Worth the Wait (Picking up the Pieces #4) (31 page)

“How do you plan on doing that?” I could see the uncertainty in his eyes. He honestly believed that unless Lance was in jail, there was no escaping him. But I knew otherwise.

“I know Lance. The only way to really get to him is to hit him where it hurts. His career and reputation are all that’s ever mattered to him. That’s why I thought I was safe when I took the twins and ran the first time. But this time, I have undisputable evidence. He can’t slither his way out of it this time. This can work, baby. You have to trust me.”

Releasing a frustrated breath, Brett sat on the corner of the bed and ran his hands through his hair. The room remained deathly silent as everyone waited for his reaction. After a few minutes, he finally looked back at me. “Are you sure about this, baby?”

“I’m positive,” I smiled.

“All right. What’s the plan?”

It took a lot of convincing to get Brett on board with my plan, but after an hour of talking, Savannah, Ben and Mr. Pruett left my hospital room having agreed that what I wanted to do would garner the best outcome for me and the twins in the end.

“I can’t believe we’re just gonna let that fucker walk,” Brett grumbled once everyone was gone. He climbed back into the bed with me and wrapped me in his arms, planting a gentle kiss on my lips, mindful of the split from Lance’s attack.

“It’s all going to work out for the best. I promise.”

“I hope you’re right,” he sighed.

I looked up at him with a grin. “I am. Now take me home. I want to be back under the same roof with my family.”

His dark eyes shined brightly as he smiled back at me. “Whatever you want, beauty.”

“You don’t have to go in there with me,” I told Brett as we stood with Mr. Pruett inside the Sheriff’s department. He stood rigid, his eyes laser-focused on the door we were about to walk through.

“Like fuck I’m letting you in there with that man by yourself.”

“I’m going to be alone. Mr. Pruett’s going to be there with me.”

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at the frown Brett shot me. He’d been anxious all morning long, wanting to put the meeting off until I was healed. But I was finished with waiting. When we’d left the hospital the day before, my entire body felt lighter, like the thousand pound weight I’d been carrying on my shoulders all those years had finally lifted. I knew my plan was going to work; I felt it bone-deep. My mood finally matched the beauty of the day. I was walking on cloud nine until we arrived home.

I hadn’t been prepared for the tears in my babies’ eyes when they took in the bruises on my face.

“Mommy!” Callie cried out, running over to me. I tried to suppress the wince as she barreled into me, but the jarring of my ribs sent a shockwave of pain through me. “I’m sowwy,” she whimpered as she pulled back, afraid of hurting me any worse.

“It’s okay, honey pot.” I took her hand and led her to the couch, Brett and Cameron following after me. When I was seated somewhat comfortably, I opened my arms so she could climb up into my lap. Once she settled, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged my little girl tightly.

“Brett said you was in a assident.”

“That’s right, baby. But Mommy’s okay now. Just a few bumps and bruises.”

I looked over to where Cam sat with Brett, his head hanging low as he clutched on to Brett’s arm like a vise.

“What’s the matter, bubs?” I asked, reaching over to lift his chin. One loan tear trailed down his cheek from those hazel eyes. “Oh, honey. I’m going to be all right. Don’t be sad.”

“Was it Daddy?” he asked in a huffed voice. His words were quiet but the impact they hit me with felt like a two-ton car.

Brett’s entire body went solid as a rock as he looked over at me. “What?” I asked my son.

“Did Daddy give you all those bow-bows? He always yelled and gave you bow-bows when we lived with him. I don’t like him. He’s a meanie and I never wanna see him again.”

Pain sliced through my chest. I’d failed at protecting them from Lance’s violence. I thought I’d kept them away from it, not allowing them to see what their own father had been capable of, but I’d let them down. Never again. If it took the rest of my life, I would make sure I never
ever
had to see the pained expression in my children’s eyes that I was seeing right then. I would make it up to them. I would make it right.

“You don’t have to worry about him anymore, sweetie. He’s gone. It’s just us now, okay?”

“Can Brett be our new daddy?” Callie looked up into my eyes and asked so sincerely, so earnestly.

“Yeah,” Cameron shouted. “I want Brett to be my new daddy! I love him and he’s nice and he always buys us pwesents and makes us burritos at night.”

My gaze wandered over to Brett to see his own eyes glistening with unshed tears. When he looked at me in question, I gave him a small nod, letting him know it was okay.

“I’d love nothing more than to be y’all’s daddy,” Brett told my kids, his voice raspy as he tried to hold back his tears. “I’ll spend forever being nice and buying you presents and making you into burritos, if that’s what y’all want.”

“YAY!” they both yelled, jumping from our laps in excitement, and just like that, all the negativity was gone. Our family was together, strong and happy, just as it should be.

I was determined to keep my promise to them, which was why I didn’t want to wait. I had to see Lance right away. I had to finish it.

Cupping his bristly cheek, I gave Brett a kiss and spoke against his lips, “The sooner we get this done, the sooner it ends.”

“Then let’s do this,” he huffed. “But you’ll have to cross over my dead fuckin’ body if you think I’m not going in there with you.”

“Fine,” I relented. “But you have to keep your cool, Brett. Promise me.”

“I promise, beauty.”

With one last kiss, we turned to face the door.

“You ready?” Mr. Pruett asked with his hand on the knob. I gave a curt nod and steeled my spine. There was no way in hell I was going to show Lance an ounce of weakness.

I paused for just a moment after crossing the threshold into the room. I knew Brett had gotten a hold of Lance in that parking lot. I just had no idea how much damage he’d done. But I’d have been lying if I said I felt one ounce of sympathy as I looked at his pummeled face. He looked a thousand times worse than I did. I had to lock down the craving to launch myself at Brett and kiss him to death as I took in the damage inflicted on the bastard.

“You look like shit,” I told him as I took a seat in one of the chairs across the table from him. Mr. Pruett sat down next to me as Brett stood in the corner, arms crossed over his massive chest, a menacing stare directed right at Lance. I got immense pleasure out of seeing him flinch when he caught Brett’s glare.

“You don’t look so good yourself,” he sneered.

“Talk to her like that again and I’ll re-break your nose, fucker. Maybe a cheekbone this time, too.”

I hadn’t thought it was possible, but I actually saw Lance’s complexion pale under all those bruises at the sound of Brett’s gravelly threat.

“What are you doing here, Mackenzie?” He sounded bored as he asked, like taking time away from his cell for our little chat was an inconvenience to him.

“I’m here because of this,” I said, slapping the folder I’d gotten from Mr. Pruett on the metal table and sliding it across to him. “Oh, and this is just a sample of everything I have on you.” I grinned as he opened the folder. “I also have flash drives, videos, voice recordings, you name it. So just in case you think you can cover all this shit up
this time
, you might want to reconsider.”

“And who’s this guy?” Lance asked with a chin lift in Mr. Pruett’s direction, still trying to act nonchalant even as he flipped through page after page of all his dirty little secrets.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I laughed. “I forgot to introduce you. Mr. Pruett, this is my ex, the woman beater. Lance, this is Bradford Pruett, my attorney.” He blanched at the mention of his name, and right then, I knew he was aware of exactly who Mr. Pruett was. “I’m sure you’ve heard of him. He’s Reginald Spaulding’s cousin. You know, your boss? They’re very close. Mr. Pruett also has copies of all of this, as well. So you see, this is no longer your word against mine. It’s your word against his,” I said with a flick of my thumb in my attorney’s direction. I had to swallow down my laughter at the finger wave Mr. Pruett gave to Lance.

“Who do you think everyone at Spaulding, Jefferies, & Dunn would believe then?”

“Trust me, boy, my connections make yours look like child’s play,” the old man said. “Don’t let the small town fool you. For every high-up official you think you have in your corner, I have four more who are even higher. I am
not
a man you want to go up against.”

Wow
! In the short amount of time I’d known Mr. Pruett, I’d thought of him as a kind, softly spoken man. I never thought he was capable of being intimidating. I was happily proven wrong.

Lance’s throat bobbed as he swallowed audibly, the tension finally beginning to show on his face as he turned back to me. “What do you want?”

Leaning forward, I braced my hands on the cold metal table and stared him down. I would never cower to this man again. “I want you to disappear from my life and my children’s lives for good. I want you to go back to Ohio and leave us alone. Don’t call. Don’t write. Don’t
ever
show up in Cloverleaf again. If I even so much as
think
you could be lurking around, I’m going to your boss and the police with everything I have, and I do mean
everything
. That includes Mr. Pruett’s unwavering support.”

“Unwavering,” Mr. Pruett emphasized.

“If you leave me and the kids alone, not only will all of this go away,” I told him, waving my hand at the folder in front of him, “but I won’t press charges against you for the attack in the parking lot of my work. You’ll get to leave here no worse for the wear. Well…I mean, aside from the broken nose and fucked-up face. But your life will still be perfectly intact.”

Lance leaned back in his chair and clasped his cuffed hands in front of him. “And what about you?”

“What about me?”

“What are you getting from all of this?”

A shit-eating grin stretched across my lips. “I get to go home knowing I never have to see your face again. I get to enjoy the fact that you have a pregnant woman out there, hell bent on destroying you for leaving her.”

At that, his eyes grew to the size of salad plates.

“That’s right. You know Gloria? The woman who kindly gave me all this stellar information? She’s knocked up. Oh, and she’s out for blood, Lance, so you might want to watch your back. Looks like you found your match with that one. I hope you two will be happy together.”

“Gloria. That fuckin’ slut,” Lance hissed to himself through clenched teeth.

“There’s one more thing I want from you before I go.”

“Oh?” he asked sarcastically. “And what the hell could that be?”

I pulled one document from my bag, along with a pen and slid them over to him. “Sign it.”

He scanned the papers before looking back up to me. “Are you fucking kidding me? They’re
my
kids. I’m not signing over my rights!”

Placing my hands on the table, I calmly stood until I was leaning over, hissing in his face.

“You
will
sign over your rights to those children. Don’t sit here and act like you give a shit about either of them because we both know you don’t. Give them a chance at a good life, Lance.”

“So, what?” he sneered. “You want that fucking redneck back there to play daddy to
my
kids? I don’t think so.”

I slapped my hand down on the table so hard it echoed loudly through the room, startling a jump from him. “Goddamn it, Lance! For once in your pathetic fucking life, do something for someone else! If you don’t sign that paper, I’ll make sure to rain fucking
Hell
down on you so hard you’d wish you’d never crossed my path. I’m not the same woman I was when I was with you. I let you off easy. If you don’t do this for me, I swear to every god in existence, I
will
make you pay for everything you’ve done to me and those children. Do. Not. Test. Me,” I ground out so harshly spittle flew from my mouth, hitting him in the face.

I sat back in my chair slowly as Lance cowered away from me. The moment my butt hit the cold metal, Brett’s soothing hand appeared on my shoulder. For just one second, Lance’s eyes bounced back and forth between Brett and me, and I saw something flicker in the icy-blue depths, something that looked awfully close to regret. But as quickly as it was there, it was gone. He reached for the pen on the table and scribbled his signature on all the proper pages.

That was all it took. Thirty seconds and my children and I were finally free. I wanted to cry in relief as he pushed the pen and papers back toward me.

Grabbing both, I stuffed them in my purse and stood. “You can keep those,” I said, pointing to the folder. “I have
several
more copies.”

With that, I was finished. I walked away without so much as a backward glance. The second that door closed behind me, I collapsed into Brett’s arms, sobbing like a baby as he held me tightly to him.