“What do you want?” she demanded as he stepped out of an alleyway to block her path.
The Paws and Purrs parking lot had been full that morning, forcing her to park down the street at an overflow lot. Now she wished she had tried harder to find a spot in the regular area. A run-in with her ex was the last thing she needed at the moment—especially if Tony was feeling belligerent, which he usually was.
“What I want is for my wife to not be slutting around with some big fucking alien!” Tony growled, glaring down at her.
He was a pretty big guy—though nowhere near Kindred size—so he loomed over Luci. But unlike Raze, who made her feel safe with his superior size and strength, she knew Tony might use his physical advantage to hit or overpower her at any time. After all, he had done it plenty of times before.
Instinctively, she looked around, but the street was deserted. Tony had probably picked the least crowded area on purpose to confront her, Luci thought. So he could bully and frighten her as he always had when they were together. Well, she refused to be bullied anymore—especially by a man she wasn’t even married to anymore!
Lifting her chin, she stared right into Tony’s beady, bloodshot eyes.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said coldly. “I can’t be ‘slutting around’ with anyone because I’m not your wife anymore, Tony.”
His face flushed red with anger and he glared at her.
“Don’t lie! I saw you with that big Kindred bastard! I was coming to see my kids and there he was, trying to take my place.”
“You have no place in our lives anymore,” Luci reminded him. “You lost it when we got divorced and then you never came to see the kids.”
“Because when I do try to come see them, you’re already shacking up with another man!” he spat. “Letting some other man play with my kids. Well I’m not putting up with it, Luci! You better get yourself a lawyer because I’m taking you to court and I’ll take all three of them away from you!”
Luci felt cold all over. Her children were her life. Surely he couldn’t do this—could he? She tried to keep her face blank and her voice calm as she answered.
“Get real, Tony—you haven’t paid me a single cent of child support. What judge would take the kids from me, the mother who is caring for them, and give them to their deadbeat dad?”
Her ex’s face turned from red to purple and his big hands clenched into fists as his nostrils flared with rage. Luci knew that look—he was about to lash out. She took a few hasty steps backwards and looked for help again. The street was still deserted.
“You think you can keep my kids from me?” Tony snarled, glaring at her with real hate in his eyes. “Well you’re still gonna have to get a lawyer. You’ll need one once I report your mom to ICE!”
Luci felt sick.
“You wouldn’t’ do that,” she whispered. “Tony, not my mom! She’s been in the country for years! She has a job—she’s never hurt anybody!”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s either her or the kids.” His thin lips curled into an ugly, triumphant smile. “Or maybe both. How is it going to look in court that you’re hiding an illegal immigrant in your house? Maybe once he hears that, the judge will decide he should deport her and send the kids to be with me after all. Did you ever think about that, you bitch?”
“No. No, no, no!” Luci couldn’t pretend to be calm anymore. “Why are you doing this?” she pleaded. “Why do you want to hurt me?”
“You left me.” Tony stabbed a finger at her. “And if I can’t have you, no one can. Think about that while you wait to hear from my lawyer. And you’d better get one of your own too—if you can afford it.”
He raised a hand as though to hit her and Luci flinched back—she couldn’t help it, the terror flooding her body was a force of habit deeply ingrained in her.
Tony laughed at her fear—his face curving into an ugly expression of glee.
“That’s what I thought, bitch,” he spat. “You better be ready because I’m coming for you!”
Then he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Luci feeling devastated and frightened and so horribly, terribly alone.
Fourteen
“Okay, okay, take it easy. Take it easy.” Rochelle rubbed her shaking shoulders as Luci sobbed out the whole story.
After the confrontation with Tony, she’d gone back to Paws and Purrs to try and compose herself. She couldn’t drive home while she was crying and shaking—she needed a minute to try and get hold of herself. Luckily, her friend was still there. One look at Luci’s face and she’d known something was wrong. She had taken Luci in the back supply room of the clinic and asked what was going on—whereupon the whole, ugly story came rushing out.