pose. Beside her husband, Sarah visibly shrank in her seat,
and it reminded him of how Lisa would try to hide. Jeff's
wife was outwardly strong, but in rare moments of
vulnerability, she had often slunk into the background as if
she could disappear. Narrowing his eyes, Riley settled back
into his seat, seeing the situation for what it was. There was
no love lost between husband and wife—was this what
Lexie had meant? Was Elliot a bully? If he was, why was he interested in a small child? Money had to be the only motive. After all, he had been put away on charges of
embezzlement.
"You are welcome to visit any time you want,"
Riley offered. "I will cover all costs for you to visit,
including hotel stays and transport." Abilene was little
more than three hours away, but Riley didn't want to leave
anything open to chance.
"The child would be better off with her aunt," Elliot
insisted.
Riley picked up on the single word "child", not
Hayley, or Lexie's daughter, or "my niece". No, he used the
term "child", and it sounded cold and calculating. "Not as part of an experiment with a man who
believes he is married to another man and carries on
unspeakable acts behind closed doors." Elliot was on a roll,
and despite feeling like jumping up and breaking Elliot's
nose Riley had a sudden inspiration.
"I would like to talk to Sarah on my own." "That won't be possible," Elliot said immediately. Riley was determined to see what Sarah would say
if she was away from her domineering husband.
"Nevertheless, it is what we will be doing," Riley said
slowly.
"I'll be fine, Elliot," Sarah began. Elliot dismissed her defense with a shake of his
hand. She subsided into silence once more but sat on the
edge of her seat as Jim stood and indicated the door. "I think we should leave the father and aunt alone to
talk."
He was leaving no room for maneuver, and while
Elliot appeared to want to argue, he really had nothing left
to say. Soon, with the attorney leaving also, only the two of
them remained in the room. Riley moved around the desk
and arranged a chair so he sat at a right angle to Sarah. "Don't let him do this," Sarah breathed, and looked
over her shoulder, clearly scared Elliot was going to rush in
at that very moment.
"Do what?"
"He doesn't want Hayley. He just wants control of
whatever trust fund you establish for her."
"I thought it might be that," Riley offered gently. "Lexie never had a single bad word to say about
you, Mr Campbell-Hayes. She said she thought you had
grown up well, and Hayley would be happy with you." "Riley, please."
"Riley then." They sat in silence a moment longer. "He's not long out of prison. Is that what scares
you?" He tried to be as gentle as he could in what he was
saying.
"No." She looked like she was about to cry. In that
instant, with her defenses lowered, Riley could see Lexie in
her eyes. "It scares me I waited this long for him to come
home and then realized I want to leave him."
"I have the money to help you—"
"It's not about money, Mr—Riley. It's having the
strength to leave him. All those years he was behind bars I
could stay married, and it didn't matter. But now he's back.
He's not the same man. I mean… he is the same. He's still
overbearing, but he has nightmares. I want him to get help,
but he is fixated on Hayley and the money he knows she
will have."
"Thank you for your honesty." Riley so wanted to
be the grown-up here. He couldn't, though, when all he
wanted to do was go home and grab Hayley and never let
her go.
"I won't fight for custody. I only came to make sure
you understood this is not my idea or my wish. I won't
bring Hayley into our house no matter what Elliot wants to
do."
"But you'll be okay? With Elliot?"
"I don't think he is a bad man. He just sees what
others have and wants it all. Mr Campbell-Hayes, I know
who I married," she finished cryptically and then stood. She
left the room and pulled the door closed behind her, and for a second, Riley waited. He needed to take everything in and hoped that somehow she would break free from Elliot and make a stand. The door burst open, and Elliot was there
with a taut, furious expression on his face.
"I don't know what the fuck you said to her," he
spat, "but one way or another, we'll get what is ours." "Mr Anderson—"
"Fucking fags." Elliot spun on his heel and stormed
out of the office and down the corridor. Riley followed him
just to the end to make sure he really left the building.
Sarah stood with the lawyer and just shook her head.