because I was upset, but because another little part of the tangled web that was our lives right now had been untied. He’d told me exactly how he felt about the sweet little boy he’d helped bring into this world: he was claiming him. Accepting him as part of his family.

But the way he’d said it…it almost sounded like he was claimingmetoo.

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