"You need to get home now." Xander's troubled voice comes through the speaker the second I pick up the phone. "It's Kyle."

My fist clenches the phone, as I stand. "Where's your mother?"

"She made him stay outside, but she's listening to him."

"And your sister?"

"Having a nervous breakdown upstairs. Dad, you need to come quick, I tried to get him to leave but Mom stopped me."

"I'm leaving now." I tell him, jogging out of my office and toward the elevator. "Get out here with your mother. And Zander," I pause, just the the elevator dings, to sure that he's listening. "Don't let him leave."

It takes me ten minutes to get to the house.

Amelia looks absolutely distraught sitting in the oak rocking chair, Zander standing behind her, a comforting hand on her shoulder.

The man standing in front of her freezes when I slam the door to the SUV closed.

"I thought we had an understanding!" I roar, approaching the porch. Amelia stands, wiping a tear from her face.

"Mr. James." Kyle Hamilton says, stepping toward me.

"Get off of my property."

"My daughter-"

"My daughter!" I stop him. "Is none of your concern! Now, get off my damn property."

It's no wonder Zoey is terrified to see him. He's about six feet but probably weighs just over a hundred pounds. The last time he was here, just over six years ago, he was to high to even string together a coherent thought.

"I'll get it!" Fifteen year old Xander calls, jumping up from his seat at the dining table. "I'm coming!" He yells as the doorbell rings a second time.

A few seconds later he's screaming his head off .

"Xander!" I yell, standing from the dinning table. A very pregnant Amelia waddling quickly after me. Xander's yelling becomes more urgent and I start to sprint toward the front door.

He's screaming at the most ill looking man. Yelling at him to leave, that he should be here.

"Xander! Xander!" I grab him, pulling him back from the man that's obviously not okay.

"Dad! He wants to take them." He turns to me, fear evident in his eyes. "Make him leave. He has to leave."

"I want to see her." The man suddenly speaks, or slurs. "Where is she?"

"Who?" Amelia asks from behind me, trying to step forward but my arm comes out stopping her.

"My daughter, Zoey, I want to see me daughter."

"Amelia." I fight to keep the shake from my voice. "Take Xander, finish dinner with the kids."

Moving past Xander, I step out into the porch.

Kyle Hamilton, Zoey's biological father, was just released from state prison this past week. He was for auto theft and dealing, proving that Marie really knew how to pick them.

I take a minute to study him, he hasn't stopped shaking, his nails digging into the crook of his arm.

"Please, let me see her."

"Absolutely not." I spit, stepping toward him in the most menacing way. "You will not be getting anywhere near her."

"She's my daughter!" He shouts, stepping forward, clearly becoming unhinged.

"Not according to the courts!" Trying at regain my composure, I take a few deep breaths. His eyes travel my every movement as I reach into my breast pocket, they widen is a pull out my checkbook. "My driver," I motion to my bodyguard. "We'll be driving you to a pre-paid rehab. This," I rip a check out. "Will be waiting for you after you complete the twelve week program."

"How much?" He ask, watching the check. "What if I want to see her?"

"Twenty thousand." I fold the check, handing it to Samual. "If Zoey wants to speak to you, I will find you; otherwise, I never want to see you again."

He considers it momentarily, before stepping away.

After he's gotten into the car, I turn to Samuel. "Put someone in there with him, I want a report at the end of every week."

He nods before getting into the car and driving away.

Xander questions me before Amelia even notices that I'm back in the dining room. "Did you make him leave?"

Amelia turns to me and Zoey jumps up for her seat. Her glass of milk spills but I don't think anyone else noticed, she certainly hasn't.

"Daddy?" She questions, slowly approaching me. "I don't have to go with that man, right?"

"No, Sweetheart," I reach, tugging on one of her braids. "You never have to see that man again."

"I don't like him as my daddy." She wraps her arms around my waist and I take a second to pull her up. "I like you as a Daddy."

"Then you don't have to." I hold her tightly. "You never have to see him again. Okay?"

It's later that night that Amelia starts to question me, obsessively.

"What if he uses that money to get a layer, Cameron?"

"He won't."

"What if he does?" She insists, taking her earrings out, watching me through the vanity mirror.

"He's never going to get his hands in her, baby." I wrap my arms around her. "He's been in and out of prison for the past twenty years, and that's why she was able to be adopted. The state gave her to us, they can't just take her."

"What if they try?"

"Then we'll go to the cabin, no one will find us," My fingers trail up her arms, left bare by her nightgown. "I can wear that flannel shirt more often."

She turns to me, blinking away tears. "They can't take her from us."

"No, Baby," I rest my forehead against hers. "No-one can take our daughter from us."

"About that's shirt.." She mumbles moments later, her anxiety gone.

"I-" Kyle starts, pausing to start itching just below the edge of his t-shirt. The needle punctures in a crook of his arm look fresh. "I want to see her. You told me I could see her."

"I said I would find you if she ever wanted to see you." I growl, just as the screen door creaks.

"Dad." Zoey whispers and Kyle and I both turn. Her red swollen eyes make it so I can't tell which one of us she's addressing. "He just wants money." She says before shifting slightly toward the direction of Kyle. "Right?"

"Z-"

"You stole five thousand dollars from Dominic O'Hare and now you have until tomorrow to give him back ten thousand or you're in a lot of trouble."

"Is that true?" I grit, enraged he would put my family in this type of situation. O'Hare is not someone to get mixed up in, we have the mutual understanding to stay out of each other's business.

"I needed a fix." He cries out. "I needed the money."

"Samuel," I call out, before turning to Kyle. "Escort Mr. Hamilton to state lines. I will take care of Mr. O'Hare, but you will stay away from my family. If Zoey ever wishes to speak to you, she will find you, otherwise you are dead man."

He hesitates, but something in my eyes convinces him to leave without another word.

After the car drives away, I turn back to my family.

Amelia looks as if she's about to pass out as she slowly sits in the white wicker rocker, and I rush toward her.

"Amelia, are you okay?"

She looks up at me, wide eyed, like a deer caught in the headlights.

"He said-" She takes a deep, shaky breath. "He said the adoption isn't legal, that his mother wasn't contacted so, legally, Zoey and Ryder shouldn't have been adopted by you."

"What?"

"If his mother had been contacted, Zoey and Ryder would have been adopted by her. He claims we cheated the system."

"Is that true?" Zoey practically screeches at me, coming between Amelia and I. "Was I supposed to be given to my grandmother?"

Amelia is still watching me, the blood drained from her face.

"Can they take me?" Zoey screams, pulling my attention away from Amelia fear filled face. "Dad?" Her voice breaks this time, notice more fear than I've seen since she was adopted.

My sweet girl. She hides her fear so well, but it's there.

"No, Zoey." I look between my daughter and her mother. "They cannot take you! We did talk to your grandmother, right after your mother died, we did."

"My son walked out of my life a day he turned to drugs, I want nothing to do with him" The white haired woman looks down at the picture of Zoey, shaking in her hands. "Or any part of him."

"And she didn't want me?"

"Zoey, she couldn't afford to take care of you and your brothers. She said it hurt too much to think about you and that's why you never got a chance to meet her." I lie, straight through my teeth but she doesn't need more hurt in her life. "She died of cancer two years later."

Zoey takes a minute to process the new information and then jumps into my arms.

"Thank you, Dad. For everything, including the lies meant to spare my feelings."

"Zo," I start, pausing when she smiles at me.

"It's better this way." She pulls away, brushing herself off. "Xander, come help me finish dinner, I think Mom needs a break."

The two walk inside, leaving their mother and I in silence.

"I didn't know their father was different that Xander's." Amelia speaks after a few moments.

"No one did, not until the adoption. Kyle is Zoey and Ryder's birth father. At the time of the adoption he was in prison for auto theft. Don't be worried, he's not getting anywhere near them." I try to assure her, wanting to take away the frown that covers her face.

"I know," She nods before smiling. "You won't let anyone near our children."

"No, I won't." I say just as headlights shine at us from up the driveway and Amelia's eyes widen for the second time tonight.

"Uh oh." I hear Amelia mutter just as I recognize my parents car.