Chapter 7 - The Ambush at the Gate
The torrential rain started just as the sleek, black SUV pulled up to the edge of my property. I stood on the covered wooden deck, my heart hammering against my ribs, watching as Daniel stepped out into the downpour. He wore a sharp, bespoke charcoal suit, completely out of place against the rugged backdrop of the Washington coastline. He looked just as arrogant, just as entitled, and just as ruthless as the day I walked out on him.
He didn't come alone. Two men in dark suits—his attack-dog lawyers—flanked him as he walked up the gravel driveway.
I didn't cower inside. I stepped forward to the edge of the stairs, refusing to let him cross the threshold of my sanctuary. Elias stood exactly one step behind me, a silent, imposing wall of protection.
"Hello, Amy," Daniel smirked, stopping at the bottom of the deck stairs. He looked around at the towering pines and the roaring ocean with visible disgust. "You call this isolation a home? It’s no wonder my son is suffering. I’m here to take him back to civilization."
"Julian is asleep," I said, my voice cutting through the sound of the rain with lethal calm. "And you have absolutely no legal right to be on this property. The custody hearing isn't for three weeks, Daniel. Get off my land."
Daniel laughed, a harsh, grating sound that sent a shiver down my spine. "I don't play by the court's schedule anymore, Amy. Vanguard Equity has given me a blank check. We are filing an ex parte motion tomorrow morning with a judge in my pocket. You have forty-eight hours to pack Julian's bags and sign over the voting rights to the trust, or I will ensure you are publicly painted as an unfit, hysterical mother, and you will never see him again."
He finally shifted his gaze to Elias, looking him up and down with sneering contempt. "And this must be the local handyman you’ve been entertaining. It’s pathetic, Amy. You went from a billionaire to a guy who builds cabins."
Elias didn't flinch. He didn't puff out his chest or raise his voice. He simply reached into the pocket of his flannel jacket, his dark eyes locked onto Daniel with the terrifying, absolute stillness of an apex predator.
"It’s interesting you mention Vanguard Equity, Daniel," Elias said, his voice smooth and dangerously quiet. "Because a man attempting a hostile takeover really should do a better job of checking who actually holds the paper on his debt."
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Daniel’s smirk fractured. "Excuse me?"
"You have forty-eight hours to get out of my state," Elias replied, placing a possessive, protective hand on the small of my back. "Before you find out exactly what kind of 'handyman' I really am."
