I’m grabbing Bash from Laney.
“Em—” she starts.
“Potty,” I gasp. “We have to go potty.”
Bash is months—possibly years—from being ready for potty training.
AndI have to go.
Wherever Jonas Rutherford goes, cameras follow.
I have a good life.
I have my friends. I have my family. I have my son. And most of all, I haveprivacy.
There’s no chance in hell I’m putting my son’s anonymity and security at risk for a man who fucked me, disappeared, and ignored the emails I sent him two years ago.
“You okay, man?” Grey says somewhere behind me as Zen trots up next to me.
“I can run faster,” they murmur.
“Mama, I run,” Bash says.
He squirms.
I almost trip.
We’re twelve feet from the tavern at the end of Main Street. If I can get into the tavern, I can get out the back door. “I need my car,” I tell Zen.
“The bee-mobile’s behind City Hall. I’ll pick you up in back.”
“No car seat.” I parked behind the secret speakeasy most of the way down Main because that’s where Theo and Laney are having their reception, and I wanted to be able to take Bash home without a long walk to my car whenever he got tired.
“You wanna hide from your baby daddy and all of his drama, or do you want a car seat?”
I almost jerk to a stop.
I’ve told exactlyno onein this town who I slept with on my solo honeymoon. Who Bash’s father is.
It was my secret.
Not for having a secret’s sake.
Not entirely, anyway. It was just as much forprivacy’ssake.
And while I think Bash is the spitting image of his father, he’snot even two yet. There’s zero chance anyone else would see the similarity without knowing I slept with Jonas.
For fuck’s sake.
Did I talk in my sleep? When were they even around while I was sleeping?
Andwho believes a sleeping woman?
“Emma, wait,” Jonas calls, his voice high-pitched and pained.
“Uncle Grey racked him in the balls when he tried to get between him and Theo,” Zen murmurs while they open the door to the tavern for me. “Only Uncle Grey could accomplish what Theo was trying to do more effectively while trying to stop any violence from happening. Also, Theo didn’t punch Uncle Grey.He punched the flask in Uncle Grey’s coat pocket. Hope he didn’t break his hand, but that’d be fitting for Theo and Laney’s wedding, wouldn’t it?”
“Wack my balls!” Bash shrieks, drawing the attention of every single person inside the dark interior. Thankfully, it’s very,veryfew people.
