Chapter Ten
After weeks of searching for an answer, Kaden had to face the court again, and he hated being unprepared. His case was basically no different than the last time he came before a judge, and if what Brianna said about this one was true, he really dreaded it.
She had called him earlier to wish him good luck, and boy, did he need it. He’d worked his ass off trying to figure out this case, spending nights away from his family and with an uninvited house guest. Once he had time, she’d be out on her ass faster than he could say: Go. But he came in tired, locked himself away in his room, and studied until he passed out on his bed.
For the most part, she never bothered him. She was too busy partying and came in at all hours of the night. She tried to get in his bed a couple of times, but he didn’t allow it so she gave up. She had plenty of other men she could play around with. She didn’t need him.
He stood on the steps of the court house, waiting for his client. If he didn’t get her, her grandchild, she’d be shipped back to Cuba and the child will be tossed about ignored and discarded like an old dish rag. He’d seen too many of the cases his father handled and knew it to be true. He hated family law, which is why he had gone into criminal law instead.
“Mister! Mister!” the young child shouted from a distance away from him, securely placed at a social workers side. “She’s gone! You have to help my grandmother! The bad people took her back to Cuba!”
Kaden looked at his watched and pulled out his cell phone to call Tiffani at the office. He spoke after she answered. “I need you to pull up immigration files on my client.”
He waited while she typed in a series of things then said, “Immigration shipped her back. Her visa expired yesterday.”
“Fuck!” he shut the cell phone and climbed the steps to the courthouse. This little girl didn’t have a chance if he didn’t do something now.
Once inside the courtroom the Honorable Judge Ryan Parker stood before him, catching his eye and making him cringe. Yeah, he could tell his wife hit the money on the head when she insisted he was a prick. He didn’t say two words but he could tell.
Case after case went by, until finally they called Kaden’s case. He steeped forward along with the social worker handling the little girl’s case and waited for the judge to enter back into the courtroom.
“This is adoption case 34560.” He looked over at Kaden and the empty space next to him. “Counselor, where is your client?”
“Her visa wasn’t supposed to expire until two weeks after this hearing, but Immigration forced her back to Cuba this morning.” Kaden knew it was a weak argument, because if he didn’t have the grandmother, he didn’t have the case.
“And how can this little girl be adopted if there is no one here to adopt her?” The judge looked at the files, then took off his glasses, and threw them to the side. “You’re wasting everyone’s time, counselor. Especially mine.”
“I’d like to file a motion to bring her back and reschedule the hearing for the adoption. The grandmother wants the little girl. I think it’s only fair that family should come before the state.”
He looked down at the files reading the child’s information. “It says here mother is dead and father is in jail. Grandmother is illegal. If she were to gain custody, I suppose she wanted the right to stay in America too, huh? Counselor, let me get one thing straight. When you come in my courtroom, you have all your ducks in a row. You have your client by your side, and all the paperwork filled out. You don’t sit there acting like a rookie to this and expect me to give you leniency. Motion for grandmother, denied. As for case 34560, dismissed.” He banged the gavel, and the room fell silent.
“No!” The little girl shouted at the judge. “No! I don’t want to go back there! I want to be with my grandmother! Please, mister! Please! Tell him to do something!”
Judge Parker looked at Kaden expecting him to quiet the girl down. Kaden just stared at the little girl as she rattled on through her tears of how she wanted to be with her grandmother.
“Get the whiny kid out of my court room,” Judge Parker said, standing to move to his chambers.
Before either Kaden or the social worker could stop her, she took off toward the judge. “I hate you, you evil man! You just like them! You hate us and you’re just like them!”
She pounded her little fists into his legs. Two bailiffs came over and dragged the child away crying, kicking and screaming at Judge Parker. Everyone stood silently watching the child, and Kaden turned to see a bit of sympathy cross his face. He met Kaden’s eyes, turned quickly, and left the room.
So much for winning this case.
* * * *
Stopping by the apartment to clean up his mess, he ran into Bethany who seemed to be packing her belongings. It was unusual to see her at this time of the day, nevertheless he really didn’t care.
“I laid your key on the counter. My dad said I could stay in the lake house in the mountains so I’ll be leaving.” She shuffled her bags next to the doorway. “You look like you lost your best friend. What’s wrong?”
Kaden stuffed the key into his pocket. “I lost my case today.”
She frowned. “You never lose a case.”
“Yeah, well, I did this one.” He grabbed a bottle of Irish whiskey and poured a generous amount of it in a glass. “So I’m going to get drunk and pack all my shit up and go home to my wife and kid.”
“You really love her, don’t you?” Bethany stepped in front of him taking a drink from the glass.
He stared, biting his lip as their eyes met. “Yes, I do.”
“Wow. I’d never thought I’d see the day when you’d admit something as big as that.” She took another drink from his glass and slid it back to him. “You didn’t even admit that much to me.”
“Yeah, well I didn’t love you the way I love her.” He tossed back the remnants of the liquor, already feeling the effects. He didn’t get lunch because court, and with it being two in the afternoon, he really needed something to eat before he passed out drunk.
“I hear the baby’s really cute. Your mom was talking about her to some old guy and said she looked like you.”
“Bethany, I thought you were leaving?” He grabbed some saltine crackers from the cabinet and ate a few.
“I am. The limo’s not suppose to be here until three.” She smiled. “So that gives us an hour to get drunk and drown all our sorrows out with alcohol.”
“You have sorrows?”
“Sure. I don’t admit it to everyone, but they’re there.” She huffed a breath. “Cheating on you is one of them.”
Kaden nearly fell out in the floor. Either the whiskey was doing its job, and he was imagining things, or Bethany was admitting she was wrong. Either way, he really needed to sit down. He poured himself another glass, figuring that would be his limit.
“Yeah, well, no harm, no foul.” He carried the drink to his room, along with the crackers, and tried sorting through the mess over the last month or so he created. Law books were everywhere, as well as towels and clothing. The place definitely looked lived in that was for sure.
Bethany followed him inside his bedroom. “Since I’m packed, I can help you if you want.”
“Whatever. Stack the books up by the bedroom door. I’ll get the laundry.” Somehow keeping his head on work and drinking even more alcohol, he thought he and Bethany made a pretty good team.
Somehow.
* * * *
Brianna took her lunch break around three, since the lunch crowed died down and finally gave her a break to gather her thoughts and breathe for a second. Kaden’s case was at twelve, and she couldn’t stop worry about it, about him. She called his cell and left a very corny message, hoping he’d call her when he got out, but how long did these things normally take?
She sat outside at one of the picnic tables, eating the chicken fingers she had Mac, the cook, fix for her. She had skipped breakfast again, though it wasn’t unusual, and the chicken tasted so good.
“Hey.” Lindsay came up beside her with her own plate of food and took the seat in front of her. “Whatcha doing out here alone?”
“Waiting for my husband to call.” She sipped her iced tea and stared at her friend.
As if on cue, her phone rang, and she excused herself to answer it.
“Brianna? This is Greg, sorry to call you. I know you must be working.”
Greg? What was he calling for? “It’s no trouble. I was actually waiting for your son to call. Is everything all right?”
“Well, he lost his case today and never made it back to the office. Tiffani said he was really mad when she talked to him, and I’m worried about him. Do you know where he may have gone, or could be doing? We’ve tried his cell, but he’s not answering.”
Brianna’s heart sank as she stood to clear the mess she made. “Yeah. I know where he could be. Don’t worry. I’ll find him.”
Greg breathed a relived sigh. “Thanks, doll. I figured if anyone knew him, it’d be you. He’s my own son, and I’ve tried all the places I thought he’d be. Maybe you know of some that I don’t.”
After ending their conversation with a quick goodbye, Brianna explained to Lindsay she needed to take off for the rest of the day. Lindsay said she’d take care of it and promised to cover her tables. She needed the extra cash anyway.
Brianna ran to the new Volvo Kaden had picked out for her and headed from the restaurant to the expressway. She knew exactly where he was, and that would be at the apartment. He’d put it up for sale after they got reacquainted but had taken it off the market when his father gave him this case. Nobody but she knew he still had the place.
Making decent time, she stuck to the speed limit. All she needed was a ticket on her way to the city. She tried to keep calm, knowing he was fine. He had to be fine. If he hadn’t gone back to the office, he had to have a good reason. After all, he had been staying at the apartment an awful lot. He probably just went to clean up the mess she knew he made.
She pulled in the drive some time later, seeing in fact his car was there. A pent-up breath escaped her lips as she killed the engine and made her way to the front door. Using her key, she pushed the door open.
Pink luggage was the first thing she noticed, and it wasn’t hers. Kaden hadn’t bothered mentioning having a houseguest either. She pushed the door open farther, and the smell of alcohol so strong she felt she was behind the bar at the restaurant. He’d definitely been drinking.
Instead of calling his name, she wound her way around the mess of books and laundry, going toward his bedroom, stopping short when she spotted him in bed, asleep. His suit lay neatly on a nearby chair, and he was passed out across the bed in his boxers. Well, at least that numbed the fear of him having a houseguest she didn’t know about.
And then Bethany rounded the corner wearing only a pine-green towel and began digging through one of her hot pink bags looking for something.
“What the hell is going on?”
Bethany jumped as if she’d been shot at. “Brianna, um, hey. What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
“I needed a place to stay since my boyfriend kicked me out, and Kaden was kind enough to lend me his spare bed.” She looked over at Kaden, then down at herself. “Oh, shit. This isn’t what it looks like.”
Brianna narrowed her eyes. “It never is.”
She walked over to the bed to wake Kaden, who mumbled something rolling over to his back. He opened his eyes to Bethany in a towel them moved them to Brianna’s.
Fed up with him and her, Brianna screamed, “What the hell is going on?”
“Jeez, dammit. Stop yelling.” He covered his ears, stuffing his face underneath a pillow.
Brianna huffed. “Fine. You want him. You can have him. I’m done.”
She turned on her heel and left the room with what little dignity she had left. She didn’t give a rat’s ass if he drowned in his liquor. She was through caring about him when obviously he didn’t care about her.
* * * *
Around nine o’clock, she finally got Shiloh settled for bed. She didn’t know if it was because Kaden wasn’t around or what, but Shiloh was restless and whiny. Brianna knew the feeling. She flipped off all the lights making her way to the kitchen to clean up the dinner dishes.
She hadn’t been scrubbing on the pots too long before Kaden walked in. He looked like a mess with his clothes disorderly and his hair sticking out everywhere. She still smelled the whiskey on him so that meant he didn’t bathe.
“You’re making me nauseous,” she said and meant it.
“Bethany told me what happened. Nothing happened, I swear.”
Brianna huffed flicking the water on to rinse the pot. “Yeah, well, I’m tired of you swearing nothing happened. You didn’t feel the need to tell me you were having a houseguest all those nights when you stayed at the apartment ‘working.’ What the hell am I suppose to think?”
He thumped his forehead against the counter. “You’re supposed to trust me.”
“You do not get to turn this around on me, Kaden.” She threw the pot across the room. It clanged loudly on the tiled floor as it rolled away. “Your father called me at work worried about you. You didn’t have the decency to tell your family where you’d be or who the hell you’d be with. I was scared to death something had happened to you. He told me you lost your case, and I knew how much it meant to you.”
She shook her head. “But you obviously didn’t give a shit about your family. You know I was supportive while you worked on this looking hard to find something to help that family out. I’ve been nothing but supportive of you throughout our whole relationship, and what have I got for it? A drunk husband banging his ex. Wow!”
He now sat up, his eyes still glazed over. “I wasn’t banging Bethany. I came home, locked myself in my room, and went to sleep or studied my ass off. I haven’t had sex since New Year’s and that was with you. As far as what happened today, I started drinking, she joined me, and we cleaned up the place together. I didn’t have anything to eat all day, and the alcohol went straight to my head. I passed out before I even finished the second glass, and Bethany helped me to bed. I didn’t sleep with her, and the only reason she was in a towel was because she too got drunk and threw up all over herself.”
“Yeah, well, call your father and tell him you’re okay. Then go take a shower, and sleep it off.” She went back to washing the dishes, wondering if what he said was the way it happened. The last time he got drunk like that was with her, and they made a baby. How could she trust him around Bethany? After all, he hadn’t been forced to marry her. He had chosen her of his own free will. That had to account for something.
“Brianna, you’ve got to believe me.”
“I don’t have to do anything. This relationship is clearly not working, and I think it’d be best to end things now. Save us a year’s worth of ups and downs.” She slung water onto the dish drainer. “Tell your father that while you’re at it.”
He stood, pushing himself up using the counter. “Fine. I love you, Brianna. Nothing will ever change that.”
She had held it together at the apartment. She had held it together on the drive home. She had held it together in front of Shiloh, and she had held it together while confronting him. Now with him saying those three words, she couldn’t do it anymore. She picked up the pots from the soapy water and flung them across the room at him.
“You don’t know what love is!” she screamed at him, sobs overcoming her. She slid to the floor, her body shaking as the tears started flowing down her cheeks.
He didn’t know and didn’t care. Instead of replying, he simply turned and left the room, with his wife crying as she leaned against the kitchen cabinets. He didn’t even try to move when she threw stuff at him. He simply stared, tears rolling down his cheeks, each one ripping at her heart as it fell. She hated hurting people, but most of all she hated hurting inside.
* * * *
Kaden showered and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. He still felt like shit, though supposed without Brianna in his life, he always would. He screwed up big time, though he didn’t really know what he did. Keeping Bethany’s presence in his life had definitely been a wrong. The look on Brianna’s face New Year’s Eve should have told him that much, but he couldn’t bear to tell her the truth. Maybe he didn’t feel guilty, though they really didn’t do anything.
He called his dad and told him what an ass he’d been. And Greg’s only advice was to do whatever it took to fix it. Right now, Brianna wanted him gone, and the only thing he could do was grant her, her wish.
He walked back into the kitchen and saw her still sitting on the floor in the same position he’d left her. She tried hiding her tears from him and stood to clean up the mess she’d made. Her butt was wet from the puddle she sat in, and there was a spot on her thigh as well. She wore a yellow terry cloth jogging suit so the spots didn’t show that much, not that she seemed to care.
He came up beside her, wanting to touch her, to pull her into his arms and make her forget. But he knew she wouldn’t like that. He grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured himself some coffee she’d made fore him.
“Your daughter hasn’t seen you in a week, so kiss her goodnight and go to bed,” Brianna said keeping her back to him.
Against his good judgment, he walked up to her and pulled her into his arms. She struggled, just as he knew she would but finally calmed, standing stiff as a statue in his arms.
“I love you, Brianna. I’m still half drunk and a stupid bastard, but I know as sure as my name that you’re the one I love. I’m sorry if I made your life a living hell over the past few months, but I’m willing to change it if you’ll let me. I don’t want to move out away from you because you’re what makes my life worth living. I wake up to your pretty face and think about you all day only to come home to your sweet body and dream about you all night long. Your smile is what gets me most, sweetheart. It makes me feel like the luckiest guy on the face of the earth. I do know what love is Brianna. Love is you.”
He turned her around seeing how she closed her eyes as the tears fell down her cheeks. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her so close to him he didn’t know where he ended and she began. After a little while she returned the embrace and they clung together in the middle of the kitchen for what seemed like hours.
When he finally pulled away, he brushed a kiss across her lips and wiped her tears away. Even with red eyes, blotchy skin, and a snotty nose, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He loved her and always had. Even talking to his friends about the past they knew it, before he even had to tell them. They saw him look at her in a way he looked at no other woman. When she was around, his eyes were only on her.
“Go kiss Shiloh while I clean up this mess.” She wrapped her hands around his wrists as they framed her face. “Then make your bed in the spare bedroom.”
His heart broke all over again as she pushed his hands away from her and started working on the dishes again. “After all I just said you’re still pissed at me?”
“A few words aren’t going to change the circumstances, Kaden. If you thought that, then you’re a dumbass.” She washed the plates and stacked them on the dish drainer.
“What the hell did I do wrong?”
“Nothing, Kaden. You keep proclaiming your innocence. You didn’t do one fucking thing.” She threw the flatware at the dish drainer not really caring where they went.
“You know what, Bree. I think you’re the one acting like a dumbass right now. I may be a criminal lawyer, but I’ve had my fare share of divorce cases. If I were cheating on you, I sure as hell wouldn’t do it in the one place you know about.”
She turned around and narrowed her eyes. “Why go someplace else when she was conveniently waiting for you when you got back? Probably waited for you naked in bed and everything. What’d she do, give you a shoulder to cry on?”
“This is unbelievable. You don’t trust me one fucking bit.”
“What reason have you given me to? You hid your ex-fiancée in your spare apartment and got drunk with her only to pass out half naked across your bed with her standing wrapped in a towel in your room. Not to mention I was scared shitless about you, and you didn’t even have the decency to call me. No, you went straight to her and expect me to believe nothing happened. Only a damn fool would believe nothing happened.”
She turned around wiping her hands on the dishtowel. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to bed. I’m tired of arguing with you about this.”
“I didn’t choose her over you, Brianna.”
“Whatever.” She flipped off the kitchen light and headed down the hall to their bedroom.
Frustrated, Kaden went the opposite way to their daughter’s room, seeing her standing in her crib, sucking her thumb. “Da-dy.”
“Yeah, sweetheart. I’m here.” He walked to the crib and picked up the baby, cradling her to him. “I’ve missed you so much.”
She laid her head against him, seeming content to in her father’s arms. He sat down in the rocker and glided back and forth as he watched her fall back to sleep. Brianna had told him she picked up two new words, though she still didn’t say momma. She stuck with daddy, which he supposed drove Brianna insane.
He leaned back in the rocker, trying to figure out what to do next. She was right about the whole trust thing. He never gave her a reason to trust him, yet he automatically assumed she did. Whoever thought being married made life easier was a damn fool. He was a damn fool.
After rocking Shiloh back to sleep, he placed her in her crib again and covered her with a blanket.
“She’s missed you, you know.” Brianna leaned against the doorway in her lavender nightie. “She kept staring at the door waiting for you to come home.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve missed her too.” He rubbed her back, leaning over the crib to watch her sleep.
“Kaden, I don’t know what to do.” Leaning against the doorframe, she crossed her arms over her chest. “How do we fix this?”
He kissed Shiloh one more time and turned around to face her. Pushing her out of the room and down the hall away from Shiloh, he directed her toward their bedroom.
“You’ve got to trust me, Brianna.” Once inside their room, he closed the door, ushered her to the bed, and began stripping. “I’m going to be around people you don’t like, women you hate, and you can’t blow up at me about every single case. Yes, I should have told you she was staying at the apartment, and I should have called. But what’s done is done. I didn’t call, and I’m sorry I made you worry about me.” Clad in his boxers, he kneeled in front of her. “I swear to you nothing happened. I know how it looks, and I know how you feel because I felt it too. I’ve been the one cheated on, and I would never put you through that.”
“I’m tired. I just want to go to bed.”
“Brianna.” He pulled her hands to his lips.
“Just get some sleep. We’ll talk about it more in the morning.”
She crawled toward her pillows, sliding her legs underneath the covers. She tucked the edges around her waist and then stared at him. He figured that was his cue to go, so he turned.
“Kaden, get in the bed.” She folded down his side and patted the empty space next to her.
“I thought you wanted me in the spare?” He crawled over her to his side of the bed.
“I was angry. I want you here, where you belong.” She kissed his cheek. “Tell me about court in the morning, okay.”
Okay, he thought as she rolled to turn out the light. Somehow they ended up in the middle of the bed, with his arm over her hip and hers over his. She rested her head against his chest as he tucked her into his body. Somehow, he’d find a way to make it better.