My Unexpected Forever (Beaumont 2)

Liam is next to me, his leg bouncing up and down. He’s nervous, I know. We’ve underestimated Sam and it’s done a lot of damage to the band and our personal lives. We’ve filed a restraining order against Sam and Moreno Entertainment. It’s a long shot, we know, but our private investigator uncovered a lot that we didn’t know, and this is our only recourse. We talked about filing a lawsuit, but our attorney advised us to try this avenue first in the hope that Mr. Moreno would put a leash on his daughter.

My name gets called, as does Alicia’s. I look around, but don’t see anyone walking toward the clerk standing at the door.

“I’ll be waiting here,” Liam says before I step away. How we ended up with hearing times an hour apart is mind blowing. I thought for sure it would be months before I’d get in front of a judge, not weeks.

I walk into the judge’s chamber, followed by my lawyer. He hasn’t changed much over the years; he’s still pudgy and just as bald. We sit on one side of the table and wait.

“Is she going to show up?”

“She was served and if she doesn’t, he’ll sign the order.”

“I want to see her,” I say abruptly. I have no idea why I said that, but it’s true. I want to look at her and try to figure out what makes her tick.

We stand when the judge comes into his chamber. The bailiff tells us that we can sit.

“Where’s Ms. Tucker?”

“Not here, Your Honor,” my lawyer says.

The judge looks at his watch and writes something down.

“Are you the father of Quinn James?”

“I am,” I say proudly.

“It says here, Mr. James, that you’re seeking a no contact order against Ms. Tucker.”

“That’s correct.”

“And Ms. Tucker isn’t here to dispute this?”

“No, Your Honor, she was served and awarded a public defender, according to my records,” my lawyer adds.

“Very well,” he says as he scribbles on his paper. “Motion granted. Ms. Tucker is to have no contact with the child in question until he reaches the age of eighteen.” The judge gets up and leaves; and like that, we’re done.

I walk out of the office with my lawyer and shake his hand. I tell him that I hope I never see him again and he laughs. I can’t imagine ever needing him, unless Alicia requests the order be lifted. I would hope that if that was to ever happen, the judge would see through her bullshit.

I nod at Liam from across the room and he motions for me to look to my left. There stands Sam with her dad and their lawyer. Her father is prattling on about something, but she’s not interested, she’s glaring at Liam. I shake my head and walk into her line of sight and stand so she can’t see him anymore.

“Alicia didn’t show. One ho down another to go.”

Liam laughs, but tries to hide it. I know the bitch is standing behind me throwing daggers, but I don’t give a shit. Honestly, I’m surprised she even showed up, considering her clone didn’t.

“Are you happy?” Liam asks. I nod. I am, even though I wanted to see her, to speak to her, I’m happy that for the next ten years, she can’t do anything to Quinn. She can come after me all she wants, but not my boy.

JD walks in just as our lawyer tells us we can enter the courtroom. We pass by Mr. Moreno, who doesn’t smile at us. Not that I’d expect him to, but it would be nice for him to show some recognition. We made him a lot of money, and he thought he’d reward us by pawning us off on his daughter because she had a serious hard-on for Liam. Sam was the beginning of what could’ve been a huge downfall for us.

The three of us sit down, with our lawyer on the edge. We don’t watch as the Morenos enter and take their seats. We can hear Sam and her exaggerated huffing and puffing to know enough.

We stand as instructed by the bailiff and wait for the judge to sit. We have a woman judge, and I wonder if this will play into our favor.

“Good afternoon,” she starts. “I’ve been over the files that were submitted at my request.” She folds her hands and looks at us. “I’ve asked for special consideration with this case because of the complexity. I’ve never seen a file so thick for something like a restraining order.” The judge shuffles a few papers around.

“Mr. Page, do you feel that you and your family are in danger from Ms. Moreno?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Mr. James, I ask the same question to you.”