Simon paused. Telling her what he knew might hurt her even more, but at this point it was best that she was armed with as much information as possible. “Gary told me that he was putting you through this custody battle to get back at you.”
“Back at me?” she said with a gasp. “Back at me for what?”
“He seems to think that your pregnancy robbed him of the life that he wanted,” Simon said. “Gary feels like his life got wasted because you had Finn. Plus, he resents the fact that after the divorce you’ve been able to move on with your life.”
“He wants my life to be as miserable as his is,” she said.
“That seems to be his plan,” Simon said grimly. “Heather, I meant it when I said he was a deadbeat. I don’t want to insult Finn’s father, but Gary is no good.”
“I know,” she said, “but he’s still Finn’s dad. I can’t... I won’t be responsible for this. If Gary wants to walk away from Finn he needs to do that on his own without my permission. Or your money.”
“If I don’t pay him off, he’ll keep coming at you with this custody battle,” Simon said. “If he gets custody... what is he going to do to Finn?”
“He would never hurt Finn.” She shook her head. “And I won’t ask you to do that. You are not paying him off.”
From that determined expression on her face, he knew he’d never get her to budge. Surprisingly, her determination was making his regret begin to dissipate. He smiled. “You know what? We’ve just gotten through our first major argument as a real couple and somehow, despite our differences, we’ve made it out the other side.” He cupped her face in his hands. “You know I love you, right?”
“Of course I do,” she murmured. “And I love you.”
“Good. Because a disagreement could never change how I feel about you,” he told her.
Her perfect lips curved up into a faint smile. The first smile since he had told her about Gary. That smile was like a shot to his heart. It was like the first ray of sunshine after a turbulent storm.
“What do we do about Gary now?” she asked.
“I think you need to hire a new lawyer. The one I suggested,” he said firmly. “I know you aren’t comfortable with me paying for a more expensive lawyer, but you need to fight Gary. If you don’t want to pay him to drop the custody case, then I really believe you need to go after him with the best lawyer money can buy. You don’t want me to give the money to Gary, so let me spend it on Finn. That kid rocks. He deserves the best chance he can get.”
Money might not be able to heal her pain or Finn’s, but he could use his wealth to protect them. Despite his wealth, he had avoided the extravagant trappings that money could bring. But now he had a chance to spend his money on the people he cared about. “Okay,” she said after a long moment, “but I want to meet this lawyer before I sign off on anything. This is my battle to fight. I know I have you in my corner, but if I don’t do this on my own Gary will never let me go. He’ll always say that you took Finn. He’ll never realize that he’s the one making the mistake. Do you get what I’m trying to say?”
“Yes. That’s fair,” he said. “I’m not trying to push you into something you don’t want to do. All I’ve ever wanted is to protect you.”
She leaned towards him and pressed her lips against his. He groaned, curling his fingers around her shoulders in an effort to keep her close to him.
Before he could get a taste of her, she broke away from him.
“I’d invite you to my bedroom, but I’m a mess from crying,” she said.
“We don’t have to do anything.” He wanted her so badly he could hardly think straight, but knew the emotional state she was in. Simon would do anything to take her mind of her troubles with all the pleasure he could give her, but if she wasn’t up to that then he had no problem doing whatever she wanted.
She placed her hand on his chest, her eyes darkening seductively. “Oh, I don’t intend on letting you go that easily. Give me a second to freshen up and I’ll be ready.”