Adi. When he first told me he was going to sue for full custody, I really thought he was bluffing. But I just got a message from someone claiming to be a lawyer who wants me to call them.”
I scooted forward on my knees to wrap my arms around her. “He’ll never get custody. Too much bad shit has happened with him. His employment record is spotty, he’s never supported her, and he hardly ever sees her.”
“I know.” She buried her head in the crook of my neck. “The truth and the evidence should support my case but I wouldn’t be able to present that case if I don’t have a good lawyer. I can’t afford any lawyer, never mind a good one. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“You’re not alone in this, April,” I murmured, lifting a hand to stroke her hair. “I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry. I’ll find us the best lawyer in the city.”
She pulled away from me with a firm shake of her head. “That’s not why I told you. I’ll make a plan. I was just shocked by that message, and I guess my stupid face gave me away.”
“Your face isn’t stupid.” I cupped her cheeks in my palms and swiped a few stray tears away with my thumbs. “I know that’s not why you told me, but it doesn’t change anything. Believe it or not, I’m not even offering for you. I’m offering for Adi.”
“Dragging her through all this just seems terrible. I don’t want to do it, Chris. Why would he even want custody of her? He’s never spent longer than three hours at a time with her in her entire life.”
“He’s a manipulative prick. That’s why. We’ll fight this, baby. I promise you we’ll fight it, and we’ll win. If we can get it done soon enough, Adi might not even have to know about it.”
“He’ll never make it that easy,” she whispered, her eyes round. “I don’t know how he’s affording a lawyer, but if he’s found one willing to represent him for what he can pay, he’ll just keep going until he gets what he wants.”
“He won’t ever get what he wants.” Fresh tears landed on my hands, but I let them pool, looking at her intently while trying to assuage her fears. “Do you really think he could out-litigate me? I have the best law firm in the city on retainer and I’ve never even been sued.”
I linked our fingers together. “I pay them an exorbitant amount of money each month just in case. If they don’t have someone who specializes in family law, we’ll find someone else. My point is that I probably pay those guys a month what Craig will pay his lawyer for the next ten years.”
“But that’s your money, not mine.” She squeezed my hands and shook her head with a watered-down smile. “I could never ask you to spend that amount of money on us.”
“You didn’t ask. I offered, but I also won’t let you refuse my offer.” I didn’t even really care if I was being too pushy with her right now. I knew we hadn’t known each other all that long, and I knew, technically, this was none of my business, but fuck it. “Money is no object where Adi is concerned. Just repeat after me. We will fight this, and we will win.”
“Why are you doing this?” Her whispered question made her sound broken, but I knew she wasn’t. “Why do you keep helping us?”
“Adi deserves better than Craig.” I drew her back into my arms. “I know what it feels like to feel helpless because you don’t have money. No one should ever feel that way, and you don’t have to. Let me take care of this for you, please?”
“You’ve already done too much,” she protested before putting her hands on my shoulders and looking into my eyes. “Let’s just see how this plays out, okay? For all we know, the message was from one of his idiot friends pretending to be a lawyer.”
“But if it really was from a lawyer, you’ll let me know and let me help you?”
She managed a weak smile. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Thank you for always being there for me. I have no idea what I ever did without you.”
You’ll never be without me again. The errant thought jumped into my head out of nowhere and made me question my own sanity. Who thought that