Liars (Licking Thicket 2)

My family.

“I’m certain she wouldn’t,” Diesel agreed calmly. “Which is why I wish you’d thought twice before bringing Parrish’s ex along with you, since he clearly has an axe to grind. No one will believe him.”

Brenda frowned, but Terry didn’t look convinced, and I didn’t feel convinced either.

“My husband is loyal and generous,” Diesel continued, “even to those who don’t deserve him, and believe me when I tell you, that piece of trash right there did not deserve him.” He nodded at Payne. “I’m sure if you get to know Parrish, you’ll find that out for yourself.”

The warmth that flooded me at Diesel’s words was almost enough to burn off the cold fear that had gripped me for the last ten minutes… but not quite.

Diesel stepped back, pulling Mari and me with him, and threw the front door wide. “Come on in, Terry. Inspect as much as you like. Try not to get lost between the grand ballroom and the formal dining room.”

“Oh, but—” I protested.

“Baby, we have nothing to hide,” Diesel reminded me. “You’re welcome to come in too, Hunt and Brenda,” he told the Kensingtons. “Though you can keep your comments about my squalor to yourself. Not you,” he said, stepping in front of Payne when he tried to pass the threshold. “You can go crawl back under your rock.”

Payne straightened to his full height—which was, it must be said, half a foot shorter than Diesel’s height. “You’ll be sorry, mark my words. Parrish will turn on you when you least expect it. I trusted him, and he wasn’t there when I needed him most.” He shot me a sideways glance. “He ruined my life.”

Diesel rolled his eyes. “You ruined your own life. Now get off my property—” He lowered his voice so only Payne and I could hear him. “—before I forget to set a good example for the baby.”

“Where’s Marigold’s room?” I heard Brenda ask behind us.

“She doesn’t have one. She’s staying in a crib in the main bedroom temporarily,” Terry told her as they moved in that direction. “It’s definitely not ideal.”

Shit. I turned to go after them to explain about our plans to move or renovate and—was there lube on the nightstand? Oh, Lord, what if we’d left the lube on the nightstand?—but Diesel stopped me with a hand on my arm. He waited until Payne had walked out to the driveway and propped himself against the door of a blue Mercedes, and then he spoke low but sure. “It’s gonna be fine, Parrish. This changes nothing.”

“But what if it’s not fine?” I sucked in a deep breath and blew it out. “Maybe you should take my name off the adoption paperwork,” I said in a rush. “It’ll strengthen your case.”

“It won’t,” he said stubbornly. “You and I are married.”

“We could get a divorce,” I blurted. “I have Merchant, Greene, and Chandler on speed dial. We could still be together, just not, you know legally—”

“Parrish,” Diesel said firmly. “I need you to not freak out right now.”

I shook my head. “Yes, no, I know. I’m not freaking out. Are you freaking out? I feel like you should be. I feel like one of us definitely should be.”

“Nope,” Diesel said. “I’m not freaking out at all. Do you know why?”

I shook my head again.

“Because for the first time in my life, someone showed me that there are people in the world willing to do the right thing, even when it risks their heart. Someone showed me that I was worth believing in and fighting for, and that I had what it took to raise this baby—”

I scowled. “Of course you do!”

“Uh-huh. And that amazing someone—you, Parrish—showed me there’s every reason to believe that things will work out for the best.” He winked and cupped my jaw so he could brush his thumb over my cheek. “So as long as you have faith in me—as long as you have faith in us—we can’t lose. Team Marigold?” He ruffled the baby’s hair.

“Yeah,” I agreed, “Team Marigold. But what if—”

What if the judge buys Payne’s story?

What if we lose custody ’cause I was an idiot who fell for Payne’s lies?

How could you ever forgive me?

How could I ever forgive myself?

“No chasing ‘ifs,’ okay? Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it, and—” A wrecker pulled down the gravel driveway and honked its horn, and Diesel rolled his eyes. “Ah, Jim’s timing is impeccable as always. Can you hold the fort here for two minutes? If your ex moves his behind off his car, go open the chicken pen. I’d love to see what happens when Uncle gets at him.”

“Yeah.” I cracked a smile and felt my breath come a bit easier. I turned my face to press a kiss to his palm. “Good plan.”

“Don’t worry, baby.” Diesel pulled me in to press a kiss to my forehead, then further to press my cheek to his heart. “We’ve got this. You believe me?”