Page 14 of The Billionaire and His Forever

“Actually, I think you have all you need from Miss Montgomery,” Farris interrupts. “Have a good day. Miss Montgomery, please come with me.”

I take a deep breath and say goodbye, following Farris out the door.

And then, for the first time in a long time, I pray.

Chapter Six

Abbie

I’ve beena ball of nerves ever since I got back from the police station yesterday.

Even though Farris reassured me that I did fine during my interview, I still can’t help obsessing over the answers I gave to all the questions, worrying I might have inadvertently revealed something that could get Graham into more trouble. I tried so hard to do exactly what he asked and downplay the fight at the restaurant, but I have no idea if it swayed the detectives at all. That Graham was even arrested to begin with remains completely inexplicable to me.

After returning home, I’d faked a migraine and let my dad take over my nanny duties for the rest of the afternoon. Stomach in knots, I couldn’t eat the beautiful salmon dinner Mary made, I barely slept, and on top of feeling physically and mentally drained, I’ve been expending what little energy I have trying to pretend everything is business as usual for Jude’s benefit. I hate that I don’t have any solid answers for her, hate having to lie about where her dad really is, about whether I think her mom is going to die in the hospital. I just want this nightmare to be over for all of us.

But I know I have to swallow down my anxiety and do my best to give Jude as many great days as I can. Because if everything blows up, she probably won’t have any of those for a while. In fact…if Graham stays in prison, and Natasha remains in a coma, Jude could very well end up in her godfather’s custody. The last thing I’d want is for Jude to grow up with literally the same dad that I did, even if it would mean I’d get to see her on my visits back to Connecticut.

When the hell is Graham coming home?

Knocking on the door to the study, I poke my head into the room with a, “Hey.”

My dad has set up camp in here for the second day in a row, fingers flying over his laptop as he takes endless calls and drafts legal documents and does whatever else lawyers do.

Instead of answering me, he just nods, brow furrowed as he types away at his keyboard. I step into the room and close the door behind me, standing there until he finally looks up.

“What is it?” he says a little impatiently.

“I just wanted to see if there’s been any progress made with Graham’s case yet.”

“Bowen and Ellis are working on it. You know that.” He drops his gaze and resumes typing, but his dismissive tone has me bristling.

“Bowen’s not even in the country, so I don’t know if I believe that,” I say coldly. “Is anybody at the firm doing anything at all? Or am I the only one who gives a shit?”

“Look, can we talk about this later? I have a lot of client calls today.”

An angry laugh bursts out of me as my worry and frustration boils over. “Why are you even here, Dad? You’re supposed to be helping, but you’ve barely done a thing. At minimum, I thought you’d at least keep me in the loop.”

“There is no loop. Everyone’s doing the best they can to secure his release, trust me. But the legal process isn’t instantaneous, kiddo. There’s a lot of red tape and bureaucracy to get through and a lot of nuance at play that you don’t understand,” he says. “So just calm down.”

“Calm down? Graham’s infucking jailfor a bullshit charge he couldn’t have possibly had anything to do with, while his legal team is charging him what I’m sure is highway robbery to sit around with their thumbs up their asses, and now you’re telling me—” but I abruptly break off as I realize how loud my voice has gotten, how my eyes are starting to sting.

Jesus, I really am losing it. I can’t let myself fall apart, and I definitely can’t have Jude overhearing this conversation.

My dad grabs a handful of tissues off the desk and holds them out to me. “Clean yourself up, for God’s sake. Throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to fix anything.”

I say nothing as I swipe angrily at my tears. The worst part is, I’m not just angry at my dad for being an asshole—I’m angry at myself for acting like a child. Especially in front of him.

“The minute I hear something, I’ll let you know,” he says more gently. “Until then, your job is to stay out of the way and take care of that kid. That’s it. You think you can manage?”

Clenching my jaw, I give a curt nod. Then I turn on my heel and storm out. Why did I think that talking to my dad was a good idea? I don’t feel better at all. If anything, I feel worse.

Up in my room, I fix my makeup and pull my hair back. After collecting Jude from the tennis court, I have her change into her riding gear so we can head to the stables and see if Cassie will join us for an afternoon trail ride. It’s the one thing that never fails to boost Jude’s mood.

The second we get there, the girl is off like a shot.

“Cassie!” she calls out, racing to the office in the back. “Let’s go riding! Girls only!”

“Girls only, huh? Unlike most other days we ride?” Cassie teases as she appears in the doorway, an amused smile on her face. “How can I say no to that?”

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