“I don’t want to be away from my daughter,” he continued. “That’s a given. When I look around and see the familiarity she has with everyone but me … I don’t think I can describe the anger that I feel.” He paused, obviously not very happy that he had let her know anything he was feeling. “So the question becomes, how do I get an opportunity to know her with an ocean between us? The answer is, of course, I don’t. There’s no way I get any shot at a relationship with her when she lives here and I live there.”
Willa’s whole body tensed. He was going for custody, she thought. Fuck! Lu won’t allow that. Willa saw their two families embroiled in a fight to the finish. She saw any shot with Pete dissipate before her eyes. She saw Lu as a broken shell of a woman. But she kept her panic masked.
“I’m also not ready to retire from soccer. The day will come, but it’s not here yet. And when I do, I’ll go into coaching or front-office work. I’ll be doing something and America’s not there yet. I have to do it from across the pond. So the only solution is for Nina to come to me.”
Willa couldn’t help it, as she spat, “You motherfucker!”
He smiled the Lexifer smile. “Temper, temper, Will!” he said, shaking his finger at her. “As much as I hate Lu right at this moment, I’m not going to drag her into a custody battle. Although, just so we’re clear—I have the resources and power to do it.” He let that statement hang in the air as he watched Willa ingest it. “The only solution is for Lu and Nina to move to England.”
When she made to protest, he held up his hand. “I’m not done,” he said in a voice that resounded with the power and resourcefulness that he had just referred to. “I realize that a move like that will take time. So I’m giving her six months. She’s smart,” he said with a smirk, “and resourceful. That should give her time to come up with a plan that will be beneficial to her career. My attorney will help with the visa process, and I’ll make sure they have a place to live. In the meantime, I want joint custody. I deserve time to get to know my daughter. I want school vacations for now. I’ll pay for transportation for Nina and a family member. I don’t want her to travel alone, and I don’t know that I’ll be able to get away to make the flight back and forth. So I’m going to need for you all to be there for my daughter again. We’ll work out a more formal agreement that discusses holidays and weeknights later. It will be settled before she moves so that we aren’t dealing with any ambiguities.”
Most of this had come to him as he was talking, but he knew it was a good plan. It was the only way. He wasn’t particularly happy that Lu would be within reach, but he wasn’t prepared to separate her from Nina. He wasn’t that much of a bastard, no matter how pissed he was.
“Do you have any questions?” he asked after giving her some time to think about what he had said.
“Do you know how much of a dick move this is?” Willa asked, anger pulsing from her.
“About as much of a dick move as keeping the knowledge of my daughter from me for eight years?” he asked with feigned innocence.
At that moment, Willa hated him. She wished for a do-over so that she could punch him instead of bitch-slapping him. She hated this idea, she hated that she had to present it to her sister. But if she looked beneath the anger, she saw that it was only fair. Unfortunately, she wasn’t there yet.
With as much bluster as she could manage, she stood. “I hope to hell you know what you’re doing!” she said before she exited.
She didn’t hear him say “Me too.”
19
Willa couldn’t face Lu on her own. She knew her limits. The seething anger she felt towards Lex wouldn’t do anything to assuage Lu’s fears, so Willa went to find Pete. Willa understood she would be putting Pete in a difficult spot asking him to explain to Lu what Lex wanted. Willa didn’t understand why Lex thought she would be a better messenger than Pete, unless Lex assumed Willa would represent Lu in their custody discussions. They all knew that Pete was a better diplomat. Knowing Lu was still licking her wounds from earlier, she headed to find some reinforcements—a bottle of wine, Pete, and Sky.
Willa found her mother first. “Mom, I need for you to keep Nina occupied for a bit.”
Amber, noticing the bottle of wine in Willa’s hand, looked at her questioningly. “What’s going on?”
Willa knew that Amber would find out soon enough, but she wasn’t willing to be the messenger twice. “Just think Lu needs a pick-me-up,” she answered vaguely.