“Fuck!” Disgusted, he dropped the broken piece he still held, glad he hadn’t cut his hand.
“You’re silly, staring at me like that,” Rebel said happily.
Snatching napkins to dry his hands, Christopher looked at his phone again. Kaia rested his elbow on the table. His chin sat atop his fisted hand as he stared at Rebel. “Speak, my queen. I want to know every thought radiating from that big gray matter in your perfect skull.”
Rolling his eyes, Christopher threw the wet napkins aside.
“I was thinking about your Sesame Street comment. And how Zoe gaslights the fuck out of Elmo.”
“Ironic I was thinking about our previous conversation, too.”
Rebel pushed a plate into the camera’s range. “I want to save room for the entrée and dessert. Eat the rest of the calamari. What were you thinking?” she asked without missing a beat.
Christopher smiled. She was just like her ma. Megan rambled when she was nervous, too.
“About your birth control.”
Growling, Christopher pounded on the bartop, then ducked so fucking fast he almost knocked himself the fuck out when he hit his motherfucking head on the edge of the bar.
“Fuck, Dad, you’re going to blow our cover,” CJ said. “Don’t worry. I’m going to maimthat motherfucker. Just chill.”
“Outlaw,” D. Elliot whispered next to him. “I have to leave soon to pick up my kid. My mother has an early appointment tomorrow.”
Fuck.
D. Elliot had lost a lot of weight and looked so fucking sad. If Torie hadn’t been such a fucking cunt, Christopher would’ve felt sorry for the waiter, but he was better off without her.
“I know you pressed for fuckin’ time,” Christopher said, “but—” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Do what you gotta do for your boy.”
Nodding, D. Elliot started to turn away. “I’ll call my mother and tell her I’ll be another hour or so.”
Christopher would reward him for his help. “Appreciate it.”
“Do you want to go to one of the rooms to eat?”
“I’m starving,” Rory said into the earpiece. “When Reb started eating that fucking calamari, my mouth watered.”
“I’ll stay out here, Uncle Christopher,” Diesel said.
“No, boy. Let’s all go into the private room. We need to eat.” He grabbed his phone and turned. “Speed up her meal. We’ll try to wait until Rebel and that pussy finish fuckin’ eatin’. I don’t want Megan to see me when she drive up to pick up Rebel.”
A smile plastered on his face, D. Elliot glanced up at the double windows that seemed to create half wall. In actuality, that was the office.
“I hope Momma’s enjoying her dinner.”
At Rebel’s sad words, Christopher froze.
“She told me she’s going to eat alone at a restaurant.”
Christopher thought for a moment, raised his gaze to the double window, looked at D. Elliot, and smirked. “Megan upstairs, huh?”
“Er—”
“Where Pike, Huck, Sparrow, and Zephyr?”
“In the staff breakroom,” D. Elliot said guiltily.
Each time Kaia spouted his nonsense to Rebel, Meggie could barely contain her laughter. She was giggling so much, she set aside her fork several times so she wouldn’t choke on her Caesar salad with chicken and shrimp.
