Page 21 of Ridin' True
“Is it true? Am I right?” her voice was but a high-pitched whisper now.
“Marlowe, listen to me. No one could ever take you away from me.”
“She keeps saying everything will be different now that she and Evan are married and that we’re a family now,” she cried softly. “But I don’t want Evan to be my dad. I don’t even like him that much.”
He could tell she was scared and upset, but he knew her opinion of Evan was genuine. Both his kids told him all the time how bland they thought the man was, and how he was always trying to win them over but without much success. They tolerated him because they didn’t have much of a choice. Wrangler taught them, if Evan treated their mom well, the least they could do was respect him.
He hoped he was doing his part to raise decent human beings.
“Evan’s never gonna be your dad, sunshine. I’m not goin’ anywhere. As far as what you heard your mom say, I don’t want you to worry about that.”
“But—”
“Lowe, you let me handle it, alright? No matter what, I’ll pick you up next Sunday.”
Marlowe was silent for a moment, and he could see her in his mind’s eye, worrying her bottom lip as she tried to contemplate whether or not she was ready to surrender her concern into his care.
“Lowe? You gonna let me handle it?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“I promise you, everything’s going to be alright.”
“Okay,” she sniffled.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, dad.”
When he was sure she was okay, they said their goodbyes and he returned to the grill to flip his burgers. He thought about calling Nicole but quickly decided against it. He knew if he heard her voice, she’d ignite his temper. He didn’t want to stir shit up and start a fight. Especially not that week. From the sounds of it, she thought she had the advantage, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He was returning to the kitchen when his phone buzzed with a text alert. After discarding the plate in his hand, he extracted the device from his pocket a second time and saw a message from an unsaved number.
Hi, this is Alexia. I hope you don’t mind my text. I didn’t want the day to get away from me before I let you know we’re confirmed for Friday morning. 9am at Gillette Family Lawyers on Kendrick Avenue.
Up until that moment, they corresponded only over email or in person. He was sure her number was in her email signature, but he never bothered to save it. Now, he certainly would.
Good news, was his simple reply.
He thought about their earlier meeting and all she managed to accomplish on his behalf in less than a week. What he told his daughter was true. Everything was going to be alright. He wasn’t going to lose.
Alexia had called Nicole’s attorney a bulldog. In his opinion, that made Alexia a pit bull—just a whole lot prettier.
He remembered arriving at her office earlier that afternoon and the way she stood her ground against Rocco Borrero. She told him Borrero wouldn’t have left had he not arrived, and she was probably right—but that hadn’t stopped her from trying.
Wrangler still wasn’t quite sure what to make of their acquaintance. He knew he didn’t like it, but he didn’t have enough information to assess the threat level. If it was Alexia’s brother who was in trouble, maybe Borrero had simply been by to deliver a message.
On the plus side, Borrero had the good sense to get lost at Wrangler’s request. He had at least five inches and an easy fifty pounds on Borrero, but he knew it was the kutte on his back that got the man out the door. The cartel and the Stallions made it a point to play nice. If each stayed in their own lane and minded their own business, the fragile peace between them would remain intact.
So far, Borrero hadn’t done anything to warrant Wrangler bringing the issue to Bull—but the man was on his radar, and he certainly planned on keeping a close eye on the situation.
She didn’t know it yet, but Alexia was under the protection of the Stallions.
Alexia
Three Days Later
Jed’scustodymediationwasless than twenty-four hours away. I used Wendy’s bulldog nature to my advantage by pressing her to meet the challenge of a short turn-around time. Mediations could take weeks, sometimes months; and while there was no guarantee we’d be one and done, that was my goal. By shortening the timetable, I was forcing the other side to back-up their claims this mediation was needed at all. If there were legitimate reasons why the custody agreement needed to be revised, it wouldn’t take weeks to explain.
