Grace nodded in agreement. “Good idea.”
“Who’s Ellen?” Zach asked.
“An attorney in LA.” He sat forward and flattened the papers on the coffee table. “She handled cases for the insurance company I worked for before the Renegades, and she’s helped Jax and Lexi with a number of issues, including contract negotiation. Beyond being as sharp as they come, she’s passionate about a father’s right to their child, because her own fath
er was cut out of her life by a bitter mother. In the event this girl is yours and you want to negotiate custody, you’ll want Ellen in your corner.”
“Dude, I already know I can’t afford Ellen in my corner.”
“Can you afford to lose your daughter?”
His daughter.
Zach stumbled to the sink in the kitchenette and splashed water on his face.
When he turned off the faucet, Grace said, “I agree with Josh. You’re going to need the best attorney you can get to defend your right to your daughter. Think about it. To a judge, you’re going to look like a guy who knocked up a woman in a drive-by and paid her off to get rid of the problem.”
“But I didn’t—”
“I’m just telling you how it looks,” Grace cut him off. “Let’s say you find a way to prove that wasn’t you and that you didn’t know about Sophia until now. And even if you are her biological father, the court won’t grant you automatic custody. They’ll look at both you and Tessa, your relationships with Sophia, your ability to support her. After going through this with a number of my clients, I can tell you your sketchy employment and your travel schedule are going to become a problem. Granted this is information coming out of California, but from any unbiased view, you don’t exactly look like stable parent material.”
All this just put added pressure on him to get this part on Hawaiian Heat.
“I agree,” Josh said. “This is all food for thought down the line. But first things first—let’s call Ellen.”
“Yeah, fine.”
Josh grabbed his phone on the coffee table.
“What?” Zach said. “You’re calling her now?”
“It’s only eleven in California. She’s a workaholic and a night owl. I guarantee she’ll be up.”
Grace kissed Josh’s cheek. “I think I’ve stressed Zach out enough. I’m going to turn in.”
She wandered to Zach, wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her cheek to his chest, giving him a squeeze. He hugged her back. “Thanks, Grace.”
She smiled up at him. “We’re here for you. Anytime for anything. If she is yours and you choose to be part of her life, she’ll be grandfathered into the Renegades. That might not carry much weight in court, but in the real world, you’ll always know you’ve got a wall of muscle and heart behind you both, wherever you go.”
He hugged her again, and his eyes stung like they did when he first opened them under water. “God damn, you’re going to give me a panic attack.”
She patted his back. “One step at a time.”
When Grace disappeared into the bedroom, Josh gestured Zach out onto the lanai. Exhausted now, he joined Josh and dropped to the edge of a deck chair and propped his elbows on his thighs. “I fuckin’ need this job, Josh.”
“Slow down. We don’t even know if the girl is yours yet.”
“Jesus, I feel like I’m pinned beneath a pipeline.”
“Something’s pushing your buttons,” Josh said. “Something beyond the obvious. What is it?”
He thought for a minute, staring at his hands clasped between his knees. “I believe her. Tessa,” he clarified. He lifted his gaze and met Zach’s. “At first, I didn’t. At first, I thought she was just a crazy chick who’d heard about the possibility that I’d get a part and wanted to cash in. But then I go back to our night together and the way she talked about Sophia when she supposedly didn’t know I was me…”
His mind drifted—to the way she’d massaged and stretched his shoulder for him. The way she’d kissed him from shoulders to toes when he’d been laid out on his belly, catching his breath, then stretched out on top of him. The way she’d laughed when he’d flipped her. They hadn’t talked about anything deep or complicated, just a little about their families, what it was like to live in different places, and what they liked in bed, but he’d felt like he could have. Like she would have been there for him and listened. And if what she’d told him was true, she was definitely the kind of person who would stick through the hard times. He’d never found that. Not even in his own family.
He shook his head, feeling foolish over wishing she turned out to be that person. The daughter part of the whole thing… His belly fluttered again.
“I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “I can’t explain it. Just a feeling I got.”