Carlos shifted his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets but he didn't deny it.
So he did have something to lose.
I continued, "Well, you know what? You're never going to win any money gambling. You don't need to see Rob any more than you already do. You need to drop the case, Carlos. Keep everything the way it is."
"No," he said firmly.
"No?"
He stepped forward toward me, getting in my face. Jake hovered in the background, totally pissed. Carlos's voice lowered to a nasty whisper. "I'm not dropping the case. I pay too much in child support. My lawyer thinks I can win. I told him how your lawyer boyfriend lied on the stand and I saw you tongue-fucking him in the courthouse hallway. My god, Lucy, have some respect. First me in the car and him in the fucking courthouse?"
Jake stepped closer to us and I waved him back.
Carlos kept going. "The next time around? When we have the hearing in a few months? My lawyer thinks I'm going to win because it's a father's rights case."
"Then you better act like a father," I hurled back. Jake stepped closer, eyes blazing, and I waved him back, again. Then I got in Carlos's face. "What did you promise him? What did you tell Rob that he could do in Vegas? What promise have you broken?"
Carlos spat out the words right back at me. "God you talk too much. Just fucking shut up. You have no idea what is going on. There's a big game. It's important, and I'm gonna win. I always do. I have a lot riding on it." He looked around. "So I took my son to Vegas? Big fucking deal. You're totally overreacting. Typical. Fucking bitch. Were you always this much of a bitch when we were together?" Carlos got closer to me, spit coming out the side of his mouth, his nostrils flaring, eyes full of hatred.
"Knock it off, Carlos," I muttered, taking a step back. "This is about Rob, not me."
"Yeah, you were this much of a bitch. Dry fucking pussy got me into all this shit-" he started, but Jake grabbed Carlos by the neck and slammed him against the wall.
"Don't fucking talk to her like that," he snarled.
Carlos jutted his chin out and spat in Jake's face. Jake wiped his cheek and stepped back. "I can talk to her however I like, pretty boy. What are you going to do about it?"
"Show some respect to your son's mother," said Jake with disgust.
"Her?" jeered Carlos. "She's a mistake I made, and she wasn't worth it."
"Don't talk to her that way," Jake repeated dangerously.
"Ha. You're not gonna do anything about it, pretty boy."
Jake rolled his eyes to the ceiling.
Carlos shook his head, his eyes narrowed and mouth pinched. "Take that nasty cunt and go," and he lunged, fist raised to hit Jake's face, but Jake was too tall and Carlos hit him in the chest. As I cried "Stop, stop, stop," Jake reared his fist back and landed a solid punch right in Carlos's face.
Damn if Carlos didn't deserve it.
Carlos bent down, shoved Jake in the stomach with his shoulder, and tried to push him across the hall, but Jake was taller and more muscular, and didn't move. Then Carlos took a step back.
Blood beginning to pool out of his nose, Carlos started laughing. He jutted up his chin and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "You just made a mistake. Go take Rob now, and do whatever you want. I'm gonna call my lawyer after I take a few pictures of my face and ask security for a copy of the tape of this hallway. I'll tell him that your pretty boyfriend is violent and shouldn't be around kids."
I felt like I was going to faint and Jake looked horror-struck.
"You wouldn't dare," I said. "You asked for it. You totally provoked him."
Carlos raised his eyebrows. "Don't know about that. Get your son, bitch." And then he sauntered down the hall away from us.
What the fuck do we do now?
Jake walked over to the side of the hall, leaned his forehead against the wall, and stayed there a moment. When he pulled back to gaze at me, the look of pain on his face physically hurt me.
"Lucy-" he started, but I interrupted him, shaking my head.
"Give me a minute."
I moved next to him, my back to the wall, and then collapsed to sit down on the floor, my knees to my chest, my arms hugging my legs. I needed to regroup, to analyze, to think. So many thoughts and feelings at once. In this position, I looked defeated but I didn't feel that way. I just needed to pause.
The most important thing to me in the world was Roberto. This family law proceeding had turned Carlos, with whom I'd never had a good relationship, into a total dick and a total idiot. Well, he'd always been a selfish idiot, just now he showed it. But Jake hit him, which he deserved, but I still didn't like. I figured I'd start there.
"I thought you were the artsy type," I whispered.
"What?"
"What were you doing hitting him? Do you have anger issues? I didn't think you had that in you."
"Neither did I," he replied, bitterly. "I haven't been in a fight since high school."
Silence. Then Jake crouched down next to me, put his hands on my knees, and looked at me, sincerity radiating from him. "The last thing I want is to hurt you. I keep trying to protect you, and I keep fucking it up."
I reached over and touched his cheek. "Maybe I don't need protection. Maybe I'm fine the way I am."
He crinkled his eyes when he smiled. "You are more than fine the way you are. It's a lawyer thing. At work, I'll do anything to protect my clients. I want to protect you just as fiercely. Anything for you. I'll do anything to protect you. Even go away if I have to. I care about you, and I fucked it up again."
"You were protecting me," I said slowly, as I thought about his words. I loved that he cared about me.
"It was too much to take. I tried to stay out of it but it went too far." He paused and then looked analytical. "I don't know how this is going to play out. He clearly violated a court order by taking Rob across state lines. He also threatened you. His lawyer will spin it that I'm violent. The thing is, I'm not really. I can still testify, and so can you."
"There's the footage too, likely," I said, and he nodded and let out a breath. He sat down next to me, his back against the wall.
"Let's hope it shows Carlos in his glory."
"I don't know what to do with you right now," I admitted. "I'm grateful to you for coming here with me and having my back. And yeah, I was scared of Carlos. I'm both pissed and happy that you hit him. I don't ever want you to go. I'm a mess right now."
"I wasn't going to put up with that shit, Lucy, I'm sorry, but maybe I fucked up. Fuck." He looked so remorseful that I felt bad for him. But I needed to think about this from the perspective of what was best for Rob, not what was best for me or Jake.
Then I did think about it. And what would be better for Rob than someone like Jake, who was willing to stick up for his mom?
I leaned my head on his shoulder and reached for his hand.
"I'm glad you were here tonight. I'm not happy you got in a fight, and it scared me. I'm freaked about what's going to happen. But I'm just . . . I'm glad that you were here."
And we sat in the hallway, not talking.
"No judge will take Rob away from me," I said after a moment, willing myself to believe it as I said it. "Carlos is an idiot. He was neglecting Rob here, leaving him in a hotel room while he gambled away his child support money." Then I smiled a rueful smile. "Good thing for the case that Carlos has made some mistakes, but bad for Rob. Fuck, I wish his dad were different. But he isn't."
"Should we get Rob?" Jake asked after a moment.
I nodded. I opened the door with the key I'd grabbed.
Rob sat in front of the television. He hadn't moved.
"You okay, mijo?"
He nodded, and I let out a breath. Time to talk to my kid about what had just happened. I sat down next to him and looked him in the eyes.
"Look. Me and your dad, we don't get along. This has nothing to do with you." I reached over and stroked his face. "You are the most precious thing to me. Your dad and I fought just now, and I'm sorry you had to hear it. I can't promise you that it will all be perfect in the future, but I can promise you that I love you, I always will love you, and I always will fight to make sure that you have the best life you can. Do you have any questions? Do you need to talk about it?"
"No, Mom." He seemed quiet, but he was always quiet.
"You ready to come find our room?"
"I get to stay with you now?"
"Yeah," I said. "And we'll do something fun tomorrow."
Rob's eyes lit up. "Cool. I wanted to go to the Luxor. They have Titanic artifacts. I read it in the hotel guide."
"Then we shall, mijo."
We grabbed Rob's bag and left for the Bellagio. Much better.
Despite the sumptuous surroundings, I knew it was going to be awkward to share a room with Rob and Jake, but I didn't want to make Jake get his own room. I couldn't say why. I just didn't.
Perhaps it was because he was becoming part of my family.
We entered the room, which had two beds. Making an executive decision, I said, "Rob, you and I sleep here, Mister Jake on the other one. Are you hungry?"