Chapter Eleven #2
He takes it from me, staring down at the soft yellow gingham cover.
“Everything is documented in there, along with pictures. Even a lock of hair from her first haircut.”
He opens it to the first page and reads her full birth name and weight:
Hannah Justice Creed
Born July 28, 2013
5lbs. 2oz.
His fingers brush over her middle name. “So that’s what the J stands for.”
“Yes.”
Since he didn’t get to be there to help pick her name it was my way of making him a part of it. I personally love it. It’s fitting and the whole reason why Thatcher calls her Hannah J.; it’s his way of keeping Justice in our lives, too.
The next page is a picture of me just days before my delivery.
Thatcher had come by to check in and we went for a walk in a nearby field.
While I felt like a whale, huffing and puffing as I trudged through the weeds, he snapped this picture, telling me there was nothing more beautiful than a woman carrying a child.
I called him a liar that day and laughed, until I saw this photograph.
It’s my most favorite picture of myself.
The sun had been shining so bright, catching the red and gold in my auburn hair and dancing along my skin.
The long, white maxi dress I wore complemented the moment perfectly.
Even though I was terrified for what my future held, I look like I was right where I was always meant to be.
Ready to start the next chapter of my life with my precious baby girl.
Justice flips to a photo of Hannah when she was first born, she hadn’t even been bathed yet.
“She was so small,” he murmurs, touching the picture.
Bravely, I sit next to him on the swing, leaving a good distance between us. “I had her earlier than expected. She was small but she was fierce.”
“Why did she come early?” he asks.
“I had high blood pressure and it caused me to go into early labor. They did everything they could to stop it but Hannah was determined to make her debut early so I had to have an emergency C-section.”
He finally looks over at me, his dark eyes meeting mine. “What does that mean?”
“She was surgically removed.” I smile at the panic on his face. “It happens more often than you think. It’s a simple procedure. Just a longer healing process.”
He looks back down at the book, his thoughts hard to decipher. He turns to the next page and stills at the photo of Thatcher holding Hannah. Silence fills the air, his body rigid.
“He’s been trying to call you,” I whisper.
“Don’t,” he grits. “I’m not discussing my father with you.”
Swallowing nervously, I stupidly ignore his warning and push on. “I know you’re angry, Justice.”
A bitter laugh escapes him. “Angry is a fucking understatement.”
“I get it but this isn’t his fault. He tried to get me to tell you.”
He slams the book down between us, making me jump, and pushes to his feet. “Then why the fuck didn’t you? You had six years, Ryanne!”
“Because I was scared,” I tell him, speaking past the emotion threatening to consume me. “By the time I had her and with every month that passed, I only became more fearful. I was worried about your reaction. Terrified you would make us go back there, something I couldn’t do. I still can’t.”
Now that I have voiced it out loud, I decide to lay it all on the line. The one sacrifice I will not make.
“I can’t go back to Winchester, Justice. Not with my family and everyone else there.”
“What about my fucking family?”
“Your brothers are welcome here anytime to see her.”
“They shouldn’t have to travel hours to see her. They shouldn’t have to make appointments and neither should I. I’ve spoken to a lawyer. I have rights too, damn it!”
My blood runs cold at the admission, fear wrapping around my heart like a deadly snake. “You spoke to a lawyer?”
“Of course I did. What the hell was I supposed to do?”
“Are you planning to fight for custody?” The question barely makes it past the panic restricting my throat.
Terror thrashes through my veins when he remains silent, his expression hard as granite.
“Answer me!”
He shakes his head. “I’m not doing this with you. Not now.” He turns his back on me and starts down the stairs, heading for his truck.
It sends me to my feet and I race down the rickety steps after him. “Don’t you dare threaten me and walk away, Justice Creed!” When he doesn’t slow his strides, I jump in front of him, my fists striking out against his chest. “You will not take my daughter! Do you hear me?”
The pain, fear, and anger all explode at once. Tears soak my face as I lash out, my fists colliding with his chest. He grips my wrists and pins my thrashing body against his truck. Before I can anticipate his next move, his mouth slams down on mine, dominating it in ways only he can.
My struggle comes to a stop and I gasp, the earth rocking beneath my feet.
He uses the opportunity to thrust his tongue inside, taking what he wants, infecting my heart like no one else ever has.
The kiss is furious and punishing, stoking the fire and fury between us.
His potent taste, the one I’ve never forgotten, settles deep into my bones.
My fingers fist his hair as I match every angry stroke he delivers. His strong thigh wedges between my legs as he keeps my arms pinned above my head, pressing against the one spot that sends shock waves through my body.
My hips lift, pussy grinding as I greedily reach for that mind-numbing pleasure.
It’s been so long—too long.
The orgasm washes over me like a hurricane, flooding every nerve ending in my body. I drown in it, crying against his mouth, too lost in it all to be embarrassed by the quick thrill.
He grips my jaw with one hand and forces my head back against his truck, his teeth sinking into my bottom lip with a sharp bite. The metallic taste of blood touches my tongue before he pulls his mouth away.
His furious face hovers before mine, eyes wild with lust but the anger is still there, just as prominent as before. “We could have been so good, Ryanne.”
My lungs heave for air as I gaze up at him, heart beating painfully with every breath I take. “Just us or your brothers, too?”
His jaw tightens. “You know better than that.”
“The hell I do,” I counter. “We both made choices, Justice. Ones we have to live with. I’ll accept responsibility for mine but it’s time you accept yours.
How do you think I felt when I showed up to your apartment to tell you I was pregnant only to find you and your brothers fucking that girl.
” The pain that memory brings slices me as deeply as it did all those years ago.
“I never touched her.”
The truth staring back at me shocks my very being. “But…you weren’t dressed. You—”
“Was just getting out of the shower,” he finishes for me. “Something you would have known had you stuck around to let me explain.”
My eyes close briefly, the clarification evoking a storm of emotions. “Even still, it doesn’t change our circumstance. I will not raise my daughter in a town where everyone questions who her father is. Where she will have to hear the whispers and the rumors.”
He glares down at me but I don’t let him speak, anger igniting within me once more.
“If you think you’re going to take her from me then you better be ready, because the enemies you put a bullet in will seem like fucking saints compared to the fight I will bring you.”
He smirks, amused by the threat. “Is that so?”
“Damn straight it is.”
His large body crowds me further, hard face dipping next to mine. I hold my ground, refusing to cower to his intimidation tactic.
“As much as I would love to make you hurt the way you have me, I love my daughter more. But hear me now, Ryanne. You are not calling the shots any longer. She’s my kid too and I will take what belongs to me.” His fingers brush my swollen lips. “All of it.”