Secret Desires (Roughshod Rollers MC 4)

I can almost feel her simmering at the dig. I lead the way into the kitchen.

“Coffee or tea?” I ask.

“Tea, please,” she says stiffy, and sits gingerly on a wooden chair.

It’s the very chair Georgia and I made out on. I get some perverse amusement out of that, despite everything that’s going on between the two of us now, as well as Georgia’s likely now looming farewell.

I make Polly her tea and carry it over to the table.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Polly asks, eyeing my casual clothes suspiciously.

“I took the day off,” I say with a shrug.

I really need to get my boss a bottle of bourbon or something, with how amazing he’s been lately. Polly sniffs, disapproving.

“Can you afford that?” she asks coldly.

“I’m on a salary, and my boss is giving me a sick day after I told him that my ex-wife, who’s trying to take custody of our daughter after she abandoned her ten years ago, was coming to speak to me about it,” I say.

I take a sip of my coffee as Polly gapes. It’s probably a shock to her that I’ve told anyone other than Georgia about what’s going on. Which is actually funny, because Georgia is the only person I haven’t told.

“I see,” Polly says in a strangled voice. She sips at her tea. “That was…kind of him.”

“It was,” I say. I nod at the folder. “What’s in there?”

Polly visibly rouses herself.

“Some forms for you to sign, as well as some other documents,” she says. “I spoke to Warrick, and we’ve decided to offer you a deal. Due to Warrick’s standing, we wouldn’t like to be caught up in a legal custody battle anymore than you would. So, we’re willing to offer you some money, as well as whatever visitation rights you want, to sign Lily’s custody over to us.”

I nod slowly.

“I see,” I say simply. “How nice of the both of you to think that money and visitation rights will be enough to make me give up my daughter.”

Polly’s face twitches.

“If this goes to court, you won’t get much in the way of visitation rights at all, if any,” she points out.

“I’m aware of that possibility,” I say.

“My mother is a witness, as is my brother and my best friend,” Polly says. She withdraws some documents. “They’ve all written a statement about what they remember of our break-up.”

I look over the statements curiously. Every single one of them accuses me of abusing Polly and expresses concern over my custody of Lily. I whistle, impressed at how thorough they were.

“They really rake me over the coals,” I say. “I always wondered what your family thought about me following the divorce. Wow, these are really strong.”

“We also have your financial records, including bank statements and income,” Polly says, sliding that over to me.

I raise an eyebrow. Polly isn’t looking at me, and her jaw is clenched. Funny… It’s almost like she’s unhappy about the papers she’s showing me, despite how good they are for her case.

“I don’t remember allowing you access to these,” I say, looking at her closely.

“We have our ways,” Polly says stiffly. A high flush of shame is rising on her cheeks. There’s no doubt about it; she’s reluctant to be here, doing this. A suspicion starts to form in my mind; is her husband behind all this? “I took pictures of your house, which includes how small it is and the threadbare clothes Lily is forced to wear. Lily also wrote a statement for me.”

That catches my attention. When did that happen?

“I visited her at school,” Polly says, avoiding my eyes, and I feel a flare of anger. But I have to keep my temper, or this might not work. “Here.”

I look it over. It’s a statement from Lily saying that we don’t have a lot of money and don’t go to a lot of places. But it’s the end part that catches my attention.