Chapter 23 #2
She hated that he called her that. Hated it with a fury that made her hands shake.
But she kept it together and headed toward an empty table in the back corner that hadn’t been bussed yet—the one farthest from the other customers but still visible from the counter. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Whatever you want, baby. It’s your call.” Vince followed.
Cringe.
April sat with her back to the wall, the way Shane had taught her. Hannah worked the register and poured coffee with one eye on her sister. Same with Sonny, but with the phone to his ear. April imagined he was calling the police.
Vince took the chair across from her, still smiling that terrible smooth smile that fooled her so long ago.
“Let’s get right to it. How did you find me?”
And how did Watchdog not know you were here?
Vince grinned and spread his arms as he looked around Riversong.
“How does anyone find anything these days? This place was all over social media, celebrating something. Saw a picture, thought I saw the woman I loved,” He stopped, lifted a finger, “still love, excuse me. And I had to come and make sure it was you.”
Oh no. Oh shit. Shit.
How could she be so stupid? April wracked her brain, trying to think about which picture of Riversong and the family Hannah had posted. Was Kevin in it? April did her damndest to keep her son’s face off the internet, so she didn’t think so.
"You look so good," he said softly, his voice the embodiment of warm whiskey by the fire. "You don’t look a day older than they last time I saw you. Colorado agrees with you." He reached for her hand and she snatched it away.
"Don't."
"Don't what, baby?"
"Don't touch me, don’t call me baby, and do not act like this is a friendly reunion. Don't pretend you have any right to be here. So you found me, big deal. I’m not yours. You lost that chance a long time ago."
Vince leaned back in his chair, spreading his hands. "I did my time, April. Paid my debt to society. They even let me out early for good behavior and my parole officer helped me end my parole early. I'm a free man now, and I want to make amends."
"Amends."
"Yeah. For everything." His voice dropped, going soft and earnest. "I was a different man then. Angry. Scared. Greedy. I made terrible choices, and I hurt you. I know that. And I'm sorry. But I did it all for you, ba—April. I wanted you to have the best of everything."
April stared at him. He sounded sincere. Looked sincere. And for just a second—just the briefest, most treacherous second—she wondered if in his sad little deluded mind, he meant it.
Then she remembered the feel of his watch connecting with her jaw.
The sound her body made hitting the floor.
The pain in her ribs when he kicked her, knowing he was aiming for her belly.
Aiming for her unborn child. The fear of Vince finding her—and the fear of picking the wrong man again, she realized—that had lived in her bones for years.
That had kept her from opening her heart back up to Shane the minute he walked into Riversong.
"You hit me," she said quietly.
Vince looked down as he rubbed his forehead.
"I know. And I hate myself for it." He dropped his hand, leaned forward, and she regretted her seat against the back wall that gave her no room to retreat. "Prison changes a man, April. I had a lot of time to think. To get help. I went through anger management, group therapy, found God, all of it, just for you, out of regret for what I’d done. I'm telling you, I’m not that guy anymore. I’ve found peace. "
“Yeah, right.”
Vince leaned on the table, fixing her with sorrowful eyes. “I’ve changed, April. For your sake, yeah. But now I know why God really set me on the path to better myself.” He smiled through suddenly teary eyes.
April’s blood froze.
Oh no. Please no.
“I want to be a good father to our son.”
April closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. Of course, he knew. How could he not?
“Kevin, right? That's what you named him? I like it. Kevin Romano’s got a good ring to it."
April’s eyes flew open. The protective fury that surged through her was so fierce it almost knocked her sideways. "You don't get to say his name. Ever. Especially attached to yours."
“I want us to be a family. It’s only right a boy should know his father.”
"You wanted me to get rid of Kevin. You told me to get an abortion the day I told you I was pregnant." She gripped the table, white-knuckled, tempted to flip it. “You hurt me trying to hurt the baby.”
His eyes filled with tears again. "I’ve learned life is sacred, April.
You can’t know how deeply I regret my weak moments.
But you gotta understand I was terrified.
I didn't know how to be a father because my old man was a dirty bastard.
I panicked, and I did things I didn't mean.
" He shook his head. "But I've spent years wondering if you had the baby.
Thinking about the child I've never met, if you did. Was it a boy or a little girl? Did he look like me? Did she look like you? Were the two of you okay, or out there lost somewhere?” He wiped away tears April was sure had more in common with a crocodile than with any true sorrow.
“When I got out and started looking for you, I was also looking for our child. Our little Kevin."
That did it. "You shouldn't have looked. You shouldn’t be here. Now get out. Out of Riversong, out of Lyons, out of Colorado. Like the song says, we are never ever getting back together."
Vince’s tears dried up like someone turned off a faucet. His eyes turned hard.
"He's my son, April. He should have a father and I have a right to know him."
"You have no rights. You gave those up when you told me to—" She cut herself off, aware of how her voice was rising. She took a breath and lowered it. "When you tried to get rid of him. And Kevin does have a father—more of a father than you could ever hope to be."
Vince was quiet for a moment. Then, "Yeah, I heard you're with someone. A Navy guy? Some kinda Special Forces?"
April's blood went cold. "How do you—"
"Told you, internet." He shrugged and grinned. "Is it serious?"
She thought of Shane. Of the way he looked at her like she was the answer to every question he'd ever had. Of Kevin calling him Dad. Of the life they were building together.
"Yes," she said. "It's serious."
"Can't be too serious." Vince's smile turned sharp. "He hasn't put a ring on it."
The words landed like a slap. April felt her face heat.
"That's none of your business."
"Sure it is. If my son is being raised by some guy—"
"By his father in the truest sense of the word."
Vince crossed his arms. "No, April. As much as you wanna deny it, I'm his actual father. And I want to be part of his life." Vince leaned back again, all casual confidence. "I'm not trying to cause trouble here. I just want a chance. To meet him. To be a dad."
"Never," she hissed, her voice pure, cold steel.
"You can't keep him from me forever."
"Watch me."
"He's my kid too, April."
"He's nothing to you. Your name isn't even on the birth certificate."
Vince's smile never wavered. "DNA test can fix that. Courts are pretty good about a father's rights these days."
“Not when he’s been to prison. Not when he tried to induce an abortion.
Not when he’s in his forties and washing dishes for a living.
I’m the co-owner of Riversong, which, just look around, is a very successful business, thank you very much.
I’ve been providing for him all his life and that’s not gonna change. ”
Vince sighed, like she was being unreasonable. "You look around, baby. This place—" He gestured at Riversong, at the walls covered in local art and Wren’s landscape photos for sale, at the customers laughing over coffee. "Sure this is nice. Quaint. But it's not exactly the penthouse suite, is it?"
April's hands curled into fists under the table.
"You used to have class. Style," Vince continued. " Remember Vegas? Designer clothes, champagne, that Louis Vuitton Murakami Speedy Thirty purse you loved so much?"
She blinked in surprise. “I can’t believe you actually paid enough attention let alone remembered my purse.”
“Of course I did, April. That was your lucky purse you used to carry everywhere. I remember everything like it was yesterday. We had it good. So good. We hit the jackpot, you and me.” His eyes raked over her, assessing and apparently finding her wanting, judging by his sneer.
"Now you're what? Slinging shitty coffee in your parents' shop?
Looking like you shop at a thrift store? "
The fury that rose in her was white-hot and righteous. "First of all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with shopping in a thrift store. But more important, I left because you were a criminal and an abuser."
He looked affronted. "I was never convicted of abuse. You never pressed charges."
"Because I was terrified of you."
"That's not how I remember it." His voice dropped, intimate and poisonous. "I remember you loving the lifestyle. The money. The attention. My cock,” he sneered. “You weren't exactly complaining when I was paying for everything."
"I remember splitting the bills. Mostly I remember you hitting me."
"You remember wrong." He said it so smoothly, so confidently, that for a second she doubted herself. Then he softened. "But hey, I forgive you. For running. For taking my son. For hiding from me for all these years. I'm a changed man, April. I did my time. And now I want my family back."
"Never," April said. Her voice was shaking but firm. "Never happening."
Vince studied her for a long moment. Then the mask finally dropped completely. What was underneath chilled her to the bone.
"We'll see what a judge says. You can't keep a father from his son, April. I have rights. Parental rights. And I'm going to exercise them."
She pointed to the door. "Get out. Now."
"Oh, I'm going." He stood, pulling his sunglasses back out. "But I'll be seeing you soon. In court, if that's how you want to play it. Don’t expect to win a jackpot there.” He paused, looking down at her. "Do you even have that Speedy Thirty? Hope you didn’t hock it to keep this shithole running."
She sat up as straight as she could. “As a matter of fact, I do, and fuck you, Riversong is not a shithole. Now. Get. Out."
Vince held up his hands in mock surrender.
"I'm going. But think about what I said, April.
I'm not the bad guy here. Just remember, I tried to play nice first and you fucked it up.
I just want to know my son. Little Kevin Romano.
" He put on his sunglasses, turned to leave, then looked back over his shoulder. "See you soon, baby."
He walked out of Riversong like he just bought the place. Like he knew he’d just shattered April's entire world with twenty minutes of smooth lies and veiled threats.
April sat frozen at the table, her heart hammering so hard she thought it might crack her ribs.
Hannah and Sonny appeared at her elbow. "April? Baby girl, you okay?"
She looked up at her sister, then her dad, and whatever he saw in her face made him crouch down beside her chair.
"What’d he say to you?" Sonny asked, though his tone suggested he already knew.
"He knows about Kevin," April whispered. "He wants custody."
Sonny's expression went thunderous. "I should have thrown him out the second he walked in."
"You didn't know." April tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't cooperate. "I need to call Shane."
"Already did." Sonny pulled out his phone. "Called him the minute the two of you sat down. He should be here any—"
The door burst open hard enough to rattle the frame.