Page 57 of Worth the Risk

“Asshole,” she snapped.

He deserved it for sinking to her level, but fucking hell, she was a pain in his ass.

“Are you fighting again?” Surprisingly, the heavy sigh accompanying the question, which had to be rhetorical since obviously they were, came from Caden instead of Emily.

“Did you finish up, bud?” Dan asked, his tone drastically different from what he used with his mother.

“Yeah. Emily has, too, but is waiting for the yelling to stop.”

He wrapped his arm around his son’s shoulders and walked him to the bottom of the stairs. “We were talking money, and that’s never fun. But we shouldn’t have done that with you guys here. Are you all packed up?”

“Yeah.”

“Go up and grab your bag, and your sister’s, too.”

Dan ruffled his hair as he passed and watched as Caden trudged up the stairs, a different boy than the one who’d slid into the kitchen eager for tacos. He turned on Allison and said in a low, lethal tone. “We’re done. They’ll be out in a few minutes,” then shut and locked the door.

Emily walked in, looking small and miserable just as Caden came stomping down the stairs with his backpack and his sister’s Hello Kitty suitcase. That he didn’t balk at carrying the froufrou girly bag proved how upset he was.

When Dan hugged them goodbye, he noticed when he kissed the top of their heads, he didn’t have to bend as far with either of them.

The instant the door shut behind them, Bella didn’t hesitate to react. “I don’t like the C-word, but if ever a woman was one, it’s your ex-wife. What did you ever see in her?”

“I ask myself that every time I have to speak to her, which, if it wasn’t for the kids, I’d never do.”

She approached and slid her arms around his waist. With her cheek against his back, she murmured as she held him close, “I’m sorry you have to go through that, and I’m sorry she’s got your, um,cajonesin a vise over your lifestyle, but I admire that you’ve hung in there for your kids. I just wish there was something I could do to make it all easier.”

He unlocked her clasped hands and turned, pulling her hard against his chest. As he wrapped her up, feeling her softness against him, he inhaled her intoxicating scent and some of his tension eased. “You being here soothes the sting of her animosity. And that goes a long way.”

Her arms squeezed him tighter. “I know how difficult dealing with family can be,” she murmured, stirring up questions of his own about her difficulties, but then her head fell back, and she gazed up at him, her blue eyes filled with concern. “What did you mean about being done? I sensed you weren’t only talking about tonight.”

“I’m calling in the big guns and figuring a way out of this situation.”

“Big guns?”

“Yep, Tony Rossi, his team of badasses, and my ace in the hole.”

She frowned. “What’s that?”

“Not what, baby, who. First thing in the morning, I’m calling Rossi’s attorney. He also represents the club.”

“Why does the club need a lawyer?”

“Baby, you would not believe the shit that has gone down. If there’s a way out of this for me and the kids, he’ll know what it is.”

“You talk about him like he’s a miracle worker.”

“He is, and he’s a club member. To you and the other subs, he’s Master J, but the legal community in these parts and the people he represents refer to him as Joseph Hooks.”

***

“FORGET ABOUT HER,”Dan urged, his lips softly brushing her temple. “What do you say we crack open the bottle of red I bought to go with dinner?”

“You cooked?”

“Trust me, nothing gourmet. I fixed a taco kit for the kids. For us, I thought I’d order in. What do you have a taste for?”

Bella wasn’t hungry after seeing a tiny glimpse into the torment his ex-wife had put him through in the years since their divorce. She could only image the hell it was before they separated.

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