“Ta da!” she exclaimed.
“Looks like a party’s about to happen,” I said, grinning.
“The ‘roybal’ tea party has begun.”
“Oh, it’s a ‘roybal’ party now?”
“Of course. Because I’m a pretty princess.”
“I thought I was the pretty princess,” I said.
“No, you’re the queen, silly Tex. That’s why you have the crown.”
I laughed as I reached up and fiddled with the crown on my head. Keva opened the small bottle of juice and took a sip of it, then handed it to me. She coached me through how to pour a little into everyone’s small as hell tea cups, then she ripped open the package of Oreos and watched them spill out onto the floor.
“Oops,” she murmured.
I grinned as I helped her pick up the fallen cookies. Whenever she wanted me to play with her, I relished the moments. I wanted a family. Always had. And I’d be a lucky man if I ever had a girl who was half as creative, beautiful, and sassy as Keva. Growing up, I spent most of my years in the foster care system. I bounced around from home to home, being passed on while some of my other friends were adopted by families I wanted to stay with. For the longest time as a teenager, I didn’t know why people didn’t want me. I didn’t know what about me repelled families instead of pulling them to me.
I was a young boy with so much love trapped in my heart. But no one ever wanted it.
I found myself wondering if Ella could ever fall in love with a damaged man like myself.
“Cookie?” Keva asked.
“I’d love one, thank you,” I said.
“Just one?”
“Can I have more than one?”
“Well, yeah. You’re big, so you get more. I’m little, so I only get one.”
I chuckled. “Is that how that works?”
She shrugged. “That’s how Mommy says it works when I only get two pancakes and she gets four.”
I almost spit out my apple juice trying not to laugh.
I ate cookies and toasted to random things every time we took a sip of our juice. Keva toasted things like, “having a good day with Mr. Frog,” and “eating all the cookies we wanted.” And me? I toasted things like, “to always being happy,” and “to making dinner tonight so Momma doesn’t have to.”
And all the while, I kept wondering about Ella. About her feelings toward me, if she had any.
It was obvious from my conversation with Stone that she kept looking at me a certain way. Did that mean she had feelings for me? It wasn’t like I was a good person in the traditional sense of the word. I was the V.P. and a brute enforcer with a biker crew. So, I’d done my fair share of ruining people’s lives to benefit our customers and our bank accounts. I mean those we destroyed deserved it. But there were some out there that would argue we had no right to deliver justice in the first place.
I knew that the courts of law were just as corrupt as the judges who presided over them, though. So, I was proud of the work I did. Making sure those who deserved a particular punishment got exactly that.
But that didn’t mean I was a good person.
“Can I have a piggy back ride?” Keva asked.
“Are we all done with the tea party?” I asked.
“Yep. And now, it’s time for us to take them home. I think they had too much juice,” she whispered.
“Oh. Well, that might be a problem. We should definitely make sure they get home safe.”
I’d never played with a kid before like I was with Keva throughout the couple of days Ella was off work, but I figured a mild back injury wouldn't be too bad. I got onto all fours and Keva climbed up, then she reached for a few of her stuffed animals.
“To the bedroom!” Keva exclaimed.
“To the mighty bedroom!”
“You know, I never thought I’d see the day where a grown man like yourself would be on his hands and knees for a four-year-old,” Ella said.
“Mommy!” Keva exclaimed.
“Hey there, Momma,” I said as I turned my head.
Ella stood in the entryway of the kitchen that separated it from the living room. She had her arms folded over her chest and a telling smirk across her cheeks. It warmed my heart to see her face filled with so much joy. It seemed as if whatever conversation she had with Joanne across the street really did the trick.
“Thank you for giving me the morning,” Ella said.
“I figured you needed it. But if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do,” I said.
“The guests had too much juice, Mommy,” Keva said.
“Oh, well. Might want to get them home before they get tummy aches,” Ella said.
“I would if my horsey would move,” Keva said, pouting.
I chuckled. “Princess Keva’s wish is my command.”
As I shuffled my massive body down the hallway and into Keva’s bedroom, I wondered what a real life with the two of them would be like. I mean I knew it would never happen, but it didn’t hurt to have dreams. To envision it and see how things would pan out. And I smiled at the sight of it. I smiled at all the breakfasts we’d share and all the Saturday afternoons we’d spend having tea parties and going to the park. Keva and I worked together to get all her stuffed animals back into her bedroom, then it was time for me to lay her down for a nap.
“Can you read me a story, Tex?” Keva asked.
“How about I do that tonight, yeah?” I asked.
“But that’s far away,” she whined softly.
“It won’t be that far if you take a nap like you need to.”
“Will you stay?”
“Hmm?”
“Here, until I fall ‘sleep.”
I watched her eyes flutter closed as I slid my fingers through her soft blonde hair.
Hair that reminded me of her mother’s.
“I’ll be right here, sweet girl,” I murmured.
I sat on the edge of her bed and watched as she slipped into a peaceful slumber. And as I watched her fall asleep, my heart clenched in my chest. She was beautiful. The light of the world in my eyes. Keva was the most incredible little girl, and in that moment, I admitted something to myself.
I knew I cared for her and her mother greatly.
And I was willing to give my life in order to make sure they were safe.
“Sleep well, Princess Keva,” I whispered.
Then I bent down, kissed her forehead, and slowly backed out of her room so she could sleep.
Fifteen
Ella
Well, Stone was right about sending a new lawyer my way. He showed up ready to get to business, and I felt hopeful for the first time in a while. I explained to the lawyer my relationship with Jett, and even showed him the evidence of the abuse in my former marriage. Videos I managed to take. Pictures I snapped of my bruises and injuries. I told him the stories of everything, and I saw how riled up it made him. How angry he got at the fact that this man didn’t already have a restraining order on him.
The issue?
“Evidence used in a former case that has been dismissed or thrown out can’t be used for this one.”
Fucking grand.
So, I told him about how he cornered me at my house. How he drove his car up and blocked me in and wouldn't let me leave until we spoke about a vacation that broke our original custody agreement. The lawyer took both Texas’ and Joanne’s statement regarding the encounter, then we went over to my work and spoke with my manager about Jett coming into my work and harassing me.
Then, the lawyer set a date for us to be in court.
“Ella Watt vs. Jett Blake, please proceed to the front.”
The judge called us up and I went and sat beside my lawyer. I looked over at him and watched as he pulled paperwork he had readied out of his briefcase. He managed to get us a new judge. One that hadn’t already presided over us for either our divorce or the prior custody and restraining order cases. I was thankful for all the work he had put into this, and as I peeked back at Texas, he gave me a re
assuring smirk.
We were going to take Jett down this time.
“Your Honor, I just want to start off by saying that my ex-wife is in breach of our custody agreement. She was supposed to hand our daughter off to me yesterday since it’s my weekend this weekend, and she hasn’t yet done it,” Jett said.
“That’s because I told him I wanted to get through this hearing first. To see where the order would lie before I handed over the only thing precious to me in this world,” I said.
“If either of you talk out of turn again, you’ll both be held in contempt,” the judge said.
My lawyer nudged me and whispered to me that he had this. And the only hope I took away from it was the fact that the judge was also coming down onto Jett.
I saw in his face that he didn’t like that.
I peeked back at Texas and he walked me through some deep breaths. I swear I couldn't have done this without him. He’d driven me to this hearing while Keva stayed in both Stone and Joanne’s custody. I was thankful that he was at my side.
But I still had that feeling in the pit of my gut that something was about to go wrong.
“The prosecution will either show or explain to me why Miss Watt should be granted the restraining order,” the judge said.
“Because she’s a mindless bitch,” Jett murmured.
The judge whipped his eyes over to him. “If you speak one more word, I’ll toss you in a holding cell. Got it?”
Jett clenched his jaw, but he also nodded his head.
It was so nice to finally have someone put that asshole in his place.
“Your Honor, if I may?” my lawyer asked.
“I’d really like it if someone said something productive, yes,” the judge said.
“The defendant makes it a habit of regularly breaking his custody agreement. And this past encounter where has attempted to force a last-minute vacation on my client led to him using his car to block her into her own driveway. He wouldn't let her go without a confrontation, and I have two eye-witness accounts that state he backed her into her car and wouldn't let her leave. Which made her late for work. Which compromises her ability to take care of their daughter,”
“Let me see the testimonies,” he said.
My lawyer walked the signed and notarized testimonies up to the judge. He glossed them over, which was something that irritated me. He needed to read them. Really take them in.
“Anything else?” the judge asked.
“I also have video evidence and a sworn testimony from my client’s manager at work that the defendant confronted her at her work as well. Frightened her so badly that her manager had to come over and ask that he leave,” my lawyer said.
“All I wanted to know was how she was doing!” Jett exclaimed.
“Order in my courtroom!” the judge exclaimed.
He banged his gavel down onto the desk and Jett slumped back into his seat.
My lawyer and Jett’s lawyer went back and forth with the judge. My lawyer explained that intimidation tactics and his mindless and frivolous attempts to break our custody agreement were considered escalating actions. Ones that could eventually lead to the abuse that is formally documented with the court already regarding our marriage. Jett’s lawyer argued that he doesn't have a way to talk to me if I won’t pick up my phone or return his texts, so it is within his right to seek me out face to face and have a conversation if it pertains to our daughter.
I looked back at Texas and I saw him shaking in his seat with anger.
“As much as I hate to say it, you’re right,” the judge said.
“What?” I asked breathlessly.
“Your Honor, there is documented—”
“Which we cannot use in this courtroom. You know that,” the judge said.
He scolded my lawyer and I looked over at Jett. I saw the wildest grin cross his face, and I lost it. I leapt out of my chair and he scooted back so much it hit the small wall behind me.
“Ella, no,” I heard Texas said.
“You have to keep him away from us, Your Honor. He’s dangerous!” I exclaimed.
“There isn’t enough evidence to warrant the type of restraining order you want. This type of order completely hands over custody of your daughter to you,” the judge said.
“And that’s the right way! He’s an abusive tyrant who will stop at nothing to make sure he gets what he wants!” I yelled.
“You will sit down, and you will behave like a woman in this courtroom,” the judge said.
“Like a woman!? You mean like the battered woman I was in my entire fucking marriage!?” I exclaimed.
“Request for the restraining order denied. The prosecution is ordered to turn over the daughter immediately as per the custody agreement, or Miss Watt will be held in contempt,” the judge said.
He brought his gavel down onto his desk and I lost it.
“You are a corrupt piece of shit!” I shrieked.
“Ella, cut it out,” Texas said.
“All of you! Every single one of you! It’s bad enough that a man like Jett with the evidence I had is still roaming the streets. But you let him get to me and my daughter just fine!? What’s it going to take before someone listens to me? Huh!? Is one of us going to have to die!?” I roared.
“Ella, you need to stop it. Now,” Texas said.
I felt his hands onto my shoulders as hot tears streamed down my cheeks.
“Miss Watt, if you utter one more word, I’m going to lock you up until this attitude of yours passes. Are we clear?” the judge growled.
I was ready to wrap my hands around that fucker’s throat.
“Leave it alone, Ella. Leave it alone. I’m still taking care of you, remember? We’ve got this,” Texas said, massaging my shoulders.
My lawyer stood in front of me, trying to take my stare off the judge. I pulled away from everyone and stormed out of the room, listening as Jett chuckled behind me. I wanted to kill him. For the first time in all the years I’d known that man, we were on the same page. He apparently wanted to kill me, and I sure as hell was ready to kill him.
I burst out into the hallway before it became hard to breathe.
“Ella, wait up,” Texas said.
I whipped around, coming face to face with the man who apparently had all the answers.
“You said you’re going to take care of us, right?” I asked.
“Yes. Of course. All of it. We’re taking care of all of it,” he said.
“How?” I said weakly.
Texas sighed. “Me and the boys are going to go have a little chat with Jett.”
“No.”
“It’s the only way at this point.”
“No, Texas. It’s only going to make him more upset. Do you think he bribed that judge, too?” I asked.
“I’d be careful with slinging words around like that in a courthouse,” my lawyer said.
“You know damn good and well we should’ve had that order,” I snarled.
“Yes, we should have. I don’t know what’s going on, but with your outburst in there, I won’t be able to look at it until tensions die down. Right now, no judge will give you what you want,” my lawyer said.
“It’s because I’m a woman. They don’t give a shit about what happens to us,” I said.
“That might be true, but I’ll keep fighting in your favor. Free of charge. I promise,” he said.
“And in the meantime, you’ve got me,” Texas said.
“Yeah, you and the guys who want to go sit and have some beers,” I said flatly
“It might not be that friendly of a visit,” Texas said.
“And that’s my cue to go. The less I know, the better. But I need you to know that I negotiated some more time with the judge” my lawyer said.
“What?” I asked breathlessly.
“You won’t have to turn Keva over until tomorrow. But you will have to turn her over to Jett for his weekend with her.”
“I don’t want that little girl going with that man. I
sn’t there something you can do?” Texas asked.
My lawyer shrugged. “Holding it off one more day by using his attitude in that courtroom as well was all I could do. Use the time wisely. Okay?”
I felt like he was signaling something to us, but I was too angry to see it. Then, my lawyer turned on his shiny leather shoes and walked off.
Texas turned to look at me. “We can’t protect her if she goes.”
“I know. I know,” I said breathlessly.
“We have to do something,” he said.
“The only thing we can do is what the courts say. Anything else gets me thrown in jail, which is ironic as fuck. But up until this point, he hasn’t done anything to hurt Keva. I have to keep hope that he won’t. That anything he does will be to hurt me.”
“Ella, are you listening to yourself?”
“I don’t have a choice, Texas! I don’t have a choice in any of this!”
He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the elevator so that no one else would continue staring at us. Jett still hadn’t come out of the courtroom, and for all we knew he was paying off the fucking judge like he did the last time.
“If passing her off tomorrow is what you really want, I’ll go along with it. But I’m having someone tail Jett the entire weekend. Just to make sure she’s safe,” he said.
I looked up into his eyes and I could have sworn I saw genuine love for my daughter in them.
“That’s fine with me,” I whispered.
“Good. Because at this point, I wouldn't have given you a choice.”
Sixteen
Texas
I watched Ella as she paced. She hadn’t stopped pacing for damn near and hour as we counted down the minutes for Jett to show up. And as Keva came out with her little backpack full of clothes, she looked up at her worried mother.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” she asked.
My heart broke as Ella wiped at her tears and scooped up her daughter.
Texas: The Lost Boys MC #1 Page 10
