Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“They found him!” someone shouts, sending the crowd our way.
Sidney bursts through them, her face red from exertion and her eyes wild with worry. She snatches Sebban from my grip, hugging him to her.
“You worried Mommy!” she chides. “I was so scared!”
“Again! Again!” Sebban cries out.
Sidney realizes that Roan is gaping at her and sucks in a sharp breath. A sob chokes her. Her head shakes back and forth before she turns, rushing away from us.
“What the fuck?” Roan rasps.
I walk up to my brother noticing how pale he is. He’s trembling and I’m glad Jordy is there to keep him standing.
“Is Sebban your son?” I ask, pinning my brother with a firm stare.
He blinks away his daze, frantic amber eyes—eyes that match mine and that little boy’s—landing on me. “I…I don’t know. I didn’t know. How?”
Jordy lets out a sigh. “Must’ve happened before you hooked up with the rat.”
“Do you really think he’s mine?” Roan asks, confusion marring his features.
Jordy and I exchange a look.
“Yeah, man,” Jordy mumbles. “He looks more like you than he does her, and he certainly doesn’t look like the nerd she married.”
“But if it’s true, why wouldn’t she tell me?”
“Maybe by the time she realized it was yours, she was in love with the nerd and didn’t want to fuck up their perfect family?” Jordy suggests. “Sure explains why the nerd was all over my nut sack this morning threatening me.”
Roan whips around. “What the hell, Jordy? Gio was threatening you?”
“Told me to stay the fuck away from his family. He must know too. She can’t exactly hide the fact that kid looks like you and not Gio.”
Roan scrubs his hand over his face. “I need to call Hollis. Fuck. I need…”
“A paternity test?” I offer. “If he’s ours, don’t we have rights to see him?”
Roan’s face darkens. “Damn right we do.”
I’m shocked at the possibility I might have a nephew, but also nervous for my brother. How will Hollis take this news? And will Sidney cooperate? It sounds like she already refuses to believe Sebban is Roan’s.
“Go call him,” I urge. “We’ll be right here.”
Roan pulls his phone from his pocket and stalks back toward the restaurant. Jordy’s dark eyes find mine, pinning me in place. His face is bruised and he bears cuts from Renaldo’s ass whipping on Saturday, but it doesn’t take away from his handsome features. Jordy will always be hot. If there weren’t a million people nearby, I’d run right into his arms and kiss his split lip.
“You okay? After what went down back there?” he asks. “I didn’t mean that shit.”
I smile at him. “I know. You always have my back, even when it doesn’t seem like it.”
Relief flashes in his eyes. Not sure why he thinks I’d ever doubt him.
“I have to go to that party tonight.” Jordy lets out a heavy sigh. “I don’t fucking want to, but I have to. And I need you to stay away from Renaldo.”
“Don’t worry. That guy gives me the creeps.”
Jordy starts for me, already claiming me with a hungry stare. I’m seconds from leaping into his arms and kissing him, when someone approaches. Jordy jolts and steps aside to face the stranger, rather than pulling me to him like we both hoped.
“Jordy,” Captain Fitzgerald greets.
So, not a stranger.
I shift on my feet, darting my eyes between them. I thought maybe Fitzgerald would be weird around Jordy or treat him like a criminal. Instead, he nods at Jordy, sharing a weighted look with him. Like they’re friends or something. And that makes no sense whatsoever.
“Hey, man,” Jordy says. “Playing hide and go seek seems below your pay grade.”
Fitzgerald chuckles. “Nothing is below my pay grade when it comes to the kids in this community.”
We both smile at him because he handled our situation with such care when Jordy shot those men protecting us.
“I’m about to head back to the station. It was good seeing you both,” Fitzgerald says. “Maybe one day, we can all have dinner together or something. Catch up.” He lets out a heavy sigh. “Not right now because…I’m busy. But later. Sound good?”
Jordy nods at him. “Sure thing.”
As soon as he walks off, I frown at Jordy. “Was it just me or was he being weird?”
“All cops are weird.”
“Be serious,” I say with a laugh.
“He really is busy, I’m sure,” Jordy says. “Don’t worry about it, Little Hoodlum.”
I make a note to bug him about this later when there aren’t people milling about. Our shoulders brush as we walk slowly back down the sidewalk toward the restaurant. It’d be nice to hook my arm with Jordy’s and stroll around like a real couple, but I know better. We can’t flaunt what’s going on between us. For one, my brother would flip his shit. Two, I don’t know how Kayden and Renaldo would take that news. And finally, it’s illegal being that I’m not eighteen yet.