Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
MARCO
Imoved down the hallway at Susan’s side, ignoring the concerned glances she kept shooting my way.
“You sure it’s a good idea for you to be here?
” she asked for the third time since I’d shown up at her firm earlier this morning.
Gypsy was currently being coddled to death by Odette and her girls.
The kids were all at school, with the exception of Raleigh.
And Lincoln had given me a much-needed day off so I could take care of my family.
And that was exactly what I was doing by being here.
“Not gonna fuck this up now,” I grunted as the conference room door came into view. “Not when we’re so close to this being over.”
She blew out a breath as she placed her hand on the knob. “Fine,” she relented unhappily. “But you keep your cool in there, you got me? I can handle people like this.”
I gave her a nod, and she threw the door open.
The moment she entered the conference room her entire demeanor changed.
She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and threw her hair back, exuding an air of authority and boredom as she sauntered to the table, placed her phone down, and tossed the file she’d been carrying next to it before pulling out the chair at the head of the table and taking a seat without sparing the two people already in the room a single glance.
I took the chair to her left, studying Danny and Peggy Bradbury intently from where they sat across from me. Rhodes, Ray and Sunny had gotten Danny’s dark hair and eyes, but seeing her for the first time, I now knew that Raleigh, Gypsy, and Holly were all Peggy Bradbury.
It was obvious that they’d both been attractive back in their prime, but a hard life, shitty decisions and unhappiness had hardened Gypsy’s parents in a way that made them much less attractive than their offspring.
“All right, Mr. and Mrs. Bradbury. My name is Susan Seymore. I’m representing Gypsy Bradbury in the pursuit of custody of Rhodes, Sunshine, Raylan, Holiday, and Raleigh Bradbury.”
Peggy let out a choking sound, her eyes going wide as they bounced between me and Susan. “Custody? I thought... You said on the phone this meeting was about the estate of my dead uncle!”
Oh, damn. I knew Susan was good, I hadn’t realized just how good. I hired her because she was known for being a shark. When it came to the wellbeing of children, she could be downright ruthless.
I’d been curious as to how she got the Bradburys to agree to a meeting, but now I knew. She’d read them correctly before ever meeting them. She knew they were flaky, self-absorbed wastes of space, so she’d catered to their worst traits, conning them into this meeting with the hope of a payout.
“Oh, yes,” Susan said apathetically, clicking her pen and throwing the file open. “My apologies. I was going off incorrect data, but now that you’re here, let’s get down to business, shall we?”
“Fuck this,” Danny Bradbury grunted as he pushed to his feet. “I came here thinkin’ there was money involved. No point in stickin’ around if there ain’t.”
“Sit down, Mr. Bradbury,” Susan commanded in a loud voice that left absolutely no room for argument.
Once he’d done as ordered and she had the couple’s attention, she started in.
“Seeing as my time is valuable, we’ll get right down to it.
” She lifted a set of documents from the file and placed them on the dark wood of the table.
“This right here is an agreement I’ve drafted myself.
By signing this, you’ll be signing away custody to all of your children beneath the ages of eighteen.
You will be agreeing to grant that custody to Gypsy Bradbury.
She will retain all authority on medical care, education, and any legal matters that may arise.
Basically, what this agreement states is that you won’t have any legal or custodial rights to your five children whatsoever.
All decisions regarding their wellbeing will be made solely by Ms. Bradbury. ”
Peggy snorted and rolled her overly-lined eyes toward the ceiling. “Well ain’t this just typical Gypsy, always thinkin’ she’s so much better than the rest of us. I’m not givin’ my rights over to that uppity bitch! Those are my kids.”
“She wants ’em, she can damn well pay for ’em,” Danny added, making the blood burn in my veins.
It took everything I had not to launch myself across the table and wrap my hands around his throat, but I managed to keep my seat by white-knuckling the arms of my chair.
“Let me just make sure I understand what you’re saying,” Susan stated. “What you’re telling me is you would grant Ms. Bradbury sole custody of your children if she was willing to pay you money for them?”
“I didn’t stutter, did I?” he bit back. “You need me to state it plainer? If Gypsy wants my kids, I want five grand a piece.”
Susan gave the man a cunning smile. “Thank you for clearing that up.” She flipped her phone face up on the table and tapped the screen, stopping the recording no one had been aware she was making.
Realizing they’d just been played, the Bradbury’s looked at the phone; Danny with anger and Peggy with panic.
“I’ll need to make sure my assistant dictates that after we’re finished here. ”
She removed another document from the file and placed it beside the first one, pressing her fingers on the first page.
“Now this is a motion to terminate all parental rights on the grounds of abandonment and neglect. If you refuse to sign the agreement by the end of this meeting, I’ll be filing this motion by the end of business today, and I suggest you find yourselves a lawyer as quickly as possible.
But before we go down that road, I feel I should warn you, in the twenty years I’ve been practicing, I’ve not lost a single case, and the evidence against you is, quite frankly, staggering.
There is no doubt in my mind that the court will rule in Ms. Bradbury’s favor.
The outcome will still be the same, your parental rights will be terminated, but you’ll also be out thousands in legal fees for your attorney as well as court costs.
And that’s not to mention my fees, because I’ll also make sure you pay those as well. ”
She gave the couple a fake pitying look.
“If we can’t reach an understanding today, I’m afraid you’ll have nothing to show for your wasted time, and the debt you’ve already accrued on your own will more than triple.
” She glanced down at the file once more and began rifling through.
“And from what I see here, that debt is already quite substantial.”
Danny’s mouth fell open in shock. “I can’t... but that’s not... you can’t do that!”
“I assure you, Mr. Bradbury, I can and I most certainly will.”
“But, but, but...”
“We don’t have that kinda money!” Peggy cried.
At her declaration, Susan scooted the agreement closer to them. “Then my suggestion is you sign so we can be done with this whole thing.”
“This is...” Peggy’s mouth opened and closed several times before she snapped, “This is total bullshit!”
“I must disagree with you,” Susan replied.
“What I find to be bullshit is two parents who would abandon their children, who would sit idly by while their seventeen-year-old daughter dropped out of high school so she could take on the responsibility of raising their children, who would then come into a meeting and demand cash in exchange for custody of their children as if they were cattle instead of human beings. And I can assure you, Mrs. Bradbury, there isn’t a judge in this county who wouldn’t agree with me. ”
“I don’t have to sit here and listen to this!
” Danny shouted, shooting to his feet once more and slamming his hands down on the table.
“Who the hell do you think you are to judge me, huh? Just ’cause you got yourself a fancy education and a big vocabulary, you think that gives you the right to try and take away my kids? ”
I was officially done keeping my mouth shut. “They aren’t your kids.” All three sets of eyes shot to me. “They’re mine and Gypsy’s.”
“And just who the fuck are you?” Danny seethed.
I slowly rose out of my chair and mimicked his pose, bracing my hands on the table and looking him square in the eye.
“I’m the man with the means to pay top dollar for an attorney capable of taking you to the cleaners,” I replied in a calm, quiet voice.
“I’m the man who tracked down every single speck of dirt there is on you, and believe me, there was a lot.
I’m also the man who found that bank account you’ve been hiding from your wife.
You know, the one you’ve been squirreling money away in to help pay for the baby you’re having with your neighbor’s nineteen-year-old daughter?
He’s a cop isn’t he? Not so sure how comfortable it’ll be living next to them when he finds out the truth in.
..” I looked to my watch. “Oh, well, my colleague’s probably already there now. ”
Danny looked like he was about to puke all over the table. An understandable reaction when you find out your gun-toting neighbor just learned you’d been nailing his daughter in his house while he was serving and protecting his community.
“What?” Peggy screeched, shooting up beside her husband. “You son of a bitch! How could you! You said you never touched—”
I looked at her and kept going. “I’m also the man who located that sugar daddy you’ve had on a hook for the past year and a half.
” Her mouth snapped shut and her face blanched white as my mouth curled up in a grin.
“He and I had a really nice conversation. Turns out he knew nothing about your husband or your six children. Until we spoke, that is. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I’m afraid your dreams of being swept off to an island in the Caribbean is gone.
Last we talked, he was planning to jet off with his twenty-five-year-old assistant.
She has less baggage. I’m sure you understand. ”
They both remained speechless, but Susan let out a tiny squeak, and I turned just in time to see her drop her head and fight back a laugh.
Shifting my focus back to the two people I’d come to despise, I added, “I’m the man capable of dismantling your entire life without so much as breaking a sweat, and when it comes to my woman and our kids, I won’t hesitate.
There isn’t a secret that’s safe from me or the men I work with, so my suggestion is you sign that agreement and disappear somewhere much, much further away from Hope Valley.
Because if I ever lay eyes on you two again, I’ll make this seem like a day at Disney Land. ”
Silence descended on the conference room, and Susan was finally the one to break it several seconds later. “So, what’s it going to be?”
She and I walked out of the conference room five minutes later with the signed agreement in hand.
“You know,” she started once we stopped at the elevators, “if that was you keeping your cool back there, I’m a little terrified to see what you’re like when you’re really pissed.”
The elevator doors opened, and I stepped into the car, hitting the button for the ground floor. I turned back to the sharply dressed woman and shot her a wink just before they slid closed on her bark of laughter.