Second Chance at Love(63)
“I can’t help it. They want unsupervised visitation rights. I know the next step is going to be partial custody.” Wiping a tear, she just couldn’t believe her former in-laws had gone through with their threat. Why are they seeking visitation rights? What was their motive?
Taking her cold fingers, he held them to his warm lips, tenderly kissing each fingertip. “Hey, look at me,” he softly demanded. His gut twisted in knots. If he could get his hands on that man again, he would do more than snatch him up by the collar. “Ashley and Kyle aren’t going anywhere. I promise.”
Karen took a deep breath. She wanted to believe Dom, but what if everything they talked about and everything they planned didn’t pan out? Then what? “But Dom¾”
He silenced her by putting a finger to her lips. “No buts, Baby. Those bastards are not going to get away with this. Do you trust me?”
Though she nodded her head, he sensed she didn’t believe him and that stung. Didn’t she know he would move heaven and earth for her and her children? He’d already proven his love for them. They’d begun the adoption process and he was willing to give them his name. What else did he have to do to prove to her that he would take care of them? What did he have to do to prove that they belonged with him right here and right now? He didn’t have to wait for some legal document to tell him otherwise. He didn’t say anything; he just continued to drive to the kids’ afterschool program.
Karen’s heart was hammering in her chest. She had hurt Dom and hadn’t meant to. Her emotions were all over the place. She knew he loved her, loved the kids and would do anything for them. But another part of her realized that he wasn’t some Greek god that had the power to control fate. Although she literally had a judge, private investigator and attorney in her hip pocket, it didn’t necessarily mean she was on easy street.
When she shifted in her seat to look at him and he didn’t shift his eyes to sneak a quick glance like he’d always done, her heart sank. Why was she doing this to herself? Why was she giving the Johnstons so much power over her, over her emotions? This man had pledged his life to her and the kids. And at the first bump in the road, what does she do? Act like an ungrateful fool.
Dom’s eyes shifted to glance at her when she lightly touched his arm. “Dom, I’m sorry. I know I have no reason to doubt your love. I’m just so scared.”
The tight clenching of his jaw slowly released. Reaching over, his large hand enclosed her smaller one. “Baby, I know you’re scared, but I’m going to take care of you and the kids.” Tilting her chin up with a finger so she would look at him, he said, “Okay?
Karen gave him a tiny smile. “Okay.”
Karen came downstairs after checking to see if the children had started their homework. An uneasy feeling settled over her as she watched Dom angrily pacing the floor.
“What’s going on?”
“I just got off the phone with Bass,” he clipped out.
“That’s the private investigator, right?”
Dom nodded his head and motioned for her to sit down on the sofa.
“How well did you know your husband?”
Karen didn’t like where this was going. The look on Dom’s face was murderous. “I guess not well enough.” She was still somewhat bothered by the ugly things Gregory had told his parents.
Dom scratched at the five o’clock shadow on his jaw. Bass had offered to tell her his findings, but Dom felt it would be better coming from him. Taking a seat next to her, he wrapped a muscular arm around her shoulder. He smiled when she rested her head on his shoulder.
“It appears that your deceased husband’s paternal grandparents had a trust fund he would inherit on his thirty-fifth birthday. The trust states that in the event of his death it goes to any children he may have fathered.” Dom took a deep breath. “There’s also a stipulation stating that the surviving parent or legal guardian has full control of the trust.”
Karen sprung up from her resting place on Dom’s shoulder, her eyes widened in shock. Gregory had never told her that he was a trust fund baby. She guessed she didn’t know him after all. “This just keeps getting better and better.” She felt a headache coming on.
“Oh baby, it gets even better.”
She slouched back against the sofa, massaging her temples. “Oh, dear God.”
“Whereas granddaddy Johnston wouldn’t allow Gregory to touch the money until he was thirty-five, twenty-five percent of the trust has been allocated to provide care for the great-grandchildren, another twenty-five percent for college education, and the remaining fifty percent upon their thirty-fifth birthday.”