Vera teased her as I set down the end of the hose. She was tickling Trix, making her scream and laugh, when I finally got her attention.

“Vera, I have to go to the front gate,” I told her quietly. “One of the boys called Casper. They need me at the front. Can you keep Trix here?”

“Sure, darlin’. No problem. You ridin’ with Casper?” she asked as I stood back up.

“Yeah, he said he’d give me a ride.” My mind was racing with possibilities.

“Dragon ain’t gonna like that.”

“I can’t argue about this right now. I have to get up there.” I shook my head. “Give me a kiss, Trix. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Once I got back to the front of the house, Casper fired up his bike, and we took off toward the gate. It only took us a couple of minutes to get there, and when I saw the group there, my stomach dropped.

Dragon and Pop were arguing with some man in a cheap suit while a lady dressed in a matching suit stood by the side of a government-issued car. They seemed to be arguing about getting on to the compound as the lady watched with a scowl on her face.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I called out, refusing to let my voice show my fear.

“Are you Brenna Richards?” the lady asked me in a tone that made it clear she thought I was trash.

Dragon growled as I answered her, “Yes, I am. What’s this about?”

“You’ve been served,” she told me as she handed over a manila envelope and started back toward the driver’s side of the car.

I stood there, shaking, as I watched my pop say something to the man in the suit before he hurried to the passenger seat of the car.

“Fuckin’ cunt. Couldn’t even let the man drive the fuckin’ car; she wants to have a dick so bad,” Dragon grumbled as he wrapped his arms around me.

I couldn’t move. I just stood there, staring at the envelope like it was a snake ready to strike. I didn’t want to open it. I didn’t want to know what was inside.

Dragon finally realized that I was shaken up, and he took the envelope from me as he set me on the back of his bike. “Casper! Goin’ home for the night. You’re off shift. Poet, you heading back with us?”

I didn’t see or hear either of their answers because I had my face pressed tightly into the back of Dragon’s cut, trying to keep out the entire world.

By the time we reached the house just a couple minutes later, I was desperate to read the papers in the envelope. I wasn’t sure why my feelings had changed so quickly, but I had to find out what was happening. I ripped the envelope out of Dragon’s hand the minute I climbed off his bike and tore it open. The sound that came from my throat when I realized what the papers entailed would have scared me if I were aware of it. I dropped to my knees in the gravel and started rocking, letting the pieces of paper flutter out around me. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t be doing this.

“What the hell, Brenna?” Pop called from across the driveway.

But I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t say anything because if I did, I was afraid I would start screaming and never stop. I just knelt there as Dragon dropped down beside me and started gathering the papers, all the while trying to hold me still.

“Read this,” he ordered, handing my pop the stack of papers. “Find out what the fuck is going on right now.”

He lifted me in his arms and cradled me tightly as I started wiggling. I could tell he thought I wanted him to put me down, but it was just the opposite. I wanted to crawl inside him. I wanted to take Trix and live inside him where Tony could never get to us—where we’d always be safe. I couldn’t get close enough. Faintly, I heard the sounds of Trix playing in the backyard, laughing at the top of her lungs, but I couldn’t even process it. I couldn’t process anything.

I barely noticed when Dragon laid me down on the bed and wrapped me tightly in the comforter we’d used the night before. He sat with me for a while, rubbing my head and whispering comforting things, until I closed my eyes. I was hoping he’d think I’d fallen asleep. Once he left the room, I heard him talking to Pop, and I knew they were trying to figure out how we would fight this. I just needed a minute to myself before I went out and got Trix dried off and dressed. I just needed a minute to wallow and worry and panic before she saw me.

The reason I left Tony was playing in the yard, and for the first time in her life, she was happy and secure enough to laugh at the top of her lungs. She was slowly coming out of her shell and felt comfortable enough to whine like any other kid her age. She was happy, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

It was all going to come crashing down around us, and my chest physically ached at the thought of Trix retreating back into the shell she’d been in since birth.

My nightmare, the very thing I’d been running from, had caught up to me. Tony was suing me for full custody of my daughter, and he had the money and the lawyers to win.

Trix came bounding into the room, fully dressed, before I could make myself crawl out of my cocoon. Dragon was close behind her, trying to keep her from waking me up, but he paused when he noticed my eyes were open.

“Hey, Mama. You tired?” Trix asked me, and I could see the apprehension in her eyes.

She was far too perceptive for me to play it off. She slowed down as she reached the bed and gingerly started to crawl up like she’d done a hundred times before. I didn’t want her thinking I was hurt, so I quickly shoved my arms out of the blankets and grabbed her up, pulling her on top of me.