Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
If he stopped, of course I’d make some changes, but he’d just fucking survived several months of captivity, and his life before then had evidently not been great either. So far, we knew both of Julian’s parents had died in drug-related cases. That was why Keith had been given custody. Julian’s mother had overdosed, and his father had died in prison, where he’d served four years for selling coke.
The more I thought about the boys going back to Keith Davis, the more I hated it.
Mercier and his team were currently trying to find the man.
I hoped he stayed missing. Let the kids be adopted into a nice family instead. Preferably soon, because I was getting attached, and that wasn’t good.
Julian climbed higher up on me and rested his head on my shoulder.
Goddammit.
I hugged him to me and rubbed his back.
No need to wonder what Ma would say tomorrow when they came up for dinner. I’d tried to postpone it; I’d even sent Piper and Blake down there so they could catch up. My folks had obviously been worried sick all this time too, but I just knew that if I explained the current situation, Ma would put ideas in my head.
When I explained the situation. Not if. Come tomorrow, I’d be screwed.
“Boss!” Crew made his way over again. “I’mma get goin’. Can you give me Emerson and Danny’s contact information? I wanna stay in touch—and thank them for building you this wicked deck so I didn’t have to.”
I laughed softly and nodded. “I’ll text you their numbers. Have fun tonight, and don’t be nervous. The boy will like you.”
“He better.” He chuckled nervously and reached over to poke Julian’s cheek. “And you—you’re cute. The boss should totally adopt you and the other two.”
“Crew,” I chastised, instantly on edge. What the fuck?
Then Julian let out a snicker, and my annoyance evaporated. Sweet Jesus, that was an adorable sound.
“What? I’m just sayin’. You’re already our daddy at work. Always fussin’ and whatnot.” Crew was oblivious to Julian’s milestone or whatever I was supposed to call it. He merely shrugged and then eyed Piper. “So it was really nice seeing you again, Piper.”
Oh, for chrissakes. I coughed, or choked, on shock and amusement and…whatever else. My God, that kid had zero finesse, and he still got more shit done than most others—because he simply laid things out there.
Piper smiled stiffly, awkwardly, and put down her magazine. “You too.”
Crew Finlay
Got the magazines, passed the sniff-the-armpit test, minty breath, good hair, let’s go.
I headed into the restaurant, which was Jack’s favorite, according to Adrien, and I told the hostess my party was already here. ’Cause I saw them over by the window. Deep breaths. It was a casual place, barbecue fusion, mixing Texas barbecue with South America’s million flavors. I was here for it.
I walked past the large, circular kitchen at the center of the place, where steaks were being grilled over an open flame.
Get ready to like me, kid. I’ll bribe the fuck out of you. I have gold.
I took a deep breath as Adrien saw me, and he was that old-fashioned gentleman who rose from his seat to greet his date. Hot as fuck.
His smile told me he totally knew I was nervous.
“Hi,” I said. “Sorry I’m late.”
“I’d expect nothing less from a Marine,” he assured. “Hey, sweetheart.” He dipped down and kissed me briefly, so I guess we were doing that in front of the eleven-year-old. “Jack, I want you to meet Crew.”
I discreetly wiped my hand on my thigh—in my defense, the sweat came from holding the magazines. “It’s nice to meet you, Jack. Your old man’s talked a lot about you.”
Jack pushed up his glasses, then shook my hand and scrunched his nose. “You too. Dad says you drive too fast, so I think we can get along.”
I beamed like a fucking prince. This li’l geek liked to go fast? We could go fast. No problem.
“It’s my son’s one big flaw,” Adrien sighed and sat down. “He dreams of driving a Ferrari all the way to Area 51.”
“Well, they’re not going to let me fly a Nighthawk, so…”
Okay, he was a good kid. I sat down too, and I handed over all the magazines. “These are for you—so that you’ll like me. Now we can talk about renting a Ferrari.”
Because I have gold.
EPILOGUE 1
A few weeks later
Shortly before lunch
Outside Dr. Holm’s office
Elliott Jones
Come on, already.
I stood up and started pacing the waiting room.
I needed to know if I’d fucked up the kid or not. Goddammit—I rubbed at the spot in my chest that’d given me grief all morning. It hurt like shit, but this was proof. Me as a parent? Laughable. We’d obviously let the boys stay with us until Mercier figured out the next move, and then I was gonna…miss them so fucking much.