my life to violate me again. She doesn’t get to do that,” Tennessee says, her words ending on a shout.
She stands, turning toward the bedroom and I watch her run away, the sound of her sobs filling the quiet room.
“Dad?” Lucinda rasps.
Turning to my daughter, I clear my own throat. “Yeah?”
“That happened to her?” she asks softly.
I nod my head once, my own tears pricking the backs of my eyes. “It did, Lucy,” I whisper, unable to say her full name. I haven’t called her Lucy since she was a girl, but I need that right now and I think that she does too.
Instead of saying anything else to Lucinda, I turn toward Hansen and Bash. “Tell me what I can do, what we can do?”
“She’s going to go forward with this, because she knows that it will hurt you both,” Bash announces. “You need to forge together. All of you,” he says, his gaze flicking over each of my children.
Pressing my lips together, I close my eyes for a moment, then reopen them. Nodding my head once, I lift my eyes to meet Bash’s and then shift over to Hansen. “I want this to go away. I do not want this man to get any kind of visitation, let alone custody. What do I need to do?”
Hansen clears his throat. “I got what I could on the fuckwad,” he murmurs. “He’s been arrested for domestic, all charges have been dropped each and every time. Technically, his file is clean. I talked to a couple of the women, they said that he was violent, manipulative, and that college parties were a pastime of his.”
“So we don’t have shit, not really?” I growl. “Not unless Tennessee talks to the judge herself and even then, we’re at his mercy.”
Lawrence raises his hand, clearing his throat, he just stares at me for a moment. It’s my answer, all that I need. Shifting my gaze to Bash, I arch a brow in question. He shakes his head once, dropping his chin slightly.
“All I can do is fight fire with fire, legally speaking.”
Fuck.
“Not-legally speaking?” I ask.
Bash snorts. “I’m bringing in the big guns. Whatever we can dig up and use, we’re using. I’m going to work with Hansen closely on this one.”
I nod my head once, then shift my gaze over to Lawrence. “Yeah?” I ask.
He clears his throat again. “From a psychologist’s point of view, I can do whatever you need me to. Talk to her, give a statement afterward. Talk to Holden. Whatever.”
“Thank you.”
Lucinda doesn’t say anything, she stands and I watch in awe as she walks in the direction of the bedroom where Tennessee disappeared to. Looking over to a very quiet Bethie and Holden, I watch as she entertains him quietly so he doesn’t get upset by the energy that’s charging the room.
Once again, I can’t help the overwhelming feeling of guilt that fills me. This is my fault. All of it. And I’m going to fix it—somehow.
Chapter Thirty-One
TENNESSEE
I’m sitting on the edge of the bed, my face in my hands, crying like a baby when I hear the door open. Assuming that it’s Landry, I hold up one hand, keeping my eyes pinched closed.
“I’m okay, Landry. I promise. I just need a minute to get myself together,” I whimper.
I inhale deeply through my nose, then let it out through my mouth. When I don’t feel him sit next to me, or even approach me, I lift my head from my hands and open my swollen eyes. My entire body jerks at who is standing in front of me.
It’s Lucinda.
“Lucinda?” I ask.
She crosses her arms over her chest and sticks her foot out, tapping it once. I don’t know what she’s going to say, but I’m not sure I want to hear it. I open my mouth, but then something happens.
Her entire body loosens, she drops her arms and she closes the distance between us, turning and sinking down next to me, I hold my breath waiting to hear what she’s going to say. I don’t know her well, but both encounters with her haven’t been the greatest, so I am concerned.
“What happened to you,” she murmurs softly. I don’t say anything. I’m not sure what to say, if there is anything to say. But thankfully, she continues so I don’t have to worry about it anymore. “It happened to me too. I never told anyone.”