Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Emerson
I look at Sawyer and I can see the shock on her face. Lorenzo shakes his head to keep us all quiet until we get to the car.
“What the fuck just happened?” I say as we’re leaving the parking lot.
“That judge is in Beaumont’s pocket. There’s no other way to look at what happened.”
“I just lost my son,” Sawyer whispers. “What am I going to do? He’s everything to me.”
I hold her tight.
“We have a plan. You’re not going to lose River,” Lorenzo says to her.
Everyone’s silent the rest of the way back home.
I hope there’s a solid plan for this, I will never leave River with Palmer.
I don’t care what the judge said. We all head to the clubhouse, most of the family is in there waiting for us.
I’m sure Lorenzo has already told them what happened. They all hug Sawyer and then me.
“We have a week to figure out what’s going on.
But if we can’t, we want the three of you out of Illinois.
We’re going to find out what Palmer has on the judge.
He’s the key to making all of this go away.
Especially because he ignored all the paperwork we showed him.
He didn’t even take time to think about the case.
There’s more to this than we can see,” Lorenzo tells us.
“But if we run away, won’t that make it worse?” Sawyer asks.
“We’re worried that Palmer will try to take River before that time is up. I’ve already had my secretary put in for another court date.”
“Is there a way to postpone the handoff since you put in for a new court date?”
“That’s one of the things we put in for.
Stating that River doesn’t know Palmer at all.
So for the judge to just say that you need to give River to him without any timeframe where he can get to know Palmer first?
That’s going to hurt River. I’m hoping we get a different judge to look the case over.
I did put in that I don’t believe we got a fair hearing and that this judge wasn’t willing to hear both sides.
So I think that we’ll get another court date. ”
“I’m putting the property on lockdown. And I want the three of you to stay here. I’m sorry to do this, but if you’re out doing things, Palmer has a chance to ambush you. When do you need to leave for your next race?” Zio Enea asks us.
“We have almost three weeks before we have to leave.”
“Okay. We’ll have answers before then. And I’m sorry, but if you have to leave for your race, I think Sawyer and River should stay here.”
I look at Sawyer. “I agree, it’s not easy to keep an eye on things at races. There’s so many people there and we can’t ask the race directors to add security for this.”
“Promise me I won’t have to hand my son over to that monster,” Sawyer says to my zio.
“I promise you that River will never know who Palmer is. And we’ll make sure your parents and sisters never come near either of you. Georgíos is a good bodyguard for you. And for now we’ll have someone to be with River.”
“I’ll keep an eye on River. He’ll have fun playing with Grayson,” Rónán O’Callaghan says to us.
“Thank you so much, I know he’ll love being able to spend time with Grayson.” Sawyer smiles.
Having all the kids around for River to play with helps keep him shielded from all this bullshit. It makes me feel better knowing someone will be with River. As secure as the property is, there’s always something that could happen.
Sawyer
I can’t believe what happened today. I have to be dreaming. I know I’m lucky to have his family helping me through this. But I don’t know what I’m going to do if we can’t change this. I refuse to give my son to him.
“I’m going to push the adoption papers too. We can prove that we started that before Palmer put in his petition to take River.”
“Will that help?” I ask.
“I don’t know. But we’re going to try everything we can. No matter how small.”
“Mama!” River calls out as he runs in and I pick him up.
“Are you having fun?”
“Yes. I got to play in the pool wif Rowan and Sansone.”
“That sounds like so much fun.” I smile as I kiss his face.
“Can we go and see da otters?”
“Not today, baby. Maybe later on this week.”
“Awww. Otay, Mama.”
“Why don’t we have lunch and then go swim again?” Eden smiles at him.
“Yayyyy!”
“Thank you,” I say to Eden.
I’m so glad that River’s too young to really know what’s going on. I think this would be so much harder if I had to explain this to him.
“I know it’s hard to try and relax, but you should try. We have our monthly barbecue this weekend, hopefully it’ll help get your mind off things. Even if it’s just for one night,” Luciana says.
“That does sound nice, thank you. I was telling Emerson I don’t know what I’d do if I had to do any of this alone.”
“I know what you mean. I was lucky to have been born into my family. And now it’s growing and we all take care of each other. That includes you and River. I know that we’ll figure this out. River won’t be taken from you.”
Luciana hugs me, the whole family makes me feel so loved. I feel Emerson wrap his arms around me and I lean back into him.
“I love you,” he whispers in my ear. “We’re going to get through this.”
I turn to face him.
“I’m just so afraid that Palmer will pay off enough people and take River from us.”
“That’s never going to happen. Enzo will find a way to fix this.”
I want to have the kind of faith that he has. But when I saw my parents and my sisters on that stand lying about me? That was something I’ve never felt before. That betrayal is something I’ll never forget.