Chapter 19—Intermission

Matt called Al the next morning, and Vi could hear Al bitching incessantly about how misused and abused he was. Matt didn’t even have his phone on speaker. Finally, Al promised to get together with Lila and see what he could come up with and suggested hiring a PI to follow Brie, certain they could dig up their own dirt.

A few days later, Al had finally got back to Matt. Vi paced in the kitchen while they talked, stressing herself with all the worst-case scenarios her imaginative mind could imagine.

But Vi wasn’t going to be a victim. She was going to defeat every obstacle life had put in her way shored up by the belief Matt would stand beside her. He was a man of character, and he did what he said he’d do.

Several agonizing moments later, Matt disconnected the call and signaled for Vi to join him on the couch in the family room. She sat next to him, and he took her hand, his expression was unreadable.

“Well?” She prompted.

“Al and Lila have a devious plan.” He squeezed her hand, giving her a boost of confidence.

“He does?” Vi was beginning to love Al.

“I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first.” His dark eyes were troubled, and he appeared to be struggling with something.

“What is it?”

“They’re going to offer Brie a substantial sum to give up her parental rights.”

“How substantial?”

“A lot.”

“Do you think she’ll take the money?”

“Yeah, but it’s not her I’m worried about. It’s the boys. She’s their mother, regardless of what a shitty mother she is.” Matt frowned and rubbed his temple as if he had a headache. Vi could only imagine.

“That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t have visitation. She could still see them if she wanted.”

“Yeah, I guess. She’d be forfeiting any legal rights to the boys, but she wouldn’t be liable for child support, either, which will definitely appeal to her.”

“It’s a sad situation all around.”

“Yeah, it is, but it’ll prevent her from making a stink in the future.”

“What if the press finds out? They’ll drag us both through the mud. You’re the straight arrow of the NHL dating an ex-stripper, ex-con?”

“I can handle it. If you want, I’ll talk to Ethan. See what he thinks. I’m not a high-profile player. We might be able to keep it under wraps, but if we pursue proving your innocence then it’ll all come out, and we would need to be ready to put a positive spin on it.”

“I don’t want to dredge that up. I want to put it behind me and not live in fear of someone finding out, either.”

“I’m not sure you can have both. There are no easy answers, honey, but whatever you decide, the boys and I have your back.”

Vi sucked her lower lip into her mouth, and Matt leaned in to kiss her.

“Ewwww!” came the shouts from behind them. A few seconds later, two giggling cannonballs landed in their laps. Matt started tickling the wriggling bodies, and Vi joined in until the boys begged for mercy and they were all panting from exertion.

Andy sat next to his dad on the couch and leaned against him, while Joey curled up on Vi’s lap. He was a big boy and a lapful, but she didn’t mind. They sat there for a while in comfortable silence. No one wanting to break the spell of what felt like family.

Vi hadn’t had a family in so long, she started to choke up. She ducked her head to hide the tears and wiped at her eyes.

Joey watched her with unblinking big brown eyes. “Why are you sad, Vi?”

“I’m not, honey. I’m happy.”

Joey squinted at her. “You cry when you’re happy?”

“It’s a woman thing,” Andy supplied with a superior tone.

Matt chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a woman thing.”

Vi gave him a playful punch in the arm. “Don’t teach them sexist ways.”

“Vi said sex!” Joey declared.

Andy giggled but sobered quickly. “Vi, we thought you were weird at first, but we kinda like you now. Are you going to stay, or leave us like Mom did?”

Vi swallowed, trying to get past the lump in her throat to speak. Three pairs of brown eyes watched her, waiting for her response. “I’m not going anywhere. You’ll have to try a lot harder to get rid of me.”

Both boys cheered and threw themselves into her arms. She hugged them close. Matt wrapped his arms around the entire bunch of them. Luther, from his perch on the back of the couch, joined the hug-fest by digging his claws into her shoulder.

“Can we get a dog now?” Joey asked.

“Yes,” Vi said, and the shouts from the boys drowned out whatever answer Matt might’ve had. She winked at him, and he smiled back.

Whatever life threw at them, Vi could handle with their support. She wasn’t on her own anymore. She had people who cared. She mattered to someone, and they mattered to her.

* * * *

Matt’s alarm buzzed incessantly. Bleary eyed, he squinted at the clock and fumbled for the Off button, but nothing happened.

Three AM?

Groaning, he realized it was a phone. Not his. But Vi’s.

Who would possibly be calling her this early? Probably a telemarketer.

Vi uttered a few colorful words and grabbed the phone on the nightstand. Matt rolled onto his side toward her. Luther’s yellow eyes glared back at him from the pillow where he was sleeping, Spitting out a mouthful of cat hair, he ignored the feline and propped his head on his hand, watching Vi through half-lidded eyes. She sat up on the side of the bed, and he admired the garden of roses and flowers on her back. Each time, he saw something new.

“Where are you now?” Vi asked the caller in a panicked voice. “Okay, don’t move. I’m coming for you. Just stay out of sight, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She tossed her cell on the nightstand and jumped to her feet, pulling on clothes as she did so. Matt took a moment to salivate over her fine ass before he prodded himself into action.

“What’s going on?” He stood and walked to the other side of the bed where Vi frantically pulled on her ripped, skinny jeans.

She glanced at him, and he saw the fear in her eyes. “It’s my friend. She’s in trouble and needs me to pick her up before he finds her.”

“Slow down.” Matt put a calming hand on her shoulder. “He? Who’s he?”

“Her boyfriend, husband, whatever the asshole is.”

“And this friend?”

“Steph from the club.”

“You’re not going out by yourself in the middle of the night.”

“Oh, yes, I am.”

“Is the guy dangerous?”

“He could be. He’s abusive to her.”

“Then, no, you aren’t.” Matt put his hands on his hips and stared her down. She glared right back. She obviously didn’t like him taking control, but he wasn’t bending on this. Domestic situations were nothing to take lightly.

“You’re not telling me what to do. She’s a friend in need. I don’t have any choice.”

“Fine, then I’m going with you.”

She shook her head. “The boys.”

Oh, yeah, the boys. Duh. He couldn’t leave them alone, and he couldn’t let her go by herself. Well, shit. Now what?

“Let me call Rod. He lives a few minutes away. He can stay here while we both go.”

“Matt, you don’t need to get involved in this mess.”

“Of course, I do. Any mess of yours is a mess of mine.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

Fifteen minutes later, they were in his SUV heading for a seedier part of Seattle.

“Fill me in on your friend,” Matt said, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Her name is Steph. She’s young, a real sweetheart. Somehow, she got messed up with this guy, and he’s a real douchebag. Like the definition of a douchebag. She hates stripping, but he makes her do it because he’s too lazy to work. She’s come to the club with bruises. Just before I left, he coerced her into working another club with a questionable reputation, as in the dancers were expected to do more than dance. I told her to call me if she ever needed anything. And now she does.”

“It’s hard to break that cycle of abuse. My cousin was in an abusive relationship. It took her several trips to the ER before she finally made a clean break,” Matt said.

Vi nodded. “Abusers are so manipulative, claiming to be sorry for what they’ve done. It broke my heart to leave her behind, but what can you do? You can’t force her to get help.”

“Yeah, I know.” Matt reached over and squeezed her hand. “She’ll be okay, Vi.”

“I hope so.”

He glanced at her and caught a lone tear falling down her face. “Maybe she’d like to do some childcare?”

“You’re asking for trouble, Matt. Two ex-strippers around your boys?”

“Two good women around my boys.”

“How do you know she’s a good woman?”

“Because I trust you and your judgment. Besides, I’ll have Al run a background check.”

“I thought you had a nanny?”

“She’s hedging. Her daughter isn’t recovering from the car accident as quickly as expected. I might be in need of some help for a month or so.”

“You have me.”

“Sure, but you’re starting your business.”

Vi beamed at him, her concern for Steph momentarily dimmed. “I am. So she can stay with us for now?”

“Yeah, sure.” He wondered if he was being a fool. He had no clue if this guy was the psycho, abusive boyfriend type who’d stalk his ex to the ends of the earth. Or if he was a bully who’d run at the first sign of someone his own size.

Matt pushed those thoughts away for now as he turned into the parking lot of the all-night Denny’s where Steph was supposed to be waiting. He drove slowly past the windows to let Vi get a good look inside. “Do you see her?”

Vi shook her head. “Drive to the back. She might be outside. I’ll call her.”

“Steph, we’re here,” Vi said into her phone. “Okay, be right there.” She turned to Matt. “She’s behind the building by the dumpsters.”

Rain pelted the windshield, making it hard to see in the darkness of the back lot as Matt drove slowly toward the fence surrounding the dumpsters. A small figure, huddled between a car and the fence, stood and stared at them. Like a deer in the headlights, she froze, poised to run at a moment’s notice.

“Stop. Wait here. She’ll bolt if she sees a man,”

Matt stopped several feet from the shaking girl while Vi jumped out of the SUV and ran to the bedraggled figure. She engulfed her in a hug and hurried her to the car, opening the back door for her. Steph scrambled inside, and Vi got in next to her.

“Hey, I’m Matt,” Matt said turning in the front seat and holding out a hand. He gave her his kindest smile. She flinched at his outstretched hand but recovered and took it limply in her small, cold one, then released it just as quickly.

“Hi,” Steph said in a small voice he could barely hear over the purring of his engine. “I’m so sorry to have caused you any trouble.”

“No trouble at all. Glad to do a favor for a friend of Vi’s.” Matt started to put the car in drive when an old, dented pickup pulled diagonally in front of him, partially blocking his exit.

Judging by the terror in Steph’s eyes, he didn’t have to guess whose truck it was.