Hybrid Read Online Free Page A

years. I wanted to talk with you about this at a more convenient time.”
    She gave her husband an annoying glance. “But now that it's out in the open, I'll say my piece. Brianna deserves a father that's home every night, someone that can provide her with the finer things of life, giving her the opportunities that you simply can't. She doesn't need someone who's only around every other weekend or off at all hours of the night playing Sherlock Holmes, or whatever it is you call what you do.” Margaret paused, studying her ex-husband.
    She could see the fury building up within him, she had been with Erik long enough to know that there were limits to his tolerance. Deep down, she knew doing this would emotionally cripple him. She had crushed his spirit when she filed for divorce, this would be the finishing blow.
    Erik's shoulders slumped and his face tilted slightly as he considered his response. He looked sharply into her eyes, and she could see the blazing intensity that burned there. “You two are really something, you know that? Your high-priced lawyers set the terms for my visitations after you smeared my reputation. I'd love to spend more time with Brianna; only you two have seen to it that I can't. I'm surprised I'm not in jail, thanks to the smear campaign you pulled at the divorce hearing.
    “As it stands, I get two weekends and four nights a month. In the six years that this arrangement has been going on, I've never missed my visitation. For God's sake, Margaret, she's all I have left. You've got everything you ever wanted; don't take the one thing I have left away from me,” he said in a soft whisper. “Have you discussed this with our daughter? Is this something that she wants?”
    “What she wants or doesn't want is irrelevant,” Richard broke in. “It's time for us to become a real family, and quite frankly, you're getting in the way of that. Brianna mistakenly puts you on a pedestal. She doesn't understand you like I do. You have no real future; you're a blue collar PI with no real clientele and no real experience. How long do you think you can earn a living doing surveillance and security work? You need a plan, only you're not smart enough to realize that. No one wants an investigator who works out of the back room of a low-brow diner,” Richard said with a self-righteous tone.
    “My personal finances are my business,” Erik replied darkly. “Unlike you, I don't make money off the misery of others, you slum lord. I've already checked you out, and I know all about you. You inherited everything you have. You've earned nothing. You make money off real estate law on property that should be condemned and you pillage land with your shady development and mining operations across the country. I may not have much, but what I have I've achieved on my own.
    “As for my office space, I like where I am. I like to associate with a better class of people than I'm associating with now. I'm accessible to people. I don't hide myself in an ivory tower eighty stories above the ground, or surround myself with black iron fences and gates. I'm not afraid of regular people like you seem to be.”
    “Spoken like the true riffraff that you are.” Richard's face adopted a smug look. “Mr. Knight, you barely make enough money to get by, you have no real address and you have no place for your daughter to call home. My attorneys could do this in court, but I don't think that is in the child's best interest.
    “If you don't want to abide by our wishes, I'll see you in court. I have enough power and influence to see that you lose all rights to your daughter. Plus, I'll personally see to it that you never have another client for your ragtag business. I buried you once before, don't force me to do it again,” Richard added with an unmistakable loathing in his voice. “Do we understand each other?”
    Margaret groaned inwardly, she knew her husband had just made a critical mistake. Threatening Erik was not going to solve