Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“Are you finished?”
“Not by a long shot!” she snapped.
“Then hurry up and say whatever else you need to get off your chest and go. I’ve asked you once already.”
“You think you’re so clever, worming your way back into Ben’s affections as though it will make up for all your years of neglect.”
“So you’re willing to hurt Ben? I am begging you to think clearly about this. If you do this, he will get hurt in the process.”
“He’s already been hurt by you; this will be just more of the same. He needs to know what kind of person you are so he won’t be hurt by you anymore.”
Mason shook his head at her vehemence. He knew he shouldn’t take it personally because of what Mason had done to her. He had hurt her so badly she couldn’t stand the very sight of him and he wondered if he would have shown as much restraint as she did, if the situations been reversed. He still couldn’t believe Mason Collins would get off with just purgatory instead of the hell he deserved. As a cop he’d seen many kinds of evil, but nothing quite like this.
He was sure Karen was a good woman. She just happened to hate his guts. Ben seemed to love her, and that was what was important.
“Apparently, there’s nothing I can say or do that will make you forgive me. I’m sure I could apologize until my last breath but you won’t accept my apologies, will you?”
“You’re damn right I won’t!”
“Nonetheless, I am sorry, whether you want to hear it or not, whether you believe me or not. Before you go, though, I’ll be picking up Ben on my designated weekends. Not only that, I will be applying for joint custody of him. He’s going to need a positive male role model in his life and there’s no better role model than a child’s father.”
“Didn’t you hear me? I’m not letting you see my son, and I’ll be damned if you get custody of him in any way, shape, or form.” She advanced on him, then stopped short.
“I guess we’ll have to let the courts decide.”
“And I suppose with all your money, you will make sure to paint my reputation black. Nearly destroying me during our marriage was not enough for you, was it? Now you want to take my child away from me?”
“My intention is not to take Ben away from you. My goal is to be a bigger presence in his life. You can carry on your grudge against me if you’d like, but where our son is concerned, it has to stop. Ben deserves the love and support of both his parents. I’m not going to talk about this anymore.”
Karen went red to the very roots of her blonde head and she looked as though she was about to explode. “I would leave the country before you got your hands on him.”
Mason’s temper finally snapped. “You selfish bitch! I’m beginning to think you’re not a competent parent, after all. If I even think you’ll try to keep me from him by pulling a stunt like that, I will slap you with a petition for full custody so fast your head would spin. You might have thought I was a bastard in the past, but you haven’t seen anything yet if you keep this shit up! Now get the hell out of my room!” He made a move to get out of the bed, ignoring the pain.
Karen’s eyes widened before she quickly left. Mason fell back against the pillow and his anger subsided. He wanted to have a good relationship with Karen for Ben’s sake, but he now knew that it wasn’t possible. Her hatred of him was too deep.
He wondered if this meant he would fail his redemption project. The thought made him panic. He couldn’t go back when he had come so far and finally won Brandi’s love again.
He called out. “Paul.”
Nothing.
Where the hell was Paul when he needed him?
Mason knew Rodney would make his move eventually, but he hadn’t thought of something like this, especially with Ben in the car with him. The bastard had to be taken care of. It was obvious that Rodney didn’t care who he hurt.
Mason shuddered to think of what would have happened if Brandi or the kids had been in the car, too.
Brandi.
He needed to get to her and the children.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Brandi woke up in a dimly lit room. She lay in the middle of an old mattress on the floor surrounded by candles. Her shoulders were sore, and she couldn’t think coherently. When she tried to move her arms, she couldn’t. Her hands were restrained behind her back and her ankles were tightly bound together. The last thing she remembered was struggling with someone and encountering an awful smell. She’d been kidnapped and she had a pretty good idea who the culprit was.