Lawrence won’t have a clue how to manage our son.”

She looked away, staring pointedly out the window, even as his words ate at her, making her feel raw.

Trey was saying all the things she secretly worried about. Could Lawrence handle TJ? And maybe Lawrence could manage TJ now, but what about when TJ was ten? Thirteen? Seventeen?

What then?

But she wouldn’t let Trey know she was afraid, wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

Instead she had to get through to him. She had to talk sense into him, make him understand that this—what he was doing—was going to backfire in a horrible way.

“Just take us back,” she said, voice low. “It’s not too late to turn the truck around and take us back. I won’t press charges. I just want—”

“No.” Trey’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, his broad knuckles shining white against his olive skin. “No,” he repeated more quietly. “I can’t. I want a chance to get to know my son first.”

“Just because I’m getting married doesn’t mean you’re losing your son—”

“That’s not true. You have custody. Full custody—”

“You weren’t around for shared custody, buddy.”

“I get that. But I also know how this will work. You marry Larry and TJ will live with you and Larry, and Larry will become the Dad. I’ll be that guy who sends lame gifts on birthdays and Christmas.”

“Then don’t send lame gifts.”

Trey shot her a narrowed glance. “In the old days I would have laughed.”

“Yeah. ‘Cause in the old days it would have been funny.” Her throat ached and her eyes burned. “But this isn’t funny, Trey. What you are doing isn’t funny. It’s illegal. You’re breaking the law. You’ll be going back to jail for a long long time—”

“Yeah, I pretty much figured that out.”

“So turn around!” she begged, heartsick.

“Darlin’, I’m already screwed. Everybody in that church knows what happened. I’ve no doubt in my mind that Larry or one of your brothers has alerted the police. It’s not a question of if I’m going back to prison, it’s just a matter of when. So, since I’m going back behind bars for another couple of years, I want a Christmas to remember. A Christmas when we were almost a happy family.”

“Trey.”

“I understand you don’t love me. I won’t ask you to love me. But I will ask you to let me be my son’s dad for a few days. That’s all I want.”

She looked at him for a long minute, taking in his hard beautiful profile, a profile that glowed in the light of the dash.

He was bad….he was trouble…and yet whenever she’d needed him, he’d been there. When she’d been terrified of the dark, scared of the bad buys, scared that she’d be attacked and murdered, he’d held her and protected her, vowing to keep her safe.

And he didn’t just do things like that for her.