Leader of the Pack (The Dogfather Book 3) Read online

  “No contact since then?” Liam asked. “Not even with Christian?”

  She shifted uncomfortably. “Jeff was already gone to Europe when Christian was born, and we’d split up. They really had no interest in their grandson.”

  “They had enough to put six million in a trust,” Shane said dryly.

  Which still stunned Andi when she thought about it.

  Just then, the youngest sibling, Darcy, still wearing a dog-groomer’s apron and holding her phone as if she couldn’t believe the text she’d received, came sprinting into the room, instantly falling onto a hassock next to Gramma Finnie.

  “Garrett and Jessie are on their way in from the training area,” she announced. “And Chloe texted to the family group chat that she could be here soon, too. You’re friends with Shane’s fiancée, right, Andi?”

  “Very good friends,” Andi said. “It’ll be good to see her.” Chloe had often spoken about the incredible life force that was the Kilcannon clan, and she, also an only child like Andi, had thrown herself right into the clan with her whole heart and soul. The Kilcannons were the family Chloe had never had.

  Andi scanned the room, not even sure she’d know what to do with this many type As in her life. One of the reasons she’d been attracted to architecture, other than her father’s influence and the pleasure the process gave her, was that it was essentially a solitary endeavor. Just Andi, the pencil, the blueprint, and the idea. Andi controlled the lines and vision, and she was certain of the outcome.

  With a life among a group like this? Nothing could be certain except plenty of noise, opinions, and, yes, love.

  Next to her, Liam threaded her fingers with his, the touch so comforting it reminded her that not everything should be done alone.

  “You’re going to get through this,” he assured her during a moment when the chaos calmed down. “No one is going to touch Christian, no matter how much he has in a trust fund. You have my word.”

  Which she knew was a word she could count on.

  She glanced at him, seeing Liam differently with his family. Oh yes, he was still the attractive man who drew her in like a magnet, but here he was without a doubt the leader of his pack. Daniel Kilcannon might be the patriarch and Gramma Finnie the dowager grandmother, but there was something about Liam’s military-trained steadiness and his role as the oldest of a big family that gave him a quiet, assured authority.

  “I hope you’re right,” she said, vaguely aware that he ran his thumb over her knuckles in steady strokes that brought her heart rate down. “Those papers would say she has a fairly strong argument.”

  Shane, seated in a chair across from them, the pages spread out on the coffee table, ran his hand through thick chestnut hair. After a moment, he looked up, pinning Andi with his hazel gaze.

  “Strong-ish,” he said. “But far from airtight.”

  “Can she take Christian from me?” That was all that mattered.

  Shane didn’t answer immediately, and the hesitation was enough to make Andi’s stomach grip. She tightened her fingers around Liam’s for support.

  “Can she?” Shane repeated Andi’s question slowly. “Technically, legally, with the right lawyer and the wrong judge? Yes. Will she?”

  “Not if we have anything to say about it,” Dr. K chimed in.

  “I know a great family law attorney,” Shane said. “You’ll need to build a case that shows she’s wrong about your capabilities as a mother and your intention to touch a penny of Christian’s inheritance. She’s never seen the child, so that won’t work in her favor. The grandmother who left the money had no interest in him, so that…will be something a judge has to take into consideration.”

  Andi shook her head. “I had no idea Jeff’s mother had even died.”

  Gramma Finnie looked up from her phone, the sight of a woman her age thumbing an iPhone with dexterity quite the anachronism. “Was her name Nadine? She died two weeks ago at the Scott family home in Charlottesville, Virginia.”

  Everyone stopped talking and moving to look at Gramma Finnie, who squinted through bifocals to read the screen. “It says she’s survived by one daughter, Eleanor—”

  “So not that estranged,” Liam murmured.

  “—and that Nadine was married to a retired bank executive who died a few years ago.”

  Andi nodded. “That was why Jeff came back from Europe so suddenly. He was very affected by his father’s death.” Changed, really, she thought. He was never the same person after he’d been in Europe.

  “But still never took Christian to meet his mother?” Liam asked, his disbelief evident in the question.

  “They didn’t have a great relationship,” she said softly. Jeff had complained about his family, his mother a social climber and his father unavailable. He said many times he didn’t want to be like his father but wanted to be present for Christian. And that had been one of the saddest things about Jeff’s death.

  “Will that affect the case?” Dr. Kilcannon asked Shane, who was still perusing the demands Nora had left.

  “The case is going to be about money,” Shane replied. “And the control of Christian’s trust.”

  “I don’t care about money,” Andi said.

  “But it belongs to Christian,” Liam replied, his voice gentle. “You have a responsibility to see that he gets it.”

  “Not if it means some protracted court case that tears him—and me—apart. He’s already a painfully shy little boy. If he finds out some stranger wants to…to….” Her voice cracked, and she shook her head. Instantly, Liam’s arm was around her.

  Dr. K knelt in front of her, Molly slid closer, and Gramma Finnie put down her cell phone to rock nearer into the little group.

  They might be a tidal wave, but they wouldn’t let a person drown.

  The kitchen door opened, and Garrett, the middle brother who ran the dog rescue operation, walked in holding hands with Jessie, the spunky redhead he’d fallen for a few months ago. They both wore serious expressions that told Andi they’d been briefed on the “family group text” that Darcy had mentioned.

  They greeted her, but before the conversation picked up again, someone knocked lightly on the kitchen door, then pushed it open.

  “We’re here,” Chloe called.

  Shane’s face instantly brightened at the sound of his fiancée’s voice. “‘We’ means Chloe and Ruby,” he said with a smile.

  Andi automatically got up to greet the woman to whom she’d gotten so close over the past few months.

  “Chloe,” she said, meeting her friend halfway into the family room for a hug, getting her legs nuzzled by Ruby, the sweet chocolate-colored Staffy Chloe had adopted. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  The two women had met on the Tourism Advisory Committee when Chloe first came to Bitter Bark to offer some of her tourism marketing expertise. As Chloe and Shane’s relationship blossomed into love, Andi had become friends with the lively brunette, too.

  “This is ridiculous, Andi,” Chloe said, squeezing tight. “We’re all going to help you.”

  Of course, Chloe, not yet officially in the family, was a cog in the industrial-sized problem-solving machine of the Kilcannons.

  She realized that Liam had gotten up, too, as if he didn’t want Andi to get too far away from him, and that made her heart lighter. Without thinking too much about it, she slipped her hand into his as he led her and Chloe back into the family room.

  Taking a steadying breath as she sat back down, Andi looked from one family member to the next. The siblings, father, and grandmother all shared something in their eyes, despite the color, as if God had imprinted them all with an invisible “Kilcannon” label.

  “Where were we?” Dr. K corralled the conversations that started to break into smaller groups as questions and comments got thrown around. “On the legalese?”

  “No,” Liam said. “First, protection. Andi and Christian need round-the-clock protection, and I’m taking Jag over there today. We’ll start the process to train b
oth of you to know exactly how to handle him so no one, and I do mean no one, gets close to you or Christian.”

  She exhaled and nodded, already having accepted this as the first line of defense. Nora had hired someone to break into her home. How cold did a woman have to be to not care how frightening that would be to a single woman and a child? “Yes, of course.”

  “Will that be enough to stave off one determined, greedy aunt?” Molly asked.

  “Enough that she won’t try to kidnap Christian,” Dr. K said.

  Andi closed her eyes and put her hand on her chest. “I can’t believe she’d do that.”

  “She likely won’t,” Shane said. “She wants custody and guardianship because of the money involved, not because she wants to bond with him. Kidnapping him would ruin her case.”

  And Andi’s life. She gripped Liam’s hand as the very thought of it rolled through her.

  “I still don’t want anyone to get near their house or the people in it,” Liam said vehemently. “What about a restraining order?”

  “She hasn’t done anything to physically threaten Andi or Christian,” Shane replied. “That actually might go against us, as if we’re purposely trying to keep Nora from getting close enough to see what kind of mother Andi is.”

  “A good one,” Liam said under his breath. “A stunningly good one.”

  Andi gave him a grateful look, then turned to Liam’s father, feeling his gaze on the two of them.

  “That doesn’t solve the bigger problem,” Dr. K said. “We have to demonstrate that Christian has a human hedge of protection around him.”

  “I’ll stay with you,” Liam said. “I’ll come with you when you drop off and pick up Christian at school. When that woman sees you, she’ll see me.”

  “Will that help the case?” Chloe asked Shane, glancing over his shoulder at the papers. “Another stable force in Christian’s life?”

  “It can’t hurt, but…” Shane flipped the paper. “Family friends are supportive, but it’s not legal and binding.”

  Andi stared at him. “What would be?”

  “Well, obviously you’re not going to give nonparent custody to this stranger without a fight, and the fact that she is a stranger really works in your favor. This woman has no long-term relationship with Christian. And courts tend to side with parents. Even single parents.”

  She heard the subtext and knew being a single mom would definitely be used against her, no matter how archaic and ridiculous that was. “That’s what I thought. I’m worried,” she admitted.

  “As you should be,” Shane continued. “It’s safe to assume she has some money, estranged or not, and can bring in deadly legal guns. She’s already been observing you and documenting facts, like your work hours, how often Christian is in day care or with a sitter, which she states is mostly for full days during the workweek.”

  “Well, I run a business and try to take him to the office, but yes, I arrange for care.”

  “Also how frequently you go out—”

  She choked back a dry laugh. “Out? Never.”

  “She said she has photos of you at Bushrod’s drinking with Chloe.”

  “The night last week?”

  “I took her to Bushrod’s to ask her to be my maid of honor,” Chloe said with a soft choke of disbelief. “Not for a night of wild drinking.”

  Andi’s shoulders sank. “It was the first time I stepped in that bar in months.”

  “Ugh.” Chloe groaned. “This could get ugly.”

  “Uglier,” Andi muttered.

  “Shane, what will it take to get rid of this woman once and for all and quickly?” Liam asked, his voice taut. “Money? Threats? A countersuit? Tell us what our options are, and we’ll do them.”

  Us. Our. We. The inclusive words were like kisses on Andi’s cheek, welcoming and appreciated.

  “The best thing Andi can do is demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christian has stability and his every family need is being met,” Shane said. “Put this woman’s arguments that Andi is an unfit mother, or that Christian is somehow not being taken care of, so far out of the realm of possibility that she knows she’ll lose the case. And if it goes to a judge, she will lose the case.”

  “How do we do that?” Andi asked on a whisper.

  Daniel stopped pacing right in front of Liam and Andi, his crystal-blue gaze shifting between them, suddenly flashing like a literal bulb had turned on in his head.

  “We make Christian part of our family. You and him. Legal, binding, and indisputable.”

  Andi blinked at him, confusion and questions swirling in her.

  “How?” she and Liam barely whispered the word in perfect unison.

  “Well, you marry each other, of course.”

  Everyone reacted differently with a mix of gasps, disbelief, groans, nervous laughter, and one loud bark from Rusty. But all Andi heard was the thumping of her pulse in her head, because she knew marrying Liam was the last thing she should do to protect her son…and the best way to protect her son.

  Chapter Seven

  He’d lost his damned mind.

  Liam stared at his father, aware that Andi’s hand had slipped from his and her jaw had fallen open in a perfect O of disbelief.

  “Just hear me out,” Dad said quickly, holding up both hands. “Hear me out.”

  “Dad—” Liam started to stand to end the madness, but Dad stopped him with a furious shake of his head.

  “It makes perfect sense, Liam. You and Andi—”

  “Are not getting married.” He got to his feet to make his point before Andi started wailing or running off or somehow letting them all know how heinous that idea was to her.

  “It would put an end to this Nora Scott’s claims,” Dad continued as if Liam hadn’t spoken. “It would give Christian a legitimate last name.”

  “Dad!” Liam’s voice boomed. “He has a legitimate last name—his mother’s.”

  Dad gave a half shrug in acknowledgment of his error. “But it might not be enough to keep him safe from this woman,” he insisted. “If Andi’s married, part of a big family, surrounded by support? No one can get near her or Christian. In fact, we could have the three of you live here, like your mother and I did when you were a baby and—”

  Liam’s head spun at the idea, and he shut his dad up with a single hand ordering silence. “That is not the answer.”

  “Yes, it is.” At the sound of Andi’s voice uttering the three words, every single person in the room turned to her, including Liam.

  She had her hands folded in front of her face, the knuckles pressed hard against her chin. She stared straight ahead, as if her gaze was locked on some distant target and nothing could or would stop her from getting to it.

  Christian was that target. She’d do anything for him, including marry a man she wouldn’t even consider having anything beyond sex with two months ago.

  “You make perfect sense, Dr. Kilcannon.”

  “Andi.” Liam sat back down. “Don’t you think it’s…drastic?”

  She finally looked at him. “It wouldn’t be forever,” she said softly, the whisper of words like a kick in his gut. “We can get it annulled after I secure Christian, right?”

  Annulled?

  “Actually,” Garrett said, stepping closer into the fray. “Shane happens to be a bit of an expert on annulment.”

  “You are?” Andi looked from Garrett to Shane, an expression of hope in her eyes.

  Hope that this solution could be used and then…discarded. Hope that felt like a ten-inch nail shoved through Liam’s chest.

  “Yeah, actually, I have some experience in that area of the law.”

  “So, we could get married legally and long enough to appear before a judge or whatever, and then not be married?” she asked.

  “You may never have to appear before a judge,” Shane said. “Nora Scott might back off.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about!” Dad exclaimed. “The perfect answer.”

  Liam
shot him a look. Sure, his matchmaking lunatic of a father thought he’d hit pay dirt on this one. But wasn’t he listening to her? She wanted it annulled before…before they even discussed this as a couple.

  “What about Christian?” Liam asked as the question popped into his head. She’d said she was terrified of introducing a man into her life because it might hurt her son if it didn’t work out. Didn’t this marry-and-annul plan fly in the face of that?

  “What about him?” she asked, as if she’d forgotten the excuse she’d offered for not wanting to date Liam. Because it was exactly that: an excuse.

  “What will you tell him?”

  She stared at him as if the question didn’t even compute in her head.

  “That you got married to someone you barely know because his long-lost aunt wants to take him away from you?” Liam prodded. “Wouldn’t that terrify him?”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “So we’ll tell him that…we decided to get married.”

  “And when it’s annulled?”

  She closed her eyes as if maybe the impact of that hit her. “He’ll survive,” she finally said. “It’s better than living with some stranger.”

  So marrying Liam was the lesser of two evils. Great.

  “Then it’s settled,” Dad said.

  Liam gave him a pleading look, then sent another to his siblings who, except for some mumbling among themselves, hadn’t offered one word of support for him.

  Of course not.

  Because this wasn’t about Liam’s tender and unrequited love for Andi Rivers. A child’s well-being hung in the balance, and he would no sooner think about his own feelings than one of his dogs would hesitate to attack on command to save a life.

  He needed to buck up and play this game, and do it well.

  Andi leaned back and sighed as if she’d experienced an adrenaline dump and needed to figure out what had just happened.

  “Would you like to take a walk?” Liam asked her.

  “Why would you go anywhere?” Dad asked. “We have to make a plan.”

  Shane shifted the papers on the table, nodding. “If this is going to work, the entire town has to buy into it being real. One word slips from the wrong mouth that this is a fake marriage and Nora Scott will have way too much ammunition.”