Exposed (Let Me Love You #3)

Chapter 24

24

SOLUTION PLANNING

ONE WEEK LATER

P epper and I have settled into a routine. Rick28 responded to us a couple of days ago. He said he’s finishing another job, but asked us to send the details of what we need.

Our message hasn’t changed to “read” yet, but hopefully, he’ll be done with his other job soon and can work his hacking magic for us. We need to get to the bottom of whoever framed Pepper.

My phone rings beside me, and I pick it up. Ms. Zetterberg’s name flashes across the screen.

“Ms. Zetterberg, good to hear from you.” This is the first time I’ve actually talked with her since I signed a contract with her firm. Most of the communication has been with her legal assistant.

Simon is kicking his feet in his bouncer next to me while I edit a gallery for clients. I close my laptop to give my full attention to Ms. Zetterberg.

“I told you, call me Anna. Your dad helped save my husband’s life. Now, I’ve got good news and bad news.”

My dad connected me with Ms. Z, an excellent family law lawyer who’s a member at my dad’s gyms. Ms. Z’s husband had a heart attack a few years back, and my dad has helped him get in the best shape of his life now.

We’re supposed to appear in court in three weeks for a temporary hearing for a decision on sharing my son, and she filed for me to have emergency full custody until then.

Like hell am I giving up any custody after that.

“Okay. Bad news first,” I say.

“Your clients are billionaires. Have you heard of Truman Holdings?”

“No.”

“They own businesses and investment properties all over the South. Atlanta, Charleston…all the big cities in Florida. The court records show that Hollie Truman, Baby Galloway’s biological mom, signed away all rights to the baby. If her parents want Simon badly enough, there’s no limit to how much they’ll pay.”

“Fuck, that sucks,” I curse, and my chest aches.

Now I know Simon’s mom’s name. Hollie. I sort of remember her now, but not really. I was too far gone in my grief over Grace and wanted to forget everyone and everything on the anniversary of her death.

My one-night stand, their daughter, was so scared of her parents she hid her pregnancy from them. I bet she signed away her rights in hopes that her parents would never find Simon.

“Even their daughter, the baby’s mom, doesn’t want anything to do with them. She knows they’d be bad for Simon. Can we get her to testify against them? She wants me to have full custody.”

“I can work on that. She has to be willing to share on the stand.”

Hmm. The gears in my head turn, and Simon starts fussing. I pick him up and hold his chest to mine, running my hand over his little back.

“If she’s not willing, maybe I can talk with her,” I suggest while I soothe Simon.

“You don’t have contact with Miss Truman?” She asks.

“No. We had one night together. I’ve not talked to her before or since that night about a year ago.”

“Okay. Let me see what I can do. Ready for the good news?” He asks.

“Yes.” I need hope in this situation.

“Judges usually favor children being with their biological mother or father. We can make a case that you have full custody. Maybe we can add visitation rights for the grandparents to see Simon something like one month every summer or one weekend every month. Time with the grandparents is something families even without custody battles do. If we give them something, they may settle.”

“Not happening, ma’am.”

I don’t know Simon’s grandparents, but if Hollie doesn’t trust them, I don’t either.

“Very well. Do you have any evidence to prove that the Trumans would be unfit caregivers for Simon? ”

“Nothing concrete,” I scrub a hand down my face. I have a bad feeling about them, but that wouldn’t hold up in court. I’m beyond frustrated that I have to fight to keep my son.

“Excuse the personal question, but are you married?” She asks.

What the hell?

“No, ma’am.”

“Some of the judges look at married couples, which offers the child a father and mother, with more favor than single parents. I’m not saying it’s right, but it’s reality.”

Simon burped loudly while Anna was talking, and I want to make sure I heard her right.

“Are you saying if I’m married, I have a better chance at winning against the Trumans?” I clarify.

“If you’re wanting full custody, that would help. Since that’s not the case, we’ll have to see if we can find evidence for the Trumans being ill-suited guardians.”

I blow out a deep breath. Sure, let me go out and grab a wife so I can win this custody battle. Crap. This is a mess.

“Let me try to contact Hollie, and I or my assistant will get back to you if there’s anything new.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you for your help.”

I hang up, and Pepper is standing at my doorway, staring at me.

“How much of that did you hear?” I ask.

“If you get married, it’ll help you win the case to keep Simon?” She asks.

“That, or we find evidence that the Trumans would be horrible parents for Simon. ”

“Let’s do both and cover all of our bases,” she claps her hands together.

“You’ve got someone for me to marry?” I ask, raising one eyebrow at her.

“Come on, rocket man. You’re not that awful. We can find someone who doesn’t mind getting hitched to you,” she smiles slyly with a hand on her hip.

“Hold up,” I put a hand up while my mind tries to process what she’s suggesting. “I’m not marrying a woman I don’t know. I’m not marrying anyone .”

Right? That’s insane, isn’t it?

“You don’t know any girls who’d be willing to marry you so you can keep Simon?” She pushes back.

Pepper is standing in front of me, asking me to find a woman to marry, and she’s the only woman I’d consider doing that with.

Shit. Where did that thought come from? I don’t think I’m ready to give my heart to anyone again.

But it isn’t your heart. It’s marrying to help guarantee you keep Simon.

I shake my head to clear my thoughts, but it doesn’t work. “No way.”

Grace’s engagement ring is sitting in a box untouched in my nightstand drawer. She died in the car wreck a week before I planned to propose to her.

“Suit yourself,” Pepper shrugs and walks out of my room.

Still holding Simon, I stride over to my nightstand and take out the ring box. It was a solitaire, square cut, exactly like Grace wanted.

With a sigh, I take it out and hold it, my fingers trembling with the thought of the future that was never meant to be.

“I don’t know what to do, Grace. Simon is my son, and I’m not giving him up,” I whisper, even though Grace isn’t here. “I need to marry to protect Simon.”

After four years, the love I have for Grace is different than it was when she passed away. At first, I swore I’d never be in love with another woman. It feels wrong to want to open up to Pepper. Part of my heart will always belong to Grace, but my desire for Pepper is growing stronger by the day.

Hope, her sister, has told me numerous times that Grace would want me to move on and find love. I believe her, and I believe Grace would want me to have a new best friend. Now with Simon, I believe she’d want me to find a mom for him, because he deserves the world.

A noise from behind makes me turn, and Pepper is standing in my doorway. She spins to go, then spins back around to face me. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I was going to ask if you want me to watch Simon while you take time to think or plan…or whatever.”

“I’ve never done this before,” I mumble.

“Done what?”

“Seriously considered marrying someone other than Grace.”

Girls don’t want to hear you talk about another woman you were in love with. I fully expect Pepper to stalk out of the room, but she doesn’t.

Instead, she comes close to Simon and me. Simon turns his head to look at her and when they share a smile, my heart skips a beat.

“Tell me about Grace,” Pepper murmurs.

“You want to hear about her?” I ask, shocked.

“Sure. She once held your heart, so she’s got to be special.”

“She had a bubbly personality and a tender soul. Our moms are best friends, so she, her sister Hope and I grew up together from the time we were babies. She danced like she was floating on clouds and was a principal dancer with the Miami City Ballet. She’d do anything for her friends or family.”

“Sounds like you, minus the dancing on clouds part,” Pepper quips, and my lips tip up. “She sounds amazing. I’m sorry she died.”

I turn the ring in my fingers, feeling the weight of it. “I wish it had been me in her seat when that car crashed into us.”

“Matt, that’s a hard thought to live with.”

“I’m stronger. Bigger. Twice her size. I probably would’ve survived if I’d been in that seat,” I explain.

“There’s no way to know,” Pepper whispers, touching my forearm.

I shake my head as emotion clogs my throat. “Marriage wouldn’t be fair to the other person. I’m not madly in love with anyone. Marriage should be a passionate love affair. Something that every cell in your body calls you to do because you can’t bear the thought of not living a second without the other person.”

“People don’t always marry because they’re head over heels for the other person,” Pepper points out.

“True.” I’ve seen that enough times with the weddings I photograph. Weddings can be a tool to cement money and status.

“For me though, I want marriage to mean I’m violently in love, like I’ll be ripped in half if I can’t be with that person,” I express.

“First of all, gross. Second, you have that, Matt. That’s the love you have for Simon, and that’s why you should do this. One day, Simon will know you loved him enough to do whatever it took to keep him.”

Pepper is wise for twenty-two. “You’re right. I need to do this. I’ll sell the ring. I’ve been thinking about doing it anyway. Then, I’ll buy a different set of rings.” I tuck the ring back in its box and close it.

“That’s the spirit. Let’s find you a girl. When you get the rings, maybe only get a band for you and her, not an engagement ring.”

“Why?” I ask.

After taxes, I clear $400k a year, and that doesn’t include the money Noah has been investing for me. I’ve got more than enough to afford an engagement ring.

“Because a ring with a sharp gem on it could scratch Simon. His skin is sensitive, and one swipe of a rough diamond setting would hurt him.”

I don’t know if I believe the validity of that, but it sounds plausible. She doesn’t give a crap about what my money can buy, she’s solely focused on Simon and his well-being. That’s all the proof I need to know she’s the one .

I grab the back of Pepper’s head and pull her in for a quick kiss, and she gasps in surprise.

“No girl I find is going to care about Simon like you do. That settles it. You’re the one I’ll marry,” I say resolutely.

“A fugitive with a fake ID? Yeah, how do you think that’ll work out?” A wry laugh slips past her lips.

“It’ll be great. We already live together. A quick trip to the courthouse and we’ll be hitched. At the hearing, the judge sees we’re married. The judge won’t stop the proceedings to look at your fake ID. He or she will like that I’m a stable, married man who can give Simon a mother and a father figure. If we have wedding rings and act like a couple, we won’t be questioned. They probably won’t even ask for our marriage certificate.”

“I don’t know, Matt. What if it comes out that I’m wanted for stealing almost a million bucks? Maritally attaching yourself to me could kill your chances of getting custody. I don’t want everything you’re working for to be in jeopardy because of my situation.” She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.

That’s a possibility, but with Rick28 helping us, hopefully it’s a matter of days until he has proof of who framed her. We can go to the police, and everything can be resolved.

“First of all, you’re innocent until proven guilty. You haven’t actually been convicted of anything,” I assure her. “I’ll make sure whoever is guilty of doing this to you is exposed, and everyone will know you're innocent.”

“You make it sound simple. What if their lawyers find out we’re using a hacker? That’s illegal, isn’t it? You’ll go to jail and never see Simon again.”

Shit. I don’t want that to happen. She’s right. This is complicated.

“When we get proof of who sent those emails and who’s behind framing you, it’ll all be worked out. We’ll be paying the hacker enough that he can get us the info in a way that makes it look like we obtained it legally, I’m sure.”

Pepper doesn’t have a laptop, so we’ve done everything on mine. We’re being careful and using a private browser along with some scrambling encrypter Noah found and overnighted to us so nothing can be traced back to our IP address. I’ve never done something illegal before, but I’m praying the end justifies the means.

“None of this is simple, but we can make it work.” I cup her cheek with my hand, and she relaxes into my palm.

“It’s only temporary, so you can get full custody of Simon.” She closes her eyes and sighs, then looks up at me, emotion swirling in her brown eyes. Her real eye color, not the fake one she has to show the world since her life turned upside down.

“Exactly. We’re already roommates with benefits. Now, we’re upgrading to marriage with benefits,” I grin.

“Okay,” Pepper agrees.

“Will you marry me, Pepper? I can’t give you my heart, but I’ll give you my last name. I’ll do anything to keep my son.”

“That’s a crappy proposal,” she quips. “You could at least get down on one knee to tell me you’re not giving me your heart.”

“Fair enough.” I get down on one knee while holding Simon. “There’s no one else I’d do this with. Please marry me?”

“That’s better. Okay, I’ll marry you, Matt.” She pats me on the shoulder with a smirk.

“Come ‘ere.” I stand, then wrap an arm around her to pull her close to my chest so she and I envelope Simon.

These hugs are becoming our thing. He and Pepper always smile when we do it, and I never tire of seeing them smile.

“What’s your favorite flower?” I ask.

“Sunflowers. Why?” She looks up at me curiously.

“Because I want to know.”