Razing Kayne (14 page)

The bad news: In short, Child Protective Services had dropped the ball. They hadn't
posted notification and severed parental rights. They'd just assumed Gracie's parents
had been the man and woman in the car with her that night. They hadn't searched missing
persons databases, tried to locate a birth certificate...and the list went on and
on.

But, even if every ‘I’ had been dotted, every ‘T’ crossed and the year had long since
passed, it still might not matter. Bottom line: Ultimately, it would be up to a judge
to determine Gracie’s
fate. Her attorney's final advice, one that Cody had belligerently railed against,
was that Jess should work out an acceptable joint custody/visitation agreement with
Kayne. Once paternity was established, of course. Jess was still beyond furious with
Cody for showing up and insinuating himself in the meeting. She didn’t give a damn
if he’d been the one who originally hired this attorney and his partners to deal with
Jarred’s case.

She needed time to think.
Alone, away from Cody.
She didn't understand his obsessive need to run roughshod over this situation. He
sure as hell wasn't helping matters. Or at least didn't seem to be. But every time
she steeled herself to tell him he needed to stay away, he'd drop a reminder about
all the times he'd been there for her, about how he'd ensured she had the life she
was currently living, instead of one full of struggle and uncertainty without Gracie.
So she’d held her tongue and hoped she wouldn't regret it.

***

Jess stood in her front doorway, watching the car pull away late that afternoon, unable
to make her mind process the papers she held in her hands.

Court decrees.

The first was an order to establish paternity. The judge was giving her twenty-four
hours to present Grace to the nearest lab for a paternity test. That, Jess would readily
agree to, since she was still holding onto the hope that this was all some horrible
mistake, and they'd discover Gracie was not Kayne’s daughter. Surely this was nothing
but a series of unfortunate coincidences.

The second order, however, nearly brought Jess to her knees. It was a petition contesting
the adoption and seeking immediate custody of Gracie upon confirmation of paternity.

The son of a bitch was trying to take her baby away.
Oh, God.
She couldn't breathe.

“Maddy, watch the kids,” she managed to choke out to her ten-year old daughter before
racing to her room.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she should call someone, but she barely
managed to make it to her bathroom before she threw up. After, she collapsed to the
ground in a heap of sobs. How could Kayne do this? Didn't he realize how many lives
he'd tear apart by taking Gracie away? Didn't he care?

FIFTEEN

“Dobrescu.”
Kayne answered the phone, trying to wipe the last of the soap out of his eyes. He'd
heard it ring several times in succession and figured it was an emergency.

“Kayne?”
The small feminine voice sounded distraught.

“
Maddy?
” He knew it was her even before she confirmed. “Sweet pea, what's wrong, has something
happened?” He felt his heart skip a beat or two.

“Mama—”

Kayne panicked. “Is she hurt?” he demanded, not letting her finish whatever she would
have said.

“No. I don't know. After the man left, she locked herself in her room, and I can hear
her crying.” Maddy's voice quivered as she spoke.

A man?
Had someone hurt her? If the son of a bitch had laid a finger on her, Kayne would
hunt him to the ends of the earth. “Tell me exactly what happened.” Kayne ran the
towel swiftly across his body. He dropped it and ripped open his dresser drawer
.
He grabbed the first pair of jeans that met his fingertips.

“The man handed Mama
papers
, and she's upset about them. Told me to watch everyone and went to her room.”

“I'm on my way, sweet pea, just stay on the phone with me.”

Kayne managed to get jeans on—not an easy task one-handed, especially when he was
still wet. He grabbed his shirt and shoes and ran out the door. He debated half a
second then opted for his truck instead of his patrol car. He placed the phone on
speaker so he could pull his shirt on as he stopped at the first red light.

When the house came into view, Kayne let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been
holding. “Sweet pea, I'm pulling up to the front door—” He had been about to ask her
to come open it when it flew open, and there she stood, dancing from foot to foot,
Gracie in her arms.

“I'm here, sweet pea.” Kayne fought for a calm he didn’t feel. These children needed
assurance.

Maddy flew into his arms. “Thank you.”

Gracie turned instantly and scampered up his chest, clinging to him
.
He held them both close for a long moment before taking them inside.

“Hey, Kayne.”
Ash eyed him warily from the other side of the kitchen island.

“What’s wrong buddy?”

“They're hungry.” He shrugged.

Kayne glanced at the clock; it was nearly six-thirty. “You haven't had dinner yet?”

Ash shook his head. “No. We were just trying to decide.”

Damn it! How could Jessica just leave them to fend for themselves? A small voice tried
to tell him he was being unreasonable. It wasn't as if she'd left them alone, she
was still in the house. He had to believe that if there were a true emergency, she'd
be able to react. But a louder voice was claiming she was just like Oksana.

“Okay, Maddy, get drinks, Ash plates, 'Sabella silverware, and
you
…” He looked down at his daughter. He’d been about to tell her she needed to get in
her highchair, but he was loathe to put her down. “You need to help me find the hotdogs.”

Gracie popped her thumb out of her mouth. “A’kay.”

Kayne pulled out a pack of hotdogs and some leftover mac-n-cheese—thank heavens Jessica
dated storage containers—and within minutes, had them sitting down to dinner.

Once the kids were situated, he headed into the lion's den. He had no idea what he'd
say to her; he figured that would depend on what was written in those papers. Damn
it all to hell, why hadn't Brian called him first? Knowing there was only one way
to find out, Kayne took several deep breaths, slowly let them out, and then gently
knocked on her door. “Jessica?”

***

Jess literally jumped at the sound of Kayne's voice.

“Jessica?” Kayne’s voice resonated through the door again.

Her fear quickly turned to rage. She lunged to her feet and ripped the door open.
“You son of a bitch!
What are you doing in my house?”

Kayne took a quick step back. Good! Maybe someone would
finally
take her seriously.

“Maddy called me. What happened?” 

His voice was calm, controlled, and that pissed her off more. “What happened? What
happened
?” She scoffed in disbelief. “You're going to stand there and play stupid, when you
did this?” She waved the court papers in front of him.

He stoically stood there, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. “I don't have any
idea what those say. May I see them?”

She stared at him, astonished. “How can you say that with a straight face? You had
an attorney file papers asking that my adoption of Gracie be overturned so you can
take ‘immediate
full
custody’ of Gracie—excuse me
Tasha Dobrescu—
and you have the nerve to stand there and try and tell me you don't know what these
are?” She waved the papers at him again for emphasis.

Kayne raised his hands in surrender. “Whoa, wait a minute. I spoke to an attorney
this morning, just like you did. But that’s all.”

Jess gasped in surprise. “You were spying on me?”

“Hell no!”
He crossed his arms defensively
.
“I was stopped at the light, on my way home. I drove around all night, trying to make
sense of everything. I saw you and
Cody
walking into that attorney’s office.” 

Kayne threw up his hands and let them fall to his side. “Do you have any idea how
fucking hard it was for me to walk out of here and leave her last night? All I wanted
to do was hold my baby, but I had to leave, because you wouldn't get rid of Cody.
So yeah, I talked to an attorney just like you did. But he was supposed to call me
before he did anything, because I was hoping to work something out with you.”

Okay, this was what her attorney had suggested she do. Jess took a deep breath and
slowly let it out, trying to calm her racing heart. “Like what?”

Kayne blew out a heavy sigh, looked away
.
“Fuck, I don’t know. Something that will let you and the kids stay in her life too.”
He shrugged.

Oh, God, he planned to take her baby away and let them see her on occasion
?
All thoughts of her attorney’s advice fled her mind
.
“Get out.” The demand was little more than a choked whisper.

Kayne stood there staring, that damned look of concern on his face, as if he gave
a shit about her.
About any of them.

“Get out!”
she screamed. She looked around for something to throw at him. Anything would do.

“Jessica, calm down.” He put his hands out, palms forward, a gesture of surrender.
“You have the kids so upset that Maddy called me in tears.”

“She had no business calling you. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again.” Jess wiped
furiously at the tears flooding her eyes. “I'll make sure they realize you were only
using them to get close to their sister. That you're trying to take her away from
us.”

“Damn it, Jessica
stop
! That is
not
true!” He took a breath.
Softened his voice.
“Please, I'm begging you.” He slowly reached his hand out to her. “Baby, you’re trembling
like a leaf. Let's sit down and talk about this. There has been a horrible mistake.
We can fix this.”

Jess stepped out of his reach. “Don’t touch me!” She couldn’t bear to be touched by
him right now. God, she felt so horribly used
.
A hysterical laugh bubbled up and spilled over before she could stop it. “Yeah, horrible
mistake is an understatement.”

But she was the one who’d made the mistake
.
She’d sworn she’d never let another man use or abuse her again, and the first time
she attempted to let someone close, he’d done just that
.
“Cody was right about you. He told me you'd try to take her away.”

Clearly frustrated,
Kayne ran a hand through his hair. “I never meant to hurt you, Jessica.”

“Please go away. I have to fix my children dinner.” She tried to shove past him, but
the fact that he had more than a foot and a good eighty pounds on her made it a futile
attempt.

Kayne ran his hand down her arm, captured hers in his own. “I already did.
Mac-n-cheese with hot dogs.”

Jess jerked free. “You just came into my house without my permission?”

He studied her thoughtfully. “I'm so sorry you're hurting, baby. I didn't mean for
this to happen.”

God, she did not want him to be this caring person. She needed him to be an asshole.

“Will you call Polly to come watch the
kids,
and we'll sit down and talk?”

“Get out!”  She couldn't do this. Not now! How could she talk to him about taking
her baby?

“Call Polly to come help with the kids.”
This time, it wasn't a request. “Or I will.”

“I don't need help with my kids. I've been raising them just fine on my own since
my husband died, saving
my
daughter.”

The muscle in Kayne’s jaw contracted. God, he looked so angry.
“Right.
You're in such control you left a ten-year-old in charge, while you holed up in your
room and had a meltdown.” He ran a hand over his tired face. “Damn it, Jessica, you
need help so you can deal with this. Please, let me stay and help and let’s work this
out. I don't want to fight you. All I want is my daughter—”

The doorbell rang before Kayne could finish. With a glare, Jess dared him to stop
her as she shoved past him. Thankfully, he stepped out of her way.

***

Kayne gave in and punched the wall. Fuck! Who the hell could that be? Right when he
thought he was finally reaching her. He'd been about to explain that he didn't want
to rip Gracie
away from the only mom and siblings she'd ever known. He only wanted her to be happy,
but he needed to be a key part his child’s life.

Kayne followed her as far as the kitchen, where he stopped to check on the kids and
grab some ice for his throbbing hand
.
They were a little too quiet, making him wonder how much they'd heard. He prayed it
wasn't much. He didn't want them involved in all this bullshit. As it was, he and
Jessica weren't winning parents of the year.

“Where the fuck is he?”

Kayne heard the belligerent hose-monkey’s roar.
Oh yeah, let the games begin.

Cody stormed into the kitchen, seething. “How dare you step foot in this house.”

“Why don't we go in the other room?” Kayne said as diplomatically as possible.

“No.
Because you're leaving.”
Cody glared in challenge.

Kayne laughed a humorless laugh. He'd like to see Cody try and enforce that command.
Kayne hadn't survived the streets of St. Petersburg and then Los Angeles with his
good looks alone. He’d learned to fight and survive from the moment he could walk.

“You have no right to tell me what to do, and, at this point, I don't want you around
the kids, especially my daughter.”

“Are you going to let him speak to me that way?” Cody all but whined to Jessica.

Jessica looked Kayne in the eye. “Please, just go.” 

“Both of you,” she clarified when Cody snorted in triumph.

Kayne’s gut clinched. He wanted to work this out. “Jessica, we need to talk about
this before it gets any further out of hand.”

“Get out!” Cody took a threatening step forward.

Hadn’t the little fuck learned anything yet?
God, if the kids weren’t here…But they were, so he restrained himself.
Barely.

“Jessica, please. Don’t draw a line in the sand that can't be crossed.” Kayne tried
to step around Cody.

Cody lashed out and grabbed Kayne's arm. It took every ounce of reserve he possessed
to not tear into him. “Get your hands off of me,” he growled as quietly as possible.
“The kids do
not
need to see any more of this.”

Kayne stepped around Cody and headed for the door, but paused to speak with Jessica.
“You need to take those papers seriously, after all,” Kayne whispered for her ears
only. “And expect a few more, because I'm done with this bullshit. You've obviously
made your choice.” He paused to glance meaningfully at Cody. “Now I'm making mine.
He will not be allowed around my daughter. All I wanted was unrestricted visitation.
I never intended to take her from you or her siblings, because I never wanted to hurt
you or those kids. You have no idea what it's like to lose a child, but you're about
to find out. You've made it clear that I'm going to have to gain full custody and
take her out of here to protect her.”

“Kayne, wait,” Jessica called after him.