The Brightest Sunset (The Darkest Sunrise #2)

I glared at him. “I’ve kept my word. He hasn’t talked to Porter or anyone else in the Reese family since that first day. You can lay off, okay? He’s not getting full custody.”

He barked a humorless laugh. “No. Charlotte, he’s not. Because there isn’t a chance in hell that he’s getting any custody of my son. If that asshole and his stupid fucking brother think they can march into that courtroom and try to take what’s mine, they’re in for the surprise of their lives. I did not spend ten years searching to turn my son over to the man who kidnapped him.”

“He didn’t kidnap him!” I snapped. “Christ, Brady. Even Tom has admitted Porter had nothing to do with that woman taking him.”

The aura around him suddenly became dense. He had been pissed before, but with those four words, he’d become damn near livid. He took only two steps, but there was no mistaking his movements as anything other than a malicious prowl.

Keeping his voice low, he seethed, “Just because he didn’t physically take him doesn’t mean he didn’t spend years keeping our son from us. I don’t know what the fuck that sick piece of shit did to brainwash you, but for over a month, our son stood right in front of you while you chose not to see him. You want to act like you still don’t see him. Fine. But I do. And I won’t stop until that man is out of Lucas’s life forever.”

My mouth gaped open, his words slashing through me with a vicious velocity. Brady had said a lot of nasty things to me over the years. Most of which were true, so I couldn’t even argue with him.

But this? This was by far his lowest blow.

“You think I should have recognized Lucas the first time I saw him?” I asked, awestruck.

His jaw ticked as he held my gaze, screaming his confirmation when he hadn’t uttered a single word.

“Holy shit. You do,” I whispered, anger and shock swirling inside me. My body hummed as I sneered, “There’s no pleasing you, is there? He’s finally home. I’m working with you, against my better judgment, to keep him away from the only man he’s ever trusted. And that still isn’t good enough for you.”

“See, that’s the problem, Charlotte. As we’ve found out over the last ten years, your judgment is shit. Porter Reese will never be a part of my son’s life.” He pointed a single finger in my face. “Do not cross me on this. That is your only warning.”

Like hackles, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. “My warning?”

“Don’t push—”

Suddenly, the door slid open and Lucas appeared, preventing me from a lifetime in prison for having killed his father.

“Hey, Charlotte,” he called cheerfully.

Keeping my death glare on Brady, I replied, “Hey, Travis. You ready to go?”

“Sure,” he chirped. “Hey, guess what? Brady gave me a twenty-dollar iTunes card so I can buy some new skins for my character in Minecraft.”

“Wow. That was really nice of him,” I said in a sugary-sweet tone that would have made Rita proud, all the while continuing my stare down with the devil.

“I’ll go grab my stuff,” he said, taking off down the hall.

When I was sure he was out of earshot, I snarled, “Don’t you dare threaten me. I’ve spent a lot of years being your doormat, but I’m done, Brady. You want to make idle threats? You better be prepared to back them up. And that is your only warning.”

His lips curled into a sardonic smile. “Right.” Though the way he said it sounded a whole lot more like, Fuck you.

He casually walked away, seemingly unfazed. Meanwhile, my pulse was thundering in my ears.

I was so fucking done with Brady’s bullshit.

Though, after that little showdown, I had a feeling it was just getting started.




It was eleven that same night and I was finally going through the bag of clothes my mom had bought for me to wear to the custody hearing the following day. None of them were anything I ever would have picked out for myself. They were all too pink. Too lacy. Too floral. But, then again, I could hardly wear a scrub top to court. After tossing them aside, I took a sip of my glass of wine. I’d poured it under the pretense of celebrating my first night of vacation from work, but I was truly drinking it to calm my nerves.

Between Porter’s new attempt to get full custody and Brady’s being even more of a dick than usual, I’d been a mess all afternoon.

On one hand, I shouldn’t have been surprised by Brady. A few kind moments since we’d gotten Lucas back did not equal a changed man. I should have expected he’d slide back down the asshole ladder. Though, if I really thought about it, he’d never truly climbed off.

Porter though? He’d shocked me. And more than that? He’d hurt me.

It was stupid. We were fighting over the most prized possession a person could ever have. All bets were off. But maybe that was exactly the problem. Lucas/Travis wasn’t a possession at all.

He was a confused little boy who, as much as it pained me, should have a say over his life. And he’d made it abundantly clear that he wanted Porter.

Only hours earlier, I’d sat outside of his door, listening to him cry tears he would never show me, after I’d told him that he couldn’t call his dad until the courts said it was okay.

His face had crumbled, in turn crumbling my soul.

I hated it for him.

I hated it for me.

And, secretly, I hated it for Porter as well.

After picking my phone up, I brought up the thread of messages I shared with Porter. That picture of us laughing in bed was still front and center. My pulse spiked at the sight.

I traced my fingers over the strong curve of his jaw, wishing I could feel the scruff that had once sent chills down my spine.

My eyes drifted to Travis’s message to his dad.



Hey dad I’m with Charlotte she said she will take care of me until you can come get me. I love you. See you soon.



It wasn’t quite what I had told him when I’d let him send that text, but I assumed it was what his eager mind had heard.

Porter hadn’t responded, which honestly had surprised the hell out of me. There was an order of protection in place, but he wasn’t the type of guy who would just walk away and hope for the best. By now, I figured he’d be beating down my door.

Closing my eyes, I clutched my phone tight.

That afternoon, when we’d gotten home from Brady’s, Lucas and I had watched a movie on my laptop.

Well, more accurately, he’d watched a movie on my laptop.

I’d watched him.

He was so much like Porter it was insane. Honest to God, he even looked like him in a lot of ways. In the great debate of nature versus nurture, Lucas was proof that nurture always won out.

I had to stop obsessing about Porter. It wasn’t doing any of us any good. It was crushing me more with every passing minute. And, honestly, it was distracting me from what truly mattered: having my son back.

Clicking on Porter’s name in my contacts, I had every intention of deleting him from my phone. Only my fingers froze, hovering in midair over the screen.

Unblock this number stared up at me like a neon sign.

Unblock.

Unblock.

Un-fucking-block.

My mouth dried, and anger lit my veins.