Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Typical Gray, though. He had a knack for getting hung up on men who weren’t available.
“Yo, hold the elevator!”
Gray knew that voice. He shot out his hand to prevent the elevator doors from closing, and then he waited.
Seconds later, Jayden appeared in front of him and quirked a little grin.
Holy hell, Gray couldn’t describe the relief. He quickly eyed the boy from head to toe and noticed not much had changed, except for one thing. He had a scrape along his jaw.
“What happened to you?” Gray exited the car again and got down on one knee before the kid. “I’ve been worried. You just took off.” He carefully touched Jayden’s cheek.
Jayden watched him strangely, then stepped back and created some distance between them.
Gray let his hand fall, and he rose to a stand again.
“Why were you worried?” Jayden didn’t get it. “Never mind. I had stuff to do.” He jerked his chin at something—or someone. He wasn’t alone.
Kellan Ford was watching them from ten feet away.
That fucker had made it sound like he merely recognized Jayden’s last name.
Gray became guarded and braced himself for anything. But the backpack Kellan was holding confused Gray. It was clearly one for children. It was small and had a superhero print on the front.
“Jayden came to us and asked for a favor the other day,” Kellan said conversationally. He walked closer and aimed for the elevator. “Favors for him are always free of charge.” He ruffled the boy’s hair before he entered the car.
“Not true,” Jayden huffed. “You stole my shoes.”
Gray hitched a brow at the two.
“I hid them so you wouldn’t leave in the middle of the night,” Kellan pointed out. “You have them now, don’t you?”
Jayden followed him into the elevator but didn’t reply.
“What floor are you on?” Kellan asked Gray.
These fucking… They didn’t come and go as normal people did. Gray was overwhelmed—and still goddamn confused. But he trailed in after Jayden and pressed nine. With the boy around, he didn’t deem any immediate threat.
“Jayden wanted us to do a background check on you,” Kellan said.
“Okay.” Gray glanced at the kid. How did a child his age even know what a background check was? He couldn’t imagine the life Jayden had lived.
It made Gray wonder if he was even equipped to help Jayden. Good intentions didn’t matter much if he lacked the ability to make a difference.
“That makes most people nervous,” Kellan mentioned.
Huh? Oh. “I don’t have anything to hide,” Gray answered.
Kellan nodded once. “Pretty much what I concluded too. That’s why we’re here.”
Jayden smiled unsurely and bit his lip. “I wanna go to the place I don’t gotta hide, the one with the pool that you showed me.”
Oh. Gray exhaled and felt a flood of relief wash over him again, more than before.
“There are some conditions, of course.” Kellan watched the numbers fly by above the elevator doors. “We don’t let someone from our community walk away with just anybody.”
Perhaps Gray had had enough of being apprehensive about everything; maybe he was done playing the weak underdog. Maybe he was tired. Or maybe he was just fucking done being controlled by others. Whatever it was, he wasn’t afraid of Kellan. At the moment.
“You may own the Philadelphia underworld, but you don’t own me, and judging by your success rate with bossing Jayden around, you don’t own him either.”
Jayden snickered at Gray’s response.
Kellan said nothing.
Once the elevator stopped, Gray took the lead and checked the pockets of his sweats for his keycard.
His room was only a few doors down the hall, and he let Kellan and Jayden in first.
Jayden snatched up his backpack and walked straight over to the unused bed, where he sat down on the foot of it and clutched his bag as if he was ready to settle down. Was that it? Was he staying here now?
Gray genuinely hoped so. He’d been really worried about the kid.
“Father O’Malley called the shelter in Washington,” Kellan said. “They’re expecting Jayden’s arrival in a few days.”
Kind of. Adeline had said Jayden was welcome, definitely.
“You won’t fly there,” Kellan went on. “You’ll drive.”
That was the plan. Gray wasn’t ready to face his hometown just yet.
Kellan turned to Jayden. “Remember the rules?”
The boy nodded. “I gotta call Malley and Sister Margaret a lot, I won’t run away, I won’t steal, I won’t sell my new phone.”
Gray’s brows went up.
Kellan chuckled. “Good. And you know how to find our numbers in the contact list now.”
Jayden nodded. “You showed me a thousand times.”
This was actually happening. Jayden was staying. Gray was bringing him to Camassia. He was fulfilling his vow to Jonas—or starting to. What he’d told Jayden was the truth. Gray didn’t take his promise lightly; he would be there for the boy.
It gave him a new sense of purpose. It also gave him some strength.