He lets out a heavy sigh. “I know. Sometimes I just wish she could take care of herself like she takes care of us.” Kaiser tenses, and his eyes squeeze shut.
His face falls, and I’d be willing to bet he didn’t mean to say that out loud.
Placing a hand on his shoulder, I offer a gentle squeeze of support. “I get it, Kaiser. More than you could ever know. That secret is safe with us.”
Together with Lochlan, the three of us enter the small elevator car. Silence hangs heavy as we descend to the first floor. But when the doors open, we’re hit with the sounds of violent shouting. Kaiser steps behind us, but he’s not quick enough.
“What the hell are you doin’ here, boy? Jesus, she really has you brainwashed, doesn’t she? Such a little bitch,” the balding, middle-aged slimeball slurs, then takes a menacing step forward.
Thankfully the security team holds him back while Lochlan and I close ranks. Standing shoulder to shoulder, we block Kaiser.
“Get out of my way,” he seethes while attempting to push through two of my guards. “Let me see my little asshole son.”
Lochlan moves faster than I’ve ever seen him. Skirting the men holding back Kaiser’s father, he grabs the greasy loser by the scruff of the filthy white tank top hanging out of his unbuttoned shirt. “If you talk about my employee orherson like that again, it will be the last thing you do. You do not get to come into my hotel, stinking like cheap whiskey, and call my employees or their children names. Do you understand me?”
My respect for Lochlan just tripled. And it’s time to get out of here because fear as thick as fog is rolling off the boy behind me.
“Let me go. I’m gonna have a word with my snitch of a son.”
Lochlan twists his arm and drags Edward toward the opposing wall but not quite out of earshot. I take that as my cue to gently guide Kaiser out of the lobby. I spot the valet immediately, and he runs forward to hand me my keys.
Thank Christ for small miracles.
I usher Kaiser to the right, where they keep my car during my weekly appointments.
“Kai, you little traitor. Get back here,” his father yells, but Kaiser keeps step with me.
I know exactly how many years of disappointments and embarrassments it takes to get a son to turn his back on his own father. It guts me that Kaiser has reached that limit already. It took me a few more years to get there, and it tells me all I need to know about the kind of life Edward Damon is creating for this family.
I’m reasonably certain Kaiser doesn’t breathe until we’re outside and the hotel doors slide closed.
“Thirty-two Reina Lane,” he says quietly.
I drove Penny home once. And memorized the address.
Thinking about her turns my blood to lava, and I unzip my jacket. She’s going to be pissed and probably terrified.
I’ve only been to Chance Lake once since Ashton and Nova moved to Los Angeles so she could work with some high-profile clients. Apparently, she’ll dress them for awards season, and Ashton has decided to become a full-time stay-at-home dad.
The thought sends a chill down my spine that has nothing to do with the 30-degree temperature outside.
I don’t know what to do with kids.
Do I?
Glancing at Kaiser, I can’t help the feeling that, once again, I’m lying to myself.
When he doesn’t look back at me, I add his address to the GPS to avoid questions I don’t know how to answer and turn on the heat. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Fine. Thanks,” Kaiser says in wobbly staccato. He turns and looks out the window. It’s my signal to get moving, so I put the car into drive and pull out onto the city street.
“GPS says it’s going to take at least a couple of hours to get there,” I tell him. “There must be an accident or two.”
“It took one and a half on the train,” he tells the window and passing cityscape. “You have an accent.”
Taking my eyes off the road for a second, I study the boy, not yet a man, hunched over in my passenger seat. “I grew up with Ashton in North Carolina, but I lived in the ‘country side’ of town.”
This has his attention, and he turns toward me. “What does that mean?”
