And Tessa… her privacy invaded—naked, tits on display in the pictures seen by a bunch of lawyers and the judge. Fuck! I grind my jaw. And my own parents orchestrated this. We weren’t doing anything wrong. We’re both adults and the beach isn’t public, it’s Tessa’s property. In fact, every picture is taken from Tessa’s property.
But none of that matters. I know that. Because the damage is done.
I’ll be lucky if Judge Horse-face doesn’t lock me up. For a brief second the voice inside me says it’s what I deserve, but I shake it off, thinking instead of Tessa and what this might mean for her. What if the PI sells the negatives to the media?
My phone rings in my hand just as I’m turning to head back to Tessa’s cottage. She needs to know.
“Hey, I just saw them,” I answer, expecting my brother-in-law, but it’s my sister.
“You need to get home. Judge Hortense has called everyone in for a meeting tomorrow morning. David told her you needed to get a flight, and she didn’t seem to care.”
“None of that was real. I mean, it was, but it was taken completely out of context.”
“It doesn’t matter Case; it doesn’t look good. And as they say, ‘a picture’s worth a thousand words’.”
“I’ll use ten thousand if it gets me Reece and saves Tessa from further embarrassment.”
“Just get here and we’ll strategize when you do.”
I nod even though she can’t see me, and sign off. Throwing my phone to the ground in frustration, I scrub my hands over my face.
“I have to leave, Mack. Can you handle things here?” I follow Mack’s eyes as they travel to the cottage across the field.
“Can I hog-tie her?”
Rising, I stand next to him. “Not unless you want me to kick your ass.”
He lets out a gruff laugh but holds his hands up in surrender.
“No one ties her up but me,” I add with a growl.
Mack just shrugs. “No promises then.” He claps me on the shoulder. “Go fix your shit. I’ll be here.”
Since there’s no time to waste, I take off at a jog toward my bike, mentally preparing myself for the fight of my life. And this time not just for Reece, but Tessa too.
“Daddy!” Reece jumps into my arms, and I close my eyes, hugging her little body tight, hoping it isn’t for the last time.
“Hey gumdrop, how’s my girl?” I kiss her silky red curls and breathe in the scent of her bubblegum shampoo.
“Lemme see pictures of our house, Daddio!”
I reach into my pocket and realize I don’t have my phone. I groan. “I’m sorry, gumdrop, I forgot my phone in my rush to get home to you.”
“It’s okay, Daddy, you’re my home too.” She squeezes me tight and then changes the subject. “I got to put the date on the board all week at school, Daddy. Because I got twenty-five stars.”
“Oh wow! How’d you get so many stars?”
Her serious blue eyes hone in on mine and one little palm goes to my bearded cheek. “Because Daddy, I’m a very well-behaved young lady. And,” she says elongating the word, “I keep everything very tidy.”
I smirk and tickle her chin and neck. “Of course you are?—”
“She has her teacher fooled about the tidy part,” Lulah says rubbing her belly. “Your room is a disaster, isn’t it, little miss?”
“It’s artistic expression,” she says with the giggle, wiggling out of my arms so she can escape my friend’s pretend wrath. I watch her run back into the house before turning my attention to Lulah.
“Jeff’s mother sent her a book with artwork from the Louvre. She’s obsessed.”
“She’s going to be the smartest kid ever born to an outlaw biker.”
