Chapter 2 - THE HOUSE
Damon reacted fast.
Not intelligently.
Fast.
He grabbed Orson by the arm.
“You can't throw me out of my own house.”
Both bodyguards moved at once.
Orson lifted one finger.
They stopped.
He looked down at Damon's hand.
“Take your hand off me.”
Damon released him.
Lacey stepped backward.
“This is insane.”
Raina sat in a patio chair, one hand on her stomach.
The baby had started moving again.
Hard.
Too hard.
“Dad,” she whispered. “Something feels wrong.”
Orson turned immediately.
That was all Damon needed.
He stepped toward the house.
“I'll get my lawyer.”
Orson spoke without looking back.
“You should.”
Damon stopped.
Orson continued.
“Actually, get three.”
Damon laughed.
A nervous little sound.
“You think money scares me?”
“No.”
Orson faced him again.
“I think paperwork will.”
The front gates opened.
Two police vehicles came up the driveway.
Damon's confidence vanished.
Lacey whispered, “You said he wouldn't involve the police.”
“I didn't think he would.”
Raina heard that.
So did Orson.
His eyes sharpened.
“You planned this?”
Damon pointed at Raina.
“She was hysterical. She tried to attack Lacey.”
“I touched her robe,” Raina said.
Lacey folded her arms.
“She grabbed me.”
“You were wearing my dead mother's gift.”
“That doesn't give you the right—”
A contraction hit Raina.
She doubled over.
Orson was beside her instantly.
“Raina?”
She couldn't speak.
The pain tightened around her abdomen.
Then slowly faded.
One of the officers approached.
“Who's the caller?”
“I am,” Orson said.
Damon spoke over him.
“Officer, this is a family disagreement.”
The officer looked at the kennel.
“Did you lock your wife in there?”
“No.”
Raina raised her head.
“Yes.”
Damon glared at her.
She saw it.
The silent warning.
She had seen that look for months.
At dinners.
In hallways.
Behind closed doors.
Don't embarrass me.
Don't contradict me.
Don't make me angry.
For the first time, Raina didn't care.
“He locked me inside.”
The officer looked at her stomach.
“You're pregnant?”
“Thirty-four weeks.”
Damon jumped in.
“For ten minutes. She needed to cool off.”
The officer stared at him.
“You locked a thirty-four-week pregnant woman inside a kennel because she needed to cool off?”
“It sounds worse when you say it like that.”
Orson almost smiled.
“That may be the stupidest sentence I've heard this year.”
Lacey moved toward the back door.
A second officer stopped her.
“Ma'am, please stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because we need statements from everyone.”
Damon looked at Orson.
“You set this up.”
“No.”
Orson's voice was ice.
“You did.”
Another contraction hit Raina.
This one stronger.
She gasped.
Orson's anger disappeared.
“Call an ambulance.”
“Dad, I'm okay.”
“No, you're not.”
Damon rolled his eyes.
“She does this. She dramatizes everything.”
Every person on the patio looked at him.
Raina stared at her husband.
And something finally broke.
Not her heart.
That had cracked months ago.
This was different.
Fear broke.
The last piece of it.
She slowly stood.
“You want to know why I've been ‘dramatic’?”
Damon said nothing.
Raina looked at the officer.
“Because this wasn't the first time.”
Damon's head snapped toward her.
“Raina.”
She continued.
“He took my phone three times.”
“Raina.”
“He canceled two of my prenatal appointments.”
“Stop.”
“He changed the alarm codes.”
“She's lying.”
“He threatened to report my car stolen if I left.”
The officer's expression hardened.
Lacey looked at Damon.
“You never told me that.”
“Shut up.”
The ambulance arrived moments later.
As paramedics examined Raina, Orson stayed close.
Damon paced.
Then he pulled out his phone.
“I want my attorney here before anyone touches anything in my house.”
Orson looked over.
“Your house?”
“Yes.”
Orson gave a small nod.
“Right.”
He reached inside his jacket and removed a folded document.
“I was wondering when you'd say that.”
Damon frowned.
Orson handed him the paper.
“Read page two.”
Damon unfolded it.
His eyes moved down the page.
Then stopped.
The color disappeared from his face.
Lacey leaned closer.
“What is it?”
Damon didn't answer.
Raina watched him from the ambulance doorway.
Orson finally said it for everyone.
“You never owned this house, Damon.”
Damon looked up.
Orson smiled without warmth.
“You've been living in my daughter's trust property.”
And then he added:
May you like
“Which means your right to be here ended the second she told me she wanted you gone.”
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