Page 124 of Fierce-Trent

Trent looked at Roni and wanted to argue, but she shook her head at him. “If that is what you want, fine, but I’m bringing Eli. You can drop him off at my house on Monday rather than the before-school program or I can pick him up. I’ll make it as easy as possible for you.”

“I’ll drop him off,” Jeff said and walked away with Jenna.

“Was he giving you a hard time in there?” he asked.

“No more than normal,” she said.

“How is Eli doing?”

“He’s fine now. They gave him something for the pain. I wish I could take him home with me, but I can’t fight it. Eli even asked if he could come home with me and Jeff said no.”

Trent knew there wasn’t much he could say other than, “It should be about Eli and what he wants, but I know you struggle with that at times with Jeff.”

“Yep. Nothing I can do. I’m going to go back in with Eli now. They brought him down to get a splint fit on his arm, but he should be back in his room and then discharged soon.”

He nodded and went to sit down. “Do you want me to let Jax know what is going on?”

“If you could, that would be great.” She kissed him and left and he called Jax.

Jenna returned five minutes later, Jeff walking right by him with a pissed-off look on his face, but he ignored it.

An hour later they were driving home and Roni had been quiet.

“Everything okay now?” he asked. “I know you wanted Eli to come home with you.”

“I did,” she said. “But again, not my call. Why did you say what you did to Jenna?”

“What?” he asked.

“She told Jeff that you’re an attorney and that you’re going to find out a way to get full custody of Eli and take him to court?”

“Seriously?” he asked. “Do you think I would have said that?”

She let out a sigh. “No, but something had to be said for her to know what you do for a living.”

He told her exactly how the conversation went and rather than her calming down, she got more worked up. “As you can tell I kept it simple. I wouldn’t have said much at all if she didn’t keep talking to me.”

“I don’t need you coming to the rescue. I’ve been fighting my own battles with Jeff for years.”

“He’s been lying about you to his girlfriend. Why?”

“I know that. And I don’t know why. Maybe it makes him feel better about things? Jenna is jealous. I told you that. It’s as if Jeff is trying to work her up or pit us against each other. I stay out of it as I’ve been doing. And now you’ve worked her up and that worked him up. If he thinks I’m going to go for full custody then he might do it on me.”

“I didn’t say that to her,” he said.

“I understand, but they are going to think it after today.”

“I can’t control what they think,” he said. “But if they do it, you’re prepared. I’ll represent you and you know it. Don’t worry about it. He’s got no leg to stand on. You’ve got more of one based on what happened today alone and even then, no judge would overturn the custody agreement on an accident. Do you know how many married parents out there fight over bringing a child to the ER?”

As much as this whole thing pissed him off, he knew his job and he knew what the outcome of this would be from both sides.

“I just want this to go away. I’ve got to focus on Eli and the last thing I need is more drama with Jeff because I’m worried about having to go back to court.”

“Don’t be worried about it,” he said.

“It’s never going to end. It’s just more of the same,” she said and started to cry.

He felt like shit. “I’m just trying to help.”