Page 50 of Total Abandon

“Oh Papi, please? Can I go with Chloe, pleassseeeee?” Diego begs without hesitation, almost falling off his chair.

Zeke’s brows rise comically, and his gaze bounces between us. “You would do that?”

“Sure, why not? He can’t be that hard to break, right?” I grin, unable to resist throwing in a little something to…bingo. That, right there. The exasperated look and the pressing into his eyes with a finger and thumb. He shakes his head and smiles as he lowers his hand.

“Está bien, chico descarado. Pero debes prometer que te portarás bien con la bella dama. Y no más colarse en su cama por la noche.” A shiver tiptoes down my spine at the effortlessly smooth Spanish, the hair on my arms rising. God damn. I’m a sucker for a Latino man, apparently.

Diego nods eagerly with a gummy grin and Zeke turns to me. “Thank you. I’ll send the location to your phone. It’s on the other side of the park so you’ll need to drive.” He stands and walks over to a drawer on the other side of the kitchen, sliding it open. “You can drive, right?” He hesitates with a shiny silver and black key fob looped onto his finger, looking at me questioningly.

“Of course I can drive.” I scoff, holding my hand out.Just not overly well, is the part I don’t add.

“How well?” he shoots back, holding the keys just out of reach.

“Do you want me to take him or not?” I snap, curling my fingers in twice in a “hurry up” motion. He hesitates and I groan. “Zeke, I’m not going to kill your son. Give me the damn keys.”

He relents, dropping them into my palm with a light frown. “His booster seat is already set up in the Volvo SUV at the back of the lot. I’ll make the call and have you added to my fleet insurance.”

“Cool, thanks.” I place the keys on the countertop and watch as he rounds the counter again to say goodbye to Diego. Chubby hands curl around the back of his neck as he hugs him, making my heart melt into a gooey puddle of feeling that I don’t want to look at. Good fathers are like catnip to women nearing thirty. And I’m about ready to say fuck it and climb that scratching pole. Especially considering the sheer amount of contoured muscle sliding beneath the surface of his tanned back.

“Is everything okay at work?” I ask as he lets him go, rising again to his full stature. All ten of his long, broad fingers are thrust into his hair as he sighs. “I don’t know, one of the servers has been hacked. I need to figure out how bad the breach is and if we’re vulnerable to a fine.”

My brows shoot north. If any sensitive data or intellectual property was stolen, it could be a proverbial shit storm.

“Yep.” He huffs, clocking my expression. “I’ll try and get done as quickly as I can. If I have time, I’ll meet you at the party.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine, won’t we, squirt?” I shoot a sly grin at Diego, who claps his sticky hands together.

When Zeke rounds the corner of the stairs out of sight after one last eye roll, I hop down from my chair and pad over to the drawer he collected the key from. A low chuckle hisses from my lips as I see five other key fobs neatly lined up in silk-cushioned cubbies, all with supercar logos on them.

Oh, I think we can do better than the Volvo. Don’t you?

Chapter 22

Chloe:Thought I might take the kid skydiving afterward. You cool with that?

Zeke:Very funny.

Chloe:No? Strip club?

Zeke:Chloe, just the party will be great. Thanks.

Chloe:Playing in traffic? Party boat on the Hudson? Skid Row?

Zeke:No.

Chloe:To the cinema for that new horror film it is, then. It’s been banned in Europe, but I’m sure they’re exaggerating.

ZEKE

Three hours later, I’m sitting in the back of the Town Car nursing my third large tequila. I’m not usually a day drinker, but the shit show I just had to smooth over deserves hard liquor. Thankfully, no client data was stolen, so we’re not vulnerable to a fine from the FTC. But whoever was smart enough to get by our embedded security system has managed to pilfer a good portion of code for a new platform we’re developing. My head of IT is a little kooky and must have mentioned China fifteen times in the debrief. But I wasn’t buying that. The whole thing reeks of corporate espionage and that means someone closer to home.

Sucking in a deep breath through my nostrils, I set my empty crystal tumbler down in the hidden bar compartment and try to shake off any negativity. It’s a ritual I find myself participating in more and more, determined not to drag that stuff into my home so it affects my son. Counting to four, I let the air whoosh out of my lungs. Sucking in another four seconds of air, I rinse and repeat just like Dr. Wesley instructed me. Running my tongue over my teeth, I trace the jagged line of my scar snaking down my upper lip with one finger.

The ghost of copper fills my nostrils and I give my head a sharp shake, trying to dispel the vision of ruby red that swarms my mind's eye. Sinew and bone and skin. Obliterated. Unrecognizable. Red is a color I avoid at all costs, until recently. On Chloe, it looks like home.

“Fuck’s sake,” I curse, shifting in my seat and starting my breathing exercise from the beginning. By the time we arrive at the north entrance of the park, I’ve managed to resume some semblance of calm. Bates stops the car and I step out, casting my eye around the street for any sign of the SUV to indicate Chloe is still here. My eyes catch on something shiny and black, low to the ground.

“What the…” I stalk over to it, my eyes almost bugging from my damn head as I clock the personalized number plate. My Aston Martin DB12 is parked casually by the curb, Diego’s car seat stuffed into the front, leaving barely any room for anything else. The anger from before surges, laced with something that feels a whole lot like a challenge.