Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“If you do not drop it, the judge will know everything, and she will leave custody to me. And once that’s finished, I will countersue you for everything your minuscule life is worth for trying to ruin mine. You know that I love her and that she is better off with me. Do not fight me on this.”
“Fine, whatever,” Rafael said. “Just get the fuck off of me.”
I kept hold of his collar, still glaring down at him. Then, after counting to ten in my head and forcing myself to calm down, I shoved him away and stepped backward.
“Call your lawyer. Now.”
Rafael blinked at me several times, almost as if he thought I was joking. But I was not, and he fucking knew I was not, so he sat down in his chair and picked up his cell phone.
His hands shook as he tapped the screen a few times, then pressed the phone to his ear.
“Put it on speakerphone,” I ordered.
He released an irritated sigh but did as he was told.
The phone rang a few times before a male answered.
“Hey, Jim. It’s Rafael.”
“Hey, Rafael. What’s up? Gotta make this quick—I’m on my way to a hearing.”
“Yeah, listen. I need to drop the custody battle.”
The line was quiet for a few seconds. “What are you talking about?”
“You heard me. I need to drop it. Today. Send a notice or a letter or whatever to the judge and let her know I no longer want custody.”
“Uh . . . okay. What’s going on, man? We had this bagged.”
“He knows, all right?” Rafael pinched the bridge of his nose. “Javier has a fucking recording of me when I had lunch with Matt yesterday. Some . . . woman that he knew overheard me talking and got the whole thing.”
“Shit. What did you say?”
“I was talking about the kids clothing line and about the girl, of course. And about how much money we could make with her as the face of the brand or whatever.”
I hated when he called Aleesa the girl, like she was just some random kid he could pick out of a lineup.
“God damn it, Rafael! This is why I told you to keep your fucking mouth shut about it! Telling the media was one thing, but talking about it in public? It’s the dumbest thing you could’ve done, even if it was with Matt.”
“I know.”
“Fine,” his lawyer snapped. “I’ll contact Judge Dalton today to cancel the battle. But you’re still paying me for my time.”
“Okay.”
“I gotta go.” His lawyer ended the call, and Rafael sat back in his chair.
“Happy?” he asked, throwing his hands up.
“No. But it will do.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just get the fuck out of my office.”
I made my way to the door but paused before walking out. “Did you even care about being a father?”
Rafael stared at me briefly before lowering his line of sight. “I . . . don’t know. But I could have eventually cared. And I just . . . I wanted to see the kid in person. And whether you believe it or not,” he said, rising to a stand, “I cared about Eloise. I fucking loved her. That sucks for you to hear, but it’s true. I loved her . . . she just didn’t love me back. And you were right before.” He swallowed hard, as if he were swallowing a chunk of his pride. “She told me she was choosing you over me when she ended our affair. Even after I had promised her the world.” He scoffed, head shaking. “To this day, I still don’t understand why, if she claimed to be so unhappy at home.”
“You do not understand it because Eloise did not care about worldly things,” I said. “She did not care that you had money. She did not care that you were some semi-famous fashion designer. She took the job because she was bored, and sadly, she got caught up with you. What she really cared about was intimacy and love. She wanted someone to be able to give that to her every single day, but how could we, with careers like ours? We both failed her in those departments.”
“No. You failed her. You chose basketball over her.”
“I did not choose basketball over her,” I countered. “I would have quit immediately if that was what she truly wanted me to do, but she made me promise not to quit. The thing with Eloise is that she struggled with making sacrifices. She wanted me to keep playing so that we could keep living out our dreams and have enough money to provide for her grandmother, but she also wanted me to be home more. She struggled with the sacrifices she had to make, while I failed to meet her needs.”
“I would have done better if she’d given me the chance,” he muttered.