I ignore him and make my way into the building.
“Everything okay?” he asks as he falls into step behind me.
“Everything’s fine. I just lost track of time this morning with Cleo.”
Kenji chuckles as we step into the men’s club.
I scan the room and see familiar faces. When my eyes land on Callum, I fight back a smile.
If only he knew what his baby sister was just doing to me.
Shaking my head, I remove the dirty thoughts from my mind as I approach the chief of police.
“You requested my presence?”
As he drolls on about how we are making his life difficult, I look around the room and make a note of who’s talking to whom.
Rocky, who runs an underground fight ring, looks like he’s about to fall asleep in the chair that he’s in. Then again, I guess I can’t blame him, considering he and his woman just had a baby.
It seems like everyone is having babies. It’s like something is in the air, and I can only hope that it’s not contagious. While I would love to have a baby with Cleo someday, that day is not now.
Not until we put a stop to the trafficking.
The thought of something happening to Cleo makes my skin crawl, and I know that if we had a child, it would be ten times worse.
“Excuse me,” I say rudely as I step away from the police chief and pull out my phone.
I see a text from Cleo and open it. It’s a picture of her, baby Emily, and Autumn. I can clearly see two of Cleo’s guards in the background and know that others are close as well, and it eases my worry.
“You ran away from the chief like you couldn’t get away from him fast enough.” Callum chuckles as he approaches.
“I can only take so much mumbling before I snap. You and I both know we do his job for him and that he’s just a placeholder.”
“He knows it too,” Callum points out before changing the subject. “Everything okay?”
“Of course,” I say as I adjust my glasses.
“Sorry, I had to ask. I saw you pull out your phone, and I know the girls are together.”
“Ah.” I look down at my phone and pull the photo back up before turning it toward him.
Callum smiles as he looks at the screen. “They look like they are having a good time.”
“They do,” I say as I slip my phone back into my pocket.
“I got you a drink,” Kenji says as he approaches.
I take the glass of soda water from him and take a sip. It tastes like shit, but I have to keep a clear head while in a room full of my enemies.
“Sorry about that, Tristano called,” Declan says as he walks up to us.
“Anything important?” Callum asks.
“Nothing related to the joint case.” He shakes his head. “Tristano was just asking what I was doing for the holidays and asked if I wanted to spend it with him and Serena.” Declan makes a face. “Why I would want to spend it with them when they are in their love bubble is beyond me.”
I clear my throat. “Actually, Cleo was talking about the holidays this morning. She would like the three of you and your families to come.”
Kenji raises a brow, and Declan visibly jerks back.
