“Did he say something?” Ford pressed his eyes shut and tipped his head back. “Fuck, I didn’t want this mess to get to him.”
“He cares about you, of course it got to him. But he didn’t tell Jami, she had a bad feeling and called me.” She glanced over at Cort, who inclined his head as though he’d shared Jami’s suspicions. Bracing her hands on her thighs, Akira continued. “We agreed Oriana might be able to help if she knew. And she has. Ford, Kyle has blackmailed people before. He’s a manipulative bastard and he had no intention of giving up custody of your son. But we found a lot of dirt on him we can use if we have to. Within twenty-four hours a private investigator had this huge file put together. This could have been ended a month ago.”
Paling, Ford blinked at her as though she’d just slammed a cement block into his chest and he was still absorbing the pain. He shook his head slowly. “I never considered going that route. Maybe I should have—but that won’t stop my father from fighting for custody.”
“Oriana figured out how to deal with your father, but that’s not the priority right now. I’ve spoken to Andrea—Jaxon’s aunt. Kyle’s… He’s abusive, Ford.”
“What?” Ford sat forward, rage flashing in his eyes as he threw his legs over the side of the bed. “That’s it. I’m killing that fucking son-of-a-bitch.”
Cort grabbed Ford’s arm and hauled him back, holding him firmly when Ford tried to twist free. “Killing him won’t get you your son back. Jaxon doesn’t need you spending the rest of his childhood behind bars. Kyle managed to keep it hidden this long, which means Jaxon probably hasn’t told anyone.” He glanced over at Akira. “So how do we prove it? How did you find out?”
“His aunt. Andrea. From what she’s told me, he’s rough with Jaxon when no one’s around. She’s willing to testify against him. Oriana scheduled a meeting with her lawyer and he’s gotten in touch with yours to collaborate. There’s a judge that will oversee a hearing for emergency custody this afternoon. You could get Jaxon out of there today.” She chewed on her bottom lip as Ford raked his fingers through his hair, looking torn. “This will work. Your lawyer should be calling you in a bit. All you have to do is tell the judge you’re afraid for your son. Agree to let child services come by regularly to see how he’s being cared for here. You can do this.”
“I didn’t want Jaxon going through a court battle. That’s why I’ve been cooperating with those assholes.” His jaw ticked. “If I kill Kyle, he’ll never lay a hand on my son again.”
“And what kind of life will that leave Jaxon? Besides, Jaxon won’t be in court. He’ll have to speak to a counselor, but it’ll be good for him. He’ll see that he doesn’t have to be afraid anymore.” She reached out and took Ford’s hand. “That you’re willing to do whatever it takes to protect him.”
“And what if they decide I’m unfit? Jaxon’s spent most of his life in foster care. I don’t want him going back there.” He drew in a shaky breath. “There’s no guarantee he won’t be.”
“There is, Ford. They’ll do their best to place him with family if—and that’s a very big if—they doubt your competency. Oriana will be right there and she had to go through a lot of scrutiny to get the adoption finalized for Westy, so they’d consider her ideal.” Akira was happy she’d gotten Oriana to ask about that, knowing Ford would worry. They’d covered every possible angle they could think of.
With Asher’s help, a few things they hadn’t.
“Your lawyer has a copy of Jaxon’s birth certificate—she mentioned obtaining it to Asher when he suggested Oriana being a potential second choice, but how that would only work with the proof that you’re both family.” What else? Akira thought back over every detail Asher had brought up the night before. “Kyle could claim his sister lied on the birth certificate, but Jaxon will be out of his hands by that point. You can get a DNA test done while he’s dealing with the courts and shut down the issue of paternity within days. I don’t think he’ll keep pushing once the courts are involved though. He was counting on you avoiding doing things this way.”
“And he was right to.” Ford rubbed his lips with his fist. “The priority is getting Jaxon out of there as fast as possible.”
“Absolutely.”
“But that fucker should pay for what he’s done to my son.” Ford stilled, frighteningly calm, his expression unreadable. “He doesn’t get to walk away from this.”
“He won’t.” Cort rubbed Ford’s shoulders, as though completely on board with whatever Ford was thinking. He rose from the bed, completely naked, and strode across the room. “Get ready and wait for the call from your lawyer. Let me handle the rest.”
Oh hell no. Akira crossed the room, blocking Cort before he could reach the dresser. She poked him in the chest, pleased when he backed up a step and stared at her. “You are not killing him either. I’m not letting that pathetic man ruin our lives. I told you we have dirt on him. He’s going to bury himself and both of you will let him.”
“Akira—”
“Don’t you dare try to justify ‘handling this’ your way. It’s not your way anymore. Or Ford’s.” She glared at him when he avoided her gaze, jaw hard. Shoved her hands against his bare chest, her throat tightening as she considered what would happen if she couldn’t get through to him. “You’ve killed one man defending someone who was in danger and you had no choice. But if you do this? If you plan to hunt him down and kill him? You’d be a murderer. You’re better than that. Please tell me you’re better than that.” Her voice broke as she stared up at him. “I know you’re better than that.”
Drawing her into his arms, Cort pressed her head to his chest and his lips to her hair. “Yes.” He tipped her chin up with a finger. “I’m fucking pissed. It tears me apart to know what he put our boy through, but… Yes. You’re right, I am better. I have to be. I somehow became a good enough man to be loved by someone like you.”
“You’re damn right you did.” She sniffled, blinking back tears she didn’t have time for. Both her men might react to any threat like they were still surrounded by criminals, but Cort was rational once he calmed down a bit. And he never acted without careful planning.
Which might have meant Kyle’s body would never be found, but, tempting as that was they didn’t need his death haunting them. Removing him from their lives—and more importantly, Jaxon’s life—was enough. Kyle couldn’t keep running from his shady past. When it caught up with him, they’d be too involved with their own happy little family to care.
“So I guess we dress up all professional and try to convince the judge I’m an upstanding citizen?” Ford joined them by the dresser, already pulling on a pair of pants. “What about my record?”
“Anything you’ve been caught for was when you were a minor. It won’t be brought up.” Cort tucked Akira against his side, watching Ford as he grabbed a shirt out of the closet and pulled it on. “I won’t be coming with you.”
Ford stopped, his fingers on the buttons of his shirt, his shoulders stiff. “You’re part of this family.”
“I know that. And I always will be.” Cort squeezed Akira’s shoulder, then approached Ford, his voice low. Soothing. “But we need to keep this as simple as possible. The laws have changed. Once we get past all this, all three of us can become his legal guardians if that’s what you want. But when you speak to that judge you are Jaxon’s father and you want him removed from a toxic situation. You are willing and able to provide for him. Have no issues proving it. No more or less needs to be discussed.”
“He’s right.” Akira went to Ford and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Discuss Cort being involved with your lawyer, but from what Asher said, the judge won’t be interested in anything beyond the best interests of the child and the reasons for the request. It’s a lot of paperwork.”
The tension slowly eased from Ford’s body until his muscles were relaxed under her hands. “So nothing like going to court and trying to stay out of jail?”
“Not at all.”
�
��Okay.” Ford finished buttoning his shirt when she let him go, turning to face her and Cort, his eyes hard with determination. “I’ve got this. Let’s get Jaxon home.”
Chapter 25
Ford paced the length of the kitchen, jerking at his tie and staring out into the darkness. This was taking too long. What if something had gone wrong? His lawyer had sounded optimistic, but he couldn’t push away the dread that had been twisting his stomach in knots all day.
The whole ‘court hearing’ hadn’t gone at all like he’d expected. He hadn’t even met the judge, his lawyer and a representative from child services spoke with him alone after all the paperwork was filed. Ford spent most of the day in his lawyer’s office, tensing every time she came in with an update or brought him more papers to sign.
Andrea had joined him for a bit, shooting him a strained smile before she was taken into another room to give her statement.
In the end, the abuse wasn’t what got the emergency custody order granted. The judge determined there was a credible risk to Kyle leaving the country with Jaxon. Along with the abuse, he agreed there was enough danger ‘to the child’ to warrant an ‘ex parte’ something or another and the order was given to remove Jaxon from his uncle’s care. Ford had been granted temporary custody while he pursued his parental rights.
Which was perfect. Ford almost hugged his lawyer when she told him, but decided to just shake her hand, thank her, and save his hugs for his son. And the man and woman he loved, who’d gotten them both through this while he’d been fucking everything up.
The problem came when Ford asked about the documents he’d need to go get Jaxon. He wasn’t sure how that all worked. Did he take them to Anthony’s house and shove them in Kyle’s face?
That would’ve been damn satisfying.
His lawyer had asked him to take a seat while she explained the procedure.
“Jaxon’s aunt gave enough details for the representative from child services to be concerned about the danger Kyle poses to your son.” Mrs. Monsch brought Ford a glass of water, then took a seat behind her desk. Her tone was crisp as always, but there was understanding in her eyes. “I know this isn’t how you imagined things would play out, but it was always unlikely that you’d be allowed to retrieve Jaxon yourself. The woman you met, Ms. Joseph, will go to your father’s house and remove Jaxon for his safety. An officer will accompany her to facilitate the removal.”
Ford stared at her. “So my son is getting dragged out of there by a cop?”
“No. The officer will only get involved if Kyle or your father try to prevent Jaxon from leaving.” Mrs. Monsch folded her hands on the desk. “The priority of both the officer and the caseworker is to make sure Jaxon feels safe.”
With how much time Jaxon had spent in the system, Ford wasn’t sure how ‘safe’ he’d feel. Fuck, he wished he could’ve talked to his son before this all went down. Warned him at least. Instead, he’d had to miss his scheduled visitation and let the court decide what would happen next.
At least it was finally over though, right? “Will the cop be bringing Jaxon to my house?”
“I don’t believe so. The caseworker will likely bring Jaxon to her office and speak to him. Find out if there are any injuries that need to be tended to and documented. Assess if he needs to speak to a therapist or if he’s in a good place to be handed into your care.”
“He’s gonna fucking hate that.”
“He might, but this has to be done, Ford. If it’s not handled properly, Kyle could use that if he decides to challenge your parental rights. You hired me to make sure this is done right.” She stacked copies of all the papers he’d signed, placed them in a file, then slipped it into her briefcase. “Without the rush we might have been able to avoid involving child services and the police, but both are needed now. You’ve done the right thing for your son and he’ll see that once he finally has the love and stability he deserves. In the meantime, please be patient and trust that those in authority are making his wellbeing a priority.”
Ford didn’t have a choice but to trust the cops and the caseworker, but that would be a lot easier if Jaxon was home. If he could see his son and promise him he’d never go through anything like this again.
Akira stepped into the kitchen, watching him for a moment before coming to him and taking his hand, giving it a little squeeze. “He’ll be here soon, Ford. I know you said you wanted to be alone, but come sit with me and Cort. Try to relax a little. Jaxon’s going to need to see everything’s good here and you look way too stressed out.”
Nodding, Ford let her lead him to the living room, where Cort was standing in front of the window, arms folded over his chest. The big man had been quiet ever since he’d heard everything the lawyer had told Ford. He’d seemed more confident in how everything would turn out earlier today, but now…?
Now it was real. They might spend weeks, or months with their lives under a microscope. There was still so much that could go wrong, and Ford knew Cort was afraid to be the reason Jaxon lost his chance at a real home. A family.
But Ford hadn’t wasted the entire day being pissed off that a system which had already made his son’s life difficult was dragging out the trauma even more. He’d looked into why he’d never been contacted the first time Jaxon was removed from his mother’s care. Read over the file his lawyer had put together to help him claim his parental rights. Trista had told a social worker he was dangerous. That the people he was involved with scared her. So many lies to keep his son away from him.
To counteract them, Mrs. Monsch had laid out Ford’s life in a way that made him wonder if she’d ever met him. She laughed when he asked and told him to read the file she had on him. A timeline that showed him doing well in business school, working for his ‘father’s’ company, then exposing it for corruption and cooperating with the authorities to bring the man to justice. Then his work with the Cobras, his charitable efforts, statements from both his sisters and several friends and coworkers saying how good he was with kids, how much he cared about his family, how hard he worked.
His throat got all tight reading that. He really looked like a decent guy on paper. But would that be enough? Would this convince a judge to give him his son?
Then Mrs. Monsch showed him the files she’d put together on Cort and Akira. He smiled as he read the letters from some of Cort’s employees. And even one from Cort’s old parole officer. Whatever Cort thought of his past, it was what he’d done since that stood out.
“Hey.” Ford stepped up to Cort’s side, still holding Akira’s hand as he leaned his head against Cort’s shoulder. “You know, last time I talked to Jaxon, he said you were buying some old junker for him. Isn’t he a little young for that?”
Cort let out a short laugh. “Just a bit, but he was really interested when I was working on that old Aston Martin restoration—the one I took on as a side project?” He smiled at Ford’s nod. “I told him since I don’t have much spare time to work on it, it could take years before it’s finished, but I’ve always wanted one of them. And he said he wants a car just like Bumblebee. So I told him I’d shop around for an old Camaro and he was so fucking excited…” Cort sighed and shook his head. “Not sure what I was thinking. He doesn’t know how much I’ve fucked up. The car won’t do him a ton of good in a group home and if I’m still here—”
“There’s been a lot of shit going on, Cort. But as soon as you have some time, I want you to come with me to talk to my lawyer. She’ll let you know exactly how good it is that you’re here.” Ford bumped Cort’s side with his elbow at his doubtful look. “Both you and Akira have the stable jobs. Mine will be gone soon and the bar doesn’t look great on paper, it’s not bringing in much. But the three of us together can provide well for Jaxon and we’ve been together long enough that she’s decided to present us as a united front. Which means we’ll all be talking to the caseworker, but she doesn’t seem worried, so don’t you be.”
With a sideways glance, Cort seemed ready to remind Ford of
how little faith he’d had in lawyers, but instead, he simply shrugged. “I don’t mind talking to whoever I have to. So long as she’s sure I won’t hurt your custody case.”
“She’s sure. And she’s damn good at her job.” Ford knew he must have annoyed the lawyer with all his questions, constantly saying shit she insisted wasn’t relevant, but in the end he’d finally understood why Oriana had chosen her. She didn’t blink when it came to his alternative lifestyle, the issues with his ‘fathers’, or his hypothetical ideas for getting shit done faster.
She stuck to what they could do legally, found a way to convince him his rights were all they needed, and put together an ironclad case.
One hour with her and Cort would get back to building his son a Transformer—or whatever it was he had planned.
“They’re here.” Akira tugged on Ford’s hand, nodding toward the driveway.
It took every ounce of strength Ford had to calmly walk to the door and open it. He wanted to run out there and grab his son. Get him far away from the strangers he’d been stuck with for hours. But no matter how good Mrs. Monsch said his case was, he was all too aware the caseworker would be judging his every move.
As soon as Jaxon spotted him, a huge smile broke out across his face. He bolted from behind the tall man who’d opened the car door for him and leapt into Ford’s arms.
“You should have seen it. Uncle Kyle was so fucking mad. He shouted at the cop and the chick told him to calm down and get out of her way before she arrested his ass.” Jaxon’s eyes glowed with excitement as he wrapped his arms around Ford’s neck. He was trembling, likely overwhelmed by everything, but otherwise, seemed damn happy. “He told the cop he never fucking touched me, so I took my shirt off right there and told them he was a liar. The child service dude was shook!”
Ford’s stomach twisted. He forced his tone to stay level. “Did they bring you to a doctor?”
“Yeah. And they took some pictures.” Jaxon buried his face between his arm and Ford’s neck. “Was fucking weird. And I didn’t think the bruises were a big deal—like, that anyone would care. He just grabbed my arm a lot. Shook me sometimes. He only scares me when he starts talking real low, telling me I’ll end up back in the system and be just as pathetic as my dad. Only…he can’t say that anymore. I’ve met you and he’s the pathetic one.”
OverTime (The Dartmouth Cobras Book 9) Page 30
