Nate Read online

  Quincey: I’m ready to talk.

  Nate: Where?

  Quincey: My lawyer’s office. I’ll text you the address. 3 pm.

  Nate: See you then.

  14

  Quincey

  I was nervous. I didn’t want to be, but I was.

  Who was I kidding? I was always nervous for almost everything in my life. I just hid it well. Dancing and being Duke Royas’ daughter would do that to anyone.

  “You ready?” Phillip was a friend from college. He was also my personal lawyer now.

  I nodded.

  “Okay. So I’ve done some research of my own since you called me. Logan Kade doesn’t specialize in child custody cases, so that’s a plus for us. It’s also a plus that he’s the only lawyer coming today. That’s a good sign. I think Mr. Monson will be open to working with you, that is, if this is still what you want to do?”

  I couldn’t risk losing Nova.

  I jerked my head up and down. “It is.”

  “Okay.” His phone buzzed then, and he hit the button. “They’re here, Annette?”

  “Should I show them to your office?”

  “Please. Grab coffee and drinks for everyone, too.”

  He released the button, and then we waited.

  I stood.

  No. I should be sitting.

  I sat.

  No. That was rude. I should be standing.

  I stood again, just as we heard murmuring from the hallway.

  Phillip’s secretary was getting their drink requests as she opened the door.

  “Just water,” Logan said, leading the way. He was dressed in a three-piece suit and carrying a briefcase.

  But my eyes were on Nate. I couldn’t pull them away.

  He was also dressed in a suit, a coat over, and damn, he looked good. I couldn’t speak for a second. I could only stare at him, at the broad shoulders and jawline.

  I was getting warm, but that was my nerves. Yes. My nerves. I was going with that, and I turned, tearing my gaze away.

  Phillip coughed next to me, moving forward. “Mr. Kade.” They shook hands. He turned to Nate, who stepped inside the room. “Mr. Monson.”

  Nate gave him a nod before his eyes drifted back to mine. “Where’s Nova?”

  “She’s at the family estate with her nanny.”

  Nate’s eyes flickered, and his mouth twitched, but he didn’t respond.

  “Quince?” Phillip’s soft tone had me turning back to him.

  I always liked Phillip. We dated briefly before finding out we were better suited as friends. We became study partners instead and spent most of our hang-out time in the school library. He was also not from my father’s legal team, which I was sure Logan and Nate had noted.

  “Quince?” Logan repeated, leaning forward. His eyes sharpened. “Are we on a nickname basis all around? Can I call you Phil?”

  Phillip groaned, but a small grin showed as he indicated for all of us to sit at the table in his office. He waited for Logan and Nate to take their seats. I was next to Phillip, and then he sat, saying, “I’ve known Quincey since college. We spent many days in the library. Hence the nickname.”

  “When you went to Gammit?”

  Phillip nodded. “Yes. You both went to Cain, correct?”

  Logan nodded while Nate was staring at me.

  Just staring at me.

  He hadn’t stopped staring at me.

  I felt the heat of his gaze, and my heart was pounding itself out of my chest, but I wouldn’t react. I wouldn’t show anything. Years of discipline had instilled that in me. I could stay in the same position for hours if needed.

  Logan and Phillip were still conversing. I’m sure both were feeling the other out. Phillip was a genuinely good guy, so for all I knew, he might’ve just been chatting. I didn’t understand the ways of lawyers, only the way my father used his lawyers. They were sent out as sharks looking for blood, but that was not the point of this visit.

  Nate cut through their conversation and abruptly sat forward, folding his hands together on the table. “What’s the point of this meeting?” He glanced at Phillip before looking back at me. “Why do you have your own lawyer, Quincey?”

  “Nate.”

  He ignored his friend, only studying me. “Cut the bullshit and tell us what’s going on.”

  Phillip held a hand out. “Quince—”

  Fuck it. I was showing my cards. I had to.

  I leaned forward. “I can’t lose Nova.”

  Nate’s mouth flattened. “Too late. She’s my daughter. The courts will be on my side, and you know that.”

  Goddamn.

  Anger spiked in me.

  “I know,” I admitted quietly.

  “Quincey!” Phillip said again.

  I ignored him, and I ignored the keen look on Nate’s friend’s face.

  He’d been nice to me at the hotel that night. But now he was a shark, and he was smelling blood. I recognized that look.

  “I don’t know if you’re aware of my family dynamics—”

  “We are.” Logan leaned forward. His eyes were hard. “We also talked to Graham ourselves.”

  A sudden lump was in my throat, and I had a hard time swallowing around it. “You did?”

  My voice came out raspy.

  “We’ve known Graham since his college football team played against Mason’s years ago.”

  Shit. I’d forgotten.

  I glanced at Nate. “That’s the weekend you met Valerie. She went to support him. I was supposed to go but decided at the last minute to stay home and train. I had a solo in our production the following week.”

  He gave me a stiff nod back. His whole face was shut down. I was getting a wall from him.

  I added, “I figured you knew of Graham, not that you actually knew him knew him.”

  It made sense now, though. Graham had NFL dreams, but a busted knee put him on a course to become a sports commentator instead. He would be in their world.

  “I didn’t learn of Graham and Valerie’s relationship until later. She didn’t tell me who her brother was the night I met her.” Then, he asked softly, “What are we doing here?”

  “How about—” Phillip stood. “Logan, can you accompany me to get everyone fresh coffee?”

  “I don’t think—”

  “I do, Kade. I have an aversion to going to the coffee room alone.” Phillip was lying out of his ass, but he was cheerful about it. “Hold my hand, so to speak?”

  Logan stared before a grin broke out. He stood, starting to follow him out of the room. “You’re an odd lawyer, Crusoe.”

  I heard Phillip laugh, then the door closed behind them both.

  It was just Nate and me.

  I looked up, swallowing sharply at the slight glare looking back at me.

  “My father will never let you take Nova from us.”

  “Then you’ll lose her completely.”

  Pain sliced through me.

  My stomach was doing somersaults, and I felt slightly nauseous.

  I rested my hands on the table, sitting at a perfect ninety-degree angle. Shoulders back. Spine straight. I kept my hands on the table. I wanted them open. I needed to convey to him that I was trying here.

  “I don’t want Nova to be in the middle of a war.”

  His nostrils flared. “I’m guessing you’ve done the math in your head already. You know who I have on my side, and you know we have a whole list of people willing to testify against your father. He’s the problem. Duke Royas is a narcissist, and he has a history of purporting emotional manipulation and controlling his own daughter. Imagine what he would do to his granddaughter? There are a lot of people—professionals—who do not want that to happen.” His eyes narrowed, almost glittering from his intensity. “But you already know this, and that’s why we’re meeting here and not in the conference room of your father’s lawyers. Am I right?”

  My throat was burning.

  “I don’t have—”

  “I do.”

>   I closed my eyes. He was right.

  He’d been right about everything.

  I didn’t have a leg to stand on. I hadn’t given birth to Nova. I had a will that granted me partial guardianship. That was it, but I didn’t have the financial means at my disposal that he did. Duke would make sure of that.

  His chair shifted as he leaned forward, and he spoke, “How about I tell you what I’m prepared to do? I am prepared to purchase a home here. I am prepared to live here for the next year so that Nova still sees familiar faces. I am prepared to let you live with Nova and me. I’m aware that you had to leave your last position, but I’ve already made the calls. The nanny who basically raised my sister and me is packing her bags as we speak. She can come up at a moment’s notice. I have a sister who flew to be here. I am on good terms with your other family, and they’ve expressed that they would love a reconciliation with you. You will be able to stay in Nova’s life. You will also be able to pursue your dance career again if that’s what you choose.”

  I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  I was pretty sure I knew what it would be.

  His eyes hardened again. “Having said all that, you need to handle your father.”

  I waited for him to say more, for him to demand that I cut my father out.

  Nothing came.

  “That’s it?” I frowned.

  He nodded. “I’m not going to tell you what to do about your father, but he’s going to be a problem. We all know it. It’s up to you how you direct your relationship with him and Nova moving forward. However, let me make one thing clear. If he tries to force a wedge between myself and my daughter, I will come out with guns blazing. There is no gray there. Do you understand me?”

  Duke was mine to guard Nova against. I was getting him.

  “I was going to move in with my friend.”

  He paused, hearing my admission. “My sister’s here and already looking at houses. She’s got her eye on a couple that’ll give us plenty of space for you to feel like you have your own place. If that’s what you’d like.”

  “Rent?”

  He only shook his head slightly. “Don’t insult me.”

  No rent. I was guessing he would say no to utilities as well.

  “Give me a few days to think about it?”

  “What’s there really to think about? It’s a win-win situation for you.”

  “You’re asking me to move in with you, knowing what my father will think about that.”

  “What’s the alternative?” His head lowered, his eyes still on me. His whole face was still a mask, but he had softened his tone. “I’m not saying this is how it’ll be in the future, but to start, I think it’s a good plan. I’ll help you handle your father if that’s what you need.”

  “Are you wanting legal documents drawn up?”

  Because that was the kicker. Whether he was going to make me sign away any fight I might have over Nova.

  I waited, that lump in my throat getting bigger and bigger.

  “Yes. I want you to sign something that will say you are not going to fight me for Nova.”

  There.

  That was the other shoe.

  He just dropped it.

  My throat was back to burning. My stomach was seizing up.

  “But those papers won’t say that you have no right to see her. I wouldn’t do that to you. Or to her. I’m trying to find a compromise for both of us.”

  I didn’t have a choice.

  I nodded. “Okay. I’ll move in.”

  “You’ll sign?”

  I would. “I’ll sign.”

  * * *

  “Are you sure about this?”

  The papers were drawn up. Both lawyers were here, and Nate and Mr. Kade had moved to a conference room so we had some privacy. Phillip insisted.

  I nodded. “I can’t risk losing Nova totally.”

  Phillip’s face tightened. “He can’t make you do that.”

  I met his gaze unflinching. “You know he can, and you know he would. It’s all or nothing with Duke. I can’t risk that, and if I have to choose between Duke and Nova, I’ll choose Nova every minute of every day.” I looked down at my hands. Both were in fists and pressing down on my legs. I hadn’t sat like this for so long, not since my childhood years. “Nova isn’t my daughter, and she is his. That’s the truth, and there’s no way around it. A will would get ripped to shreds if we pursued this. There’s nothing wrong with Nate Monson, whereas everyone knows that’s not what lawyers will say about my father.”

  Phillip swore softly.

  “I can’t fight Nate on my own, so this is the only move.” Everyone knew it. My team just didn’t want to admit it, so I would.

  I leaned forward, picked up the pen, and signed away my fight for Nova.

  It was the only way to stay in her life. That was all that mattered.

  “I’m sorry, Quincey.”

  I looked away, tears burning to be shed.

  I wouldn’t. Not here. Not yet.

  Tonight. Tonight, I would crumble.

  “Your next battle is going to be against your father.”

  I jerked my head in a nod. “I know.” And that one would be all-out war. “Are you ready for him?”

  No. I turned, seeing the resolve settling over Phillip. I was feeling the same.

  I said, “I’ll have to be.”

  He nodded a few times, swallowing, then stood, gathering the papers. “I’ll take these to Monson, but I can say this now. Concerning your father, it’ll be an easier fight with Monson and his team at your back.”

  That was true.

  It would be easier but not any less painful.

  15

  Quincey

  Three days later

  “Can we go over the plan again? I’m confused about the details.”

  We were in Ricci’s SUV, heading for my father’s estate. I’d spent the past few days ironing out the details for our “escape” plan and going over everything with Nate, or more accurately, his sister.

  “I’ve packed my stuff and Nova’s. Emily is coming with us, at least until we figure things out.”

  “What about the first nanny? Emily usually works evenings, right?”

  I gave Ricci a grim look. “We couldn’t trust her.”

  Ricci was dressed in black, said she needed to dress the part. Her red hair was pulled up in a tight bun and she grimaced back at me. “She’s sleeping with your dad?”

  I nodded. “Emily told me.”

  “Right. Emily is awesome.”

  Awesome indeed.

  “Emily knows the deal? That your dad is going to flip a lid, and when you don’t return with Nova, he’ll probably fire her?”

  Another grim nod from me. “I’ll keep paying her as long as I can.”

  “I bet Nate would pay her?”

  I shared a look with her before she turned back to the road.

  “He said his original nanny could come up, but she’s not here yet.”

  “But you met his sister, right?”

  I did. “Aspen is awesome, and she swears by their nanny, too, but…”

  Ricci’s mouth tightened. “You’re moving into enemy territory.”

  “Yeah.” I expelled a ragged breath. It was hard to think anything except what Duke had ingrained in me since I was born. “It’s how my dad views the world. Hard to shake that off, ya know.”

  “Yes, but we’ve been over this. How you view the world and how your father views the world are totally different. You are allowed to have your own thoughts, and it’s okay that they’re in direct conflict with Duke’s.”

  “I know. I do.” I was allowed, but there would be ramifications. That was just the deal here.

  Ricci softened, reaching over and squeezing my hand quickly. “We’ll get through this. You and me, together.”

  “Thanks, Ric.”

  She gave me a smile before another firm nod. “Back to business. Your father is not at the estate? He and Nanny One are at the S
avoy?”

  “Correct.”

  “Awesome. He usually stays late, doesn’t he?”

  “He does. Emily’s with Nova right now, and she’s got her bags all in my vehicle.”

  “The rest will go in this vehicle.”

  “Yes.”

  Ricci turned down our driveway.

  My stomach just turned to knots again, all clenched up.

  The air shifted, growing tense.

  Ricci lowered her voice. “Everything will be fine. I promise.”

  She couldn’t promise that, but I knew I would be fine as long as I had Nova in my life…as long as Nate allowed her to be, that is. “I know.”

  We drove around to the back door, the area that Duke wanted the staff to use. Emily was hurrying in and out of the house, carrying bag after bag. Her arms were full. She’d drop what she had, then go back inside for more. My car was packed to the brim, and as we pulled up, she was waving her hands in the air.

  “We have to hurry. Doria just called me upset because your father ended things between them. She said he’s on his way back now.”

  My stomach plummeted.

  “Are you joking?”

  The whites around her mouth told me she wasn’t. She was in a full panic.

  “Where’s Nova?”

  “In her playpen. She’s fine. I have a few more bags to grab, then we’re done.”

  “I got the bags. Emily, grab Nova.” Ricci touched my arm. “You do a run-through of the house, make sure you have everything you need. You might not be able to come back for a long time.”

  I knew. God, I so knew.

  All three of us broke off, going to do what we were assigned.

  My heart was in my mouth as I went from room to room. I heard Nova starting to cry, and my heart stretched going to her, but I was the only one who could make sure everything I needed was packed.

  We were finishing up. Emily had Nova in my car, and she was behind her steering wheel, white in the face.

  Ricci was panting when I met her at the doorway. “You got everything?”

  “I—” I’d already packed all my dancing stuff, but there was a picture in there I needed that was irreplaceable. “The studio.”