Chapter Fourteen

Time to leave

Lucian

I glare at the man, no, the waste of space, in front of me.

I could hear every word she was yelling from my apartment. The moment she said this piece of shit wanted her to abort Tyler I knew I wasn't leaving her alone with him for a second longer.

Seeing her shaking with rage the moment I walked in cemented the fact that I was doing the right thing.

"You need to leave," I say calmly.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" he rages. "I am here to talk to my wife and see my son and someone like you won't stand in my way."

"Someone like me?"

"I know men like you," he chuckles. "Praying on the single new mother to get your dick wet. You're probably living off her right now. You're a loser and probably a criminal."

"Not that you deserve to know a damn thing about me," I say, stepping closer. A smile spreads across my face as he steps back, fear in his gaze. "But I am a business owner, one of the top ten most sought after and highest paid tattoo artists in the entire United States, and someone who puts family above everything else."

He opens his mouth to say something, but I silence him with a look.

"I'm not here to get my dick wet. Let me make myself perfectly clear so there isn't any misunderstanding between us. I am going to marry that woman and if–if–Cassie ever lets you near our boy, I will respect her wishes But know this, if you ever speak to my woman with anything less than the highest respect, I will beat your ass. Got me?"

He stares at me before sliding his eyes to the side. I know Cassandra is standing there. He has a look of confusion on his face.

"Cassandra?" he asks.

"There is nothing here for you. Leave, Darren. Forget you ever knew me."

He straightens his spine with a smirk I consider malicious.

"I want to see my son."

I want to kick his teeth in. The only thing holding me back is the small hand that takes mine.

"Talk to your lawyer, Darren. You gave up all your rights to him during the divorce," she says calmly.

A look of shock blankets his features. I'm assuming he didn't know or chose not to remember this fact. He probably thought that he would just walk back into her life and she would be happy to take him back. That's not the Cassandra I've come to know these few short days.

"You can't be serious!" Darren shouts indignantly. "We can fix our marriage. You don't have to settle for this asshole."

"I'll tell you a secret, it's not settling, it's upgrading." She squeezes my hand.

"Darren, it's time for you to leave before I throw you out," I say, sounding much more rational than I feel at the moment. "Our dinner will be here soon, and I don't want you ruining our appetite."

With a glare, he stomps around me toward the door. "I will be speaking to my lawyer about my son."

"You do that," I say with a wink. "You're not getting anywhere near our boy until he is old enough to make the decision for himself."

A moment later the door slams loudly. Cassandra sags against my side and I hold her tightly for long moments.

"Are you okay?" I ask, for the second time today.

"Better than okay," she replies, smiling up at me. "I've wanted to say a lot of that to him for a long time. I feel like a weight has been lifted."

I place a kiss on her forehead. "That's good, babe."

"Did you mean what you said?" she asks softly.

"Every damn word."

She pulls away to stare at me.

"What if I never want to get married again?" she asks. "What if Tyler wants to get to know his dad one day? What if…"

I don't let her finish, silencing her with a kiss. She is working herself up over things that may never even happen. I kiss her until her body melts into mine.

"First, if you don't want to get married, we won't. As long as I can have you in my life and be part of yours, I'll be happy. Second," I say, making sure she focuses on me. "If Tyler wants to know his dad, we will cross that bridge when we get to it. As for the rest, we can figure it out together."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Lucian," she says, tears brimming in her eyes. "If I let myself love you and you leave, it will break me."

"I already love you. I'm not going anywhere."