Chapter 4 - JAKE CAME FOR EMMA
Jake stood in my apartment hallway holding papers.
He looked exactly the same.
That was somehow offensive.
Same brown hair.
Same athletic jacket.
Same face I had once trusted enough to sleep beside.
Eighteen months.
Nothing visible to show what he had done.
Emma was inside Mrs. Chen’s apartment.
Safe.
Dante had confirmed before I came upstairs.
Luca stayed downstairs until I asked him to come.
Important.
Jake smiled when he saw me.
“Ava.”
I hated the sound.
“You look tired.”
“Why are you here?”
“I want to see my daughter.”
“You disappeared.”
“I made mistakes.”
“You stole four hundred thousand dollars.”
His smile thinned.
“That money was ours.”
“No.”
“We were a family.”
“You emptied the account and vanished.”
“Because you were impossible.”
There.
Old Jake.
Every theft eventually became my fault.
He held up papers.
“I filed for parenting time.”
Rachel had warned me.
Legal filing.
Not immediate custody.
Nothing authorizing him to remove Emma.
“Your lawyer can speak to mine.”
Jake stepped closer.
“You have a lawyer now.”
“Yes.”
“Castellano paying?”
“That is none of your business.”
His face changed at Luca’s name.
“Stay away from him.”
I almost laughed.
“You forged my name twice.”
“Prove it.”
He smiled.
That smile explained too much.
“You came back for the trust.”
His eyes flickered.
One second.
Enough emotionally.
Not legally.
“You didn't even know about it until he told you.”
Jake continued:
“I’m Emma’s father.”
“You remembered once her shares were worth six million.”
His jaw tightened.
“Those shares should belong to both of us.”
“They belong to her.”
“I can manage them.”
“No.”
“Ava.”
He reached for my arm.
I pulled away.
“Don't touch me.”
He grabbed anyway.
First reversal.
A hand closed around Jake’s wrist.
Luca.
I had not heard him come upstairs.
He removed Jake’s hand from me.
Not violently.
Absolutely.
“Let her go.”
Jake stared.
“You think she belongs to you?”
Luca’s expression turned cold.
“No.”
Then:
“That’s why I listened when she said no.”
Jake yanked free and shoved him.
Luca stepped back.
Dante moved.
Luca lifted one hand.
Not yet.
Jake pointed at me.
“You think this guy is saving you?”
“I don't need saving from my own decisions.”
“You needed him when your ankle broke.”
“Sprained.”
Not relevant.
Still satisfying.
Jake’s anger rose.
“You were nothing before me.”
That used to hurt.
Now it sounded childish.
He stepped toward me again.
Luca blocked his path.
Jake charged.
Second reversal.
Luca sidestepped and caught him high at the shoulders.
Dante helped put him against the wall.
Controlled.
Fast.
Jake struggled once.
Then police appeared from the stairwell.
Mrs. Chen had called before any of us arrived.
Of course she had.
Excellent woman.
Jake was not arrested merely for being unpleasant.
But officers detained him after learning an outstanding fraud warrant had been approved that morning based on the forged Carter Marine filing.
As they cuffed him, he stared at me.
“You’ll lose everything.”
I looked at the door behind which my daughter waited.
“No.”
For the first time in eighteen months, I believed it.
After Jake was gone, Emma came running out.
Luca stayed several feet away.
She pointed at his suit.
“You again.”
He looked at me.
“Your daughter is welcoming.”
“She likes you.”
“Concerning.”
Emma held up a plastic dinosaur.
“This is Kevin.”
Luca looked at it solemnly.
“Hello, Kevin.”
I laughed.
May you like
Then nearly cried because laughing felt normal.
Normal had become valuable.
