CHAPTER NINE
1270 Words
MORE TENSION
JAKE’S POV
Victoria waited for me in the kitchen the next morning.
She was not pacing or angry. That would’ve been easier. She sat at the island with a cup of coffee she hadn’t touched, her legs crossed and her posture calm. She had already rehearsed whatever this was.
That alone put me on edge.
“You didn’t sleep in your bed,” she said, which surprised me. She didn't sleep here so how did she know I wasn't in bed?
“I was working.” I brushed the thoughts aside.
“You’re always working lately.”
I opened the fridge, took out water, and closed it again. “What do you want, Victoria?”
Her mouth curved faintly. “Straight to the point, that's good.” She gestured to the stool across from her. “Sit.”
“I’m standing.”
She didn’t push. She rarely did, she preferred to guide people where she wanted them. “I spoke to one of the guards this morning.”
My jaw tightened. “You shouldn’t be doing that.”
“He mentioned the new perimeter rules with no routines, and extra eyes on the road.” She tilted her head. “You don’t do that unless you’re expecting trouble.”
“I don’t need to explain my security decisions to you.”
“No,” she agreed easily. “But I do need to understand how they affect my daughter.”
There it was…….Sophia. I turned to face her fully. “This has nothing to do with…..”
“With Lexi?” She finished smoothly. “Of course it does.”
I exhaled slowly through my nose. “Watch your tone.”
“My tone is calm,” she said. “Yours should be too. We’re talking about safety here.”
“No, we are not talking about this.”
She leaned forward slightly. “Jake, she’s a stranger and that means she would be the person who was bringing this family.”
“She’s vetted.” I dismissed her.
“By you?”
“Yes.” I shot back.
“And your judgment has never been compromised before?” Her eyes flicked up, sharp and knowing. “You have a history of bringing chaos home and calling it control.”
That landed harder than I expected. “I told you,” I said quietly, “we are not doing this.”
She ignored that. “I’ve noticed things, small things, like guards watching her more closely than necessary. Sophia is sticking to her side and you are hovering.”
“I hover over my daughter,” I snapped. “That’s called parenting.”
“It’s called anxiety,” Victoria countered. “And it spreads. Even children feel it.”
“Sophia is fine.”
“For now.” She took a slow breath. “But let’s be honest. Trouble follows you. It always has. You disappear for years, reappear with money and enemies and problems, and now……” She paused, choosing her words carefully. “.....now you bring in a woman with no background, no ties, no protection of her own, and you expect me to believe she is harmless?”
I stepped closer to the island. “You’re not concerned about Lexi because of that and you know that.”
She met my gaze. “I’m concerned about patterns that I am noticing.”
“This is about controlling everything,” I said. “It has nothing to do with safety.”
Her lips pressed together. “Everything is about safety when it comes to Sophia.”
I laughed once, humorless. “Don’t pretend that you have one shred of maternal instinct. You didn’t even ask how Sophia felt for years and now, you are worried about her safety?”
“She’s a child,” Victoria said. “She doesn’t know what’s good for her.”
“And you do?”
“Yes, I am her mother.” Her voice hardened. “Which is why I won’t ignore warning signs.”
“What warning signs?” I demanded. “Name one real threat.”
She stood slowly, smoothing the sleeve of her blouse. “Your past.”
I froze.
“You worked very hard to bury it,” she continued. “New name, new life, private schools, clean records. But you and I both know how easily things resurface.”
My hands curled into fists at my sides. “That’s not a threat.”
“It’s a reminder,” she corrected. “One I’d rather not have to make official.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
She looked almost like the devil. “I wouldn’t want to. But custody agreements exist for a reason. Judges don’t like instability or unfamiliar women acting as primary caregivers.”
“She’s not a caregiver,” I said coldly.
“She spends hours alone with Sophia!” she yelled.
“Under my roof.” I shot back.
“With your enemies,” Victoria said softly. “Potentially.”
That did it. I leaned down, bracing my palms on the counter, invading her space. “You will not use my past against me.”
She didn’t flinch. “Then don’t repeat it.”
“Lexi is not part of my f*****g past.”
“Well, she’s a liability.”
“No,” I said. “She’s a line you don’t get to cross and you are scared that Sophia would love her more than she would love you.”
Her eyes darkened. “You’re choosing her over your family.”
“I’m choosing reality,” I shot back. “If someone is watching this house, they’re watching me….not her. Removing Lexi won’t make threats disappear. It’ll just tell them I’m willing to bend their will.”
She paused, “Someone is watching you?” She asked but I didn't answer. “You don’t need to prove strength,” she said. “You need to protect your child.”
“And you don’t get to define what that looks like.”
Silence stretched between us, thick and charged.
Finally, she straightened. “Then I need to protect her my way.”
I laughed again, sharper this time. “Try it.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” I stepped back, voice steady and lethal. “You will not intimidate me. You will not weaponize Sophia and you will not go near Lexi.”
“You don’t control me.”
“No,” I agreed. “But I control what happens in this house. And if you ever imply custody threats again, subtle or not, I will burn every bridge you think you’re standing on.”
Her breath hitched.
“You think judges scare me?” I continued. “I’ve survived worse than paperwork and the f****d up legal system. Push me, Victoria, and you won’t like how horrible I can make things.”
Her face flushed with fury. “You’re still that man,” she spat. “The one who thinks fear solves everything.”
“And you’re still the woman who underestimates me.”
She grabbed her bag, her movements sharp. “This isn’t over.”
“No,” I said calmly. “It isn’t.”
She stormed out, heels striking the floor like gunshots. When the door slammed, the house went quiet again. I stayed where I was for a long moment, breathing through the anger and the familiar weight pressing against my ribs.
Victoria wouldn’t let this go quietly and that meant the threat wasn’t just outside my gates anymore.
It was inside my life.
- Writer
