“How often, Luke?”
“Every day!”
Huh. Interesting.
Schooling my face into a neutral mask, I work on opening the apartment door, making a mental note to run a full, thorough background check on thisOwenbloke. If Jayce’s going to have someone around my son, I reserve the right to ensure that his record is clean.
I don’t hold any romantic feelings for my ex-wife. Not after all that’s happened. But I still respect her greatly, and she is the mother of my child. Her safety is of interest, but more importantly, the type of people Luke is exposed to at home.
Just one little search. That’s all.
And maybe a quick, tiny stakeout.
That’s really it.
“In you go, bud.” I swing open the door for him to enter. “I think Ember’s on the sofa.”
“Yay!” he squeals.
“Volume, Luke! She isn’t feeling so good.”
“Okay, okay.” He bounds off inside the penthouse.
Following after him, I juggle the bag of supplies that I picked up enroute to meet Jayce for Luke’s handover. He’s with us for the weekend after some careful negotiating. Not ideal timing after what happened last night, but I wasn’t about to cancel on my boy.
I’m hesitant, walking into the open-plan living area. Ember insisted on getting out of bed, despite being found seizing on her bedroom floor twelve hours ago. Axel screamed his head off so loud, I thought someone had died.
My heart did damn near stop.
Since she was responsive once the seizure had passed and was able to answer our questions, we agreed to keep her out of the hospital. But Warner was ready to shove her in an ambulance against her will for a while.
Now I’m armed with her refilled prescription, cold compresses for her residual headache and all manner of snacks. While the team prepares the press release relaunching the investigation into Gracie’s disappearance, I’m watching Ember like a hawk.
“Did you hurt your head?” I can hear Luke asking.
“No. I’m just tired.”
“My daddy said ice cream doesn’t fix everything, but I know it does. Do you want some?”
Ember’s laugh tinkles through the apartment. “Will you have some with me?”
“Oh yes!”
“Then how could I refuse?” she retorts.
“Great! I’ll get it!”
Luke races past for the kitchen, sticking his tongue out at me as he passes. I roll my eyes, walking over to the huge, L-shaped sectional where Ember’s still tucked up under a fluffy blanket.
She laughs at the sight of the bulging bag in my hands, despite looking pale and exhausted. I laid next to her last night, terrified to take my eyes off her while she fitfully slept. Neither of us got much rest.
“Did you buy the entire grocery store?”
“Just the entire chocolate aisle.” I raise one of the bags.
“My hero. What’s up for grabs?”
“Literally every chocolate bar I could lay my hands on. I also refilled your meds and got some headache stuff. The pharmacist said these cold eye patches are great. Give ’em a shot.”
