Chapter Twenty-Four
Roux
M y heart is in my throat as I speed walk down the sidewalk, eager to get away from Rex. Roan and Jordy have never thought twice when it came to protecting me. I could practically hear their thoughts.
Get the fuck out of here.
So I bailed first chance I got.
I’m not sure where I’m headed, but when I see a cop car parked outside of a couple of shops, I head that way. A crowd of people are frantically looking around.
“What’s happening?” I ask an older woman who’s sitting on a bench watching the whole thing.
“Little boy went missing. The momma said she turned her head for a minute and he was gone.”
A cold, sick feeling slicks over me. I don’t think Rex and his guys are in the business of grabbing kids, but it still makes me worry.
“What does he look like?” I ask. “I can help look.”
The lady shrugs. Useless.
Pushing through the crowd, I locate the cop. When I get his attention, I recognize him immediately. It’s Captain Fitzgerald. Same cop who was there the night Jordy shot all those men. His brows lift, clearly recognizing me as well.
“A kid is missing? I can help.”
He nods and lifts his phone to show me a picture. “His mom sent me this. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Three years old.”
“Sebban!” a woman shouts. “Sebban!”
I’m surprised to see Sidney rushing around calling for this child. I give Captain Fitzgerald a nod and then start pushing into shops looking around.
“Sebban! Sebban!”
They said they’ve turned the candy shop upside down and the gift store next door. No one seems interested in the yarn store, so I head in there. It’s quiet and vacated. The owner must be outside looking.
“Hello? Anyone in here?”
I stop and listen.
Nothing.
“I’m going to find you and then tickle you for making us worry,” I call out in a playful voice, hoping that will draw the kid out.
A shuffle.
Could have been outside…
Or a cat.
Another sound.
“You’re really good at hide and go seek. Your momma isn’t that good at finding you.”
A small giggle.
My heart races in my chest as I look behind crates of yarn. If I were a kid, I’d definitely like hiding in a place like this. Reminds me when the Hornets would play hide and go seek with me at Cal’s house. They have a big house on the river near their campground and have tons of places to hide there. I’d wedge myself in the tiniest nook and have them searching for hours until they were worried sick.
I peek behind the register, but it’s boring back there. No, if I were a little kid, I’d want to hide someplace fun. Skimming my gaze around the store, I find a trunk full of loose yarn meant for decoration.
Yarn that is slightly moving.
Prowling over to the trunk, I kneel down and say, “Where could Sebban be? We’ve looked everywhere for him.” Then I playfully gasp. “Except one spot. I should check the very last spot.”
I reach through the yarn and tickle the toddler hiding there. His squeals of laughter are music to my ears. I manage to pull the kid from beneath the yarn, thankful he’s alive and well. His face is red from trying to breathe under all that yarn and his dark hair sticks up in every direction. It’s his eyes that have my jaw dropping.
Oh my God.
“Come here,” I croon, picking him up and holding him to my chest. “Come here, sweet boy.”
“Again!” he cheers. “Again!”
“Let’s find your momma first,” I say, kissing his sweaty cheek. “Maybe we can play again later.”
My mind is racing and trying to do math, which I really suck at, when I burst out of the yarn store onto the sidewalk. I nearly run into Jordy and Roan, who’ve come to see what the fuss is about.
“What the…” Roan’s mouth parts as he darts his gaze between me and Sebban.
Jordy clutches his shoulder as though to keep him standing.
“Sidney’s son,” I say to him, pinning him with a “what the fuck” look.
“They found him!” someone shouts, sending the crowd our way.
Sidney bursts through them, her face red from exertion and her eyes wild with worry. She snatches Sebban from my grip, hugging him to her.
“You worried Mommy!” she chides. “I was so scared!”
“Again! Again!” Sebban cries out.
Sidney realizes that Roan is gaping at her and sucks in a sharp breath. A sob chokes her. Her head shakes back and forth before she turns, rushing away from us.
“What the fuck?” Roan rasps.
I walk up to my brother noticing how pale he is. He’s trembling and I’m glad Jordy is there to keep him standing.
“Is Sebban your son?” I ask, pinning my brother with a firm stare.
He blinks away his daze, frantic amber eyes—eyes that match mine and that little boy’s—landing on me. “I…I don’t know. I didn’t know. How?”
Jordy lets out a sigh. “Must’ve happened before you hooked up with the rat.”
“Do you really think he’s mine?” Roan asks, confusion marring his features.
Jordy and I exchange a look.
“Yeah, man,” Jordy mumbles. “He looks more like you than he does her, and he certainly doesn’t look like the nerd she married.”
“But if it’s true, why wouldn’t she tell me?”
“Maybe by the time she realized it was yours, she was in love with the nerd and didn’t want to fuck up their perfect family?” Jordy suggests. “Sure explains why the nerd was all over my nut sack threatening me.”
Roan whips around. “What the hell, Jordy? Gio was threatening you?”
“Told me to stay the fuck away from his family. He must know too. She can’t exactly hide the fact that kid looks like you and not Gio.”
Roan scrubs his hand over his face. “I need to call Hollis. Fuck. I need…”
“A paternity test?” I offer. “If he’s ours, don’t we have rights to see him?”
Roan’s face darkens. “Damn right we do.”
I’m shocked at the possibility I might have a nephew, but also nervous for my brother. How will Hollis take this news? And will Sidney cooperate? It sounds like she already refuses to believe Sebban is Roan’s.
“Go call him,” I urge. “We’ll be right here.”
Roan pulls his phone from his pocket and stalks back toward the restaurant. Jordy’s dark eyes find mine, pinning me in place. His face is bruised and he bears cuts from Rex’s ass whipping on Saturday, but it doesn’t take away from his handsome features. Jordy will always be hot. If there weren’t a million people nearby, I’d run right into his arms and kiss his split lip.
“You okay? After what went down back there?” he asks. “I didn’t mean that shit.”
I smile at him. “I know. You always have my back, even when it doesn’t seem like it.”
Relief flashes in his eyes. Not sure why he thinks I’d ever doubt him.
“I have to go to that party tonight.” Jordy lets out a heavy sigh. “I don’t fucking want to, but I have to. And I need you to stay away from Rex.”
“Don’t worry. That guy gives me the creeps.”
Jordy starts for me, already claiming me with a hungry stare. I’m seconds from leaping into his arms and kissing him, when someone approaches. Jordy jolts and steps aside to face the stranger, rather than pulling me to him like we both hoped.
“Jordy,” Captain Fitzgerald greets.
So, not a stranger.
I shift on my feet, darting my eyes between them. I thought maybe Fitzgerald would be weird around Jordy or treat him like a criminal. Instead, he nods at Jordy, sharing a weighted look with him. Like they’re friends or something. And that makes no sense whatsoever.
“Hey, man,” Jordy says. “Playing hide and go seek seems below your pay grade.”
Fitzgerald chuckles. “Nothing is below my pay grade when it comes to the kids in this community.”
We both smile at him because he handled our situation with such care when Jordy shot those men protecting us.
“I’m about to head back to the station. It was good seeing you both,” Fitzgerald says. “Maybe one day, we can all have dinner together or something. Catch up.” He lets out a heavy sigh. “Not right now because…I’m busy. But later. Sound good?”
Jordy nods at him. “Sure thing.”
As soon as he walks off, I frown at Jordy. “Was it just me or was he being weird?”
“All cops are weird.”
“Be serious,” I say with a laugh.
“He really is busy, I’m sure,” Jordy says. “Don’t worry about it, Little Hornet.”
I make a note to bug him about this later when there aren’t people milling about. Our shoulders brush as we walk slowly back down the sidewalk toward the restaurant. It’d be nice to hook my arm with Jordy’s and stroll around like a real couple, but I know better. We can’t flaunt what’s going on between us. For one, my brother would flip his shit. Two, I don’t know how Kayden and Rex would take that news. And finally, it’s illegal being that I’m not eighteen yet.
Some laws are stupid.
It’s so black and white. No gray area.
I grew up neglected and sometimes abused. Roan and I were forced to grow up at an early age. We saw and experienced things no child should have to. And when everything went down with Jordy killing those lowlifes who my mother willingly allowed in our home, we became jaded adults. We lost our best friend to prison and nearly lost each other in the process.
So for the law to tell me I can’t be with the man I love—the man who has killed for my family and would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant protecting us—I’m just mind blown. That magical eighteenth birthday won’t suddenly make me older and more mature. All that birthday does is signify the difference between me keeping Jordy and me losing him to prison.
It’s all dumb.
But no one’s going to change their laws for me. I’ll just have to wait to make love to him. I’d wait forever and remain a virgin until the day I died if it meant keeping Jordy in my life.
We reach the restaurant just as Roan is hanging up. His eyes are bloodshot and his hair is messy. My brother is a wreck. I rush over to him and hug him.
“Everything okay? Is Hollis mad?”
He pats my back and kisses the top of my head. “No. He…”
“He what?”
“He thinks we need to make sure before we get our hopes up.”
“What if Sebban is yours?” I ask, tilting my head up to look at him.
“I never thought about wanting kids. The way we grew up sucked. But…” He sighs heavily and gives me a sheepish smile. “But if Sebban is mine, I want to be a part of his life. Hollis and I obviously can’t have kids and the subject never arose until now. He said he supports this and if Sebban is mine, he’ll be the best stepdad ever.”
We both grin.
“Are you okay?”
“I will be.”
“And if he’s not yours?” I ask.
“Then it’s definitely a conversation Hollis and I are ready to start having.”
Looks like no matter what, I’m going to be an aunt.
This shitty day took a turn for the better.