I headed out into the afternoon sun, the fresh air and the verbal sparring session with Penny already doing wonders to clear my head. Gravel crunched under my feet as I walked across the parking lot to the store. My steps faltered as I took in a figure getting out of a ridiculously expensive vehicle. A muscle in my jaw ticked as I forced my gaze away from Grant Abbot and towards the store. The last thing I needed was an altercation with the opposing side of a case. I picked up my pace and headed for the store’s entrance.

“Crosby.”

The voice alone had my blood heating. All I could see in my mind was Kenna’s tear-soaked face. All I could feel was the way her body had shook as she sobbed. This man had put her through hell once before and was eager to do it again. I turned on my heel. “Yes?”

“Good to see you.”

“I wish I could say the same.”

Grant’s brows rose. “Can’t we be civil? We’re not in the courtroom, after all.”

I forced my hands to stay relaxed, to not give anything away. “I have a hard time being civil to someone who has hurt the people I care about. Someone who’s a miserable excuse for a human being.”

Grant’s eyes flared. “I see Kenna is telling her lies again.”

“And what lies would those be?” I was curious what tale Grant had invented to cover his bad behavior. I wondered if he’d even convinced himself the story was true.

He straightened. “She has a few different ones that she likes to tell, so I can’t be sure what she’s filled your head with. But you should know, this isn’t the first time she’s tried to swindle money out of my family.”

“Oh, by that, you mean asking you to be a responsible father for the daughter you helped to create?” The person in front of me was the worst kind of excuse of a man. One who never took responsibility for his actions and didn’t care who he crushed to get what he wanted. Nothing mattered to Grant but himself.

Heat crept into Grant’s cheeks. “It was never proven that the child was mine. She was likely cheating on me with someone else.”

“You know that’s not true.” Anyone that Kenna let in knew the fierce loyalty of her nature. She could no more cheat on someone than sprout wings and fly to the moon. “She loved you. Trusted you. And you broke her. Worse than that, you let your vicious parents at her when she was scared and alone. You don’t deserve to breathe.”

A sneer stretched across Grant’s face. “I’m pretty sure that was a threat, Counselor.”