“That she was using you to try to get pregnant? C’mon, man. No one could guess that. You’d been together for years. She was fucking married. There could have been a hundred reasons she was giving you more of her time before you get down to sperm donor. If that’s what you’re beating yourself up over, stop, Lo.”
He stretches his head back and turns his neck from side to side until his spine pops. I wince. That sounds painful even from where I’m sitting.
“Beatin’ myself up ‘cause I’m saddling Emily with a baby that’s not even hers when we’ve been dating barely long enough to know each other’s middle names. I just fucking asked her to marry me and now I’m asking her to raise someone else’s kid.”
“First of all, congratulations.” I slap his back. “If you don’t ask me to be your best man, I’ll post your credit card numbers in every internet chatroom from here to Siberia.”
That draws a weak chuckle out of Logan.
“Second, you’re not asking her to raise someone else’s kid. You’re asking her to be part of raisingyourkid.”
“My kid with someone she hates.”
“Emmy won’t hold that against the baby. She’s not like that. C’mon, man. She’ll make an amazing mother, you know that.”
Logan drops his head forward to stare at his phone screen again, but he nods. “She will.”
“Look, kids don’t get to pick their families. They get the hand they’re dealt. If they’re lucky, they get one person in their lives who really cares about them. Your baby will get two people who would do anything for them. That’s all that matters, Lo.”
He swings his head back and forth again. “Can’t leave her with Miranda.”
“Of course not. That woman’s freaking toxic.”
“Manslaughter,” says Logan.
I can’t have heard him right. “What?”
He scrubs his hands through his hair. “When she was sixteen. Baby brother from her father’s second marriage. She was supposed to be babysitting. She went off with her friends. He drowned in a duck pond. Family hushed it up.”
“Fuck, Lo. How did you find out?”
“Told me when she was in subspace. Checked when I was visiting England. One of the family’s old neighbors ... told me the whole story. Can’t leave my daughter with her.”
I rub my hand up and down his damp back. “Hell, no. I’ll help you. We’ll get you custody and make sure your baby’s safe with you and Emmy. Fuck, does Emmy know?”
Logan shakes his head. “No one knows. Can’t tell her, Max. Th’fuck she’d think of me, using somethin’ I learned that way against another subbie?”
If she had a childhood anything like mine, she’d think Logan’s a damn hero for making sure his daughter’s away from someone who puts her selfish desires before a kid’s safety. But other than knowing Emily’s mother has dementia, I don’t know anything about Emmy’s family or upbringing. I can see why Logan would be concerned about her reaction.
“Okay, so we don’t tell her. We treat you like any other client who hasn’t given us a waiver. Complete confidentiality. But we’re ready to use this if Miranda doesn’t give up custody.”
Logan snorts. “She won’t.”
“Then we use it.”
“Solicitor needs evidence. Can’t go to England right now.” He waves his hand at his head.
“I can,” I say.
“No, Maxie. Can’t ask that.”
“You’re not asking. I’m telling. I’ll find whatever I can online, but if you need me to track down the neighbor and get a statement, I will.” I squeeze his shoulder. “You know about my Uncle Max, but you probably don’t knowwhyhe took me in. Hefound me going through the dumpsters at the back of his bar because my mom hadn’t been home in three days and I’d run out of food. I’m not saying Miranda would neglect your daughter, but I’m not giving her a chance to be like my mom. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you get custody.”
Logan leans toward me like a bridge toppling. I wrap my arm over his back and hold on to him.
“Already owe you too much, Maxie.”
“There is no ‘too much’ between brothers,” I say, feeling the burn at the back of my eyes. “This is finally my chance to be there for you like you’ve been there for me.”
