The screen lights up. 6:30 a.m.
And a name flashes across the screen.
Batman.
Mr. Mark Donovan calling me at this hour. That’s never good.
“Yes.” My voice comes out rough. Dry. Probably from a lack of sleep. Or me feasting between Pix’s legs during round four.
Or five.
Careful not to wake Pix, I slip into the bathroom and shut the door.
“How soon can you get up and dressed?” Mark asks. “In something presentable.”
It’s not just the question. It’s the way he asks it. Too… specific.
I pause. “What’s the problem?”
“I didn’t say there was a problem,” he replies evenly. “I asked how soon you could be dressed.”
That settles it. Mark is absolutely up to something.
Or he’s finally lost his mind, and honestly, both scenarios are equally bad.
I glance at my reflection in the mirror. Disheveled doesn’t even begin to cover it. I’ve got clothes downstairs in my crashpad, sure, but most of them qualify as aggressively casual.
“If you’re not picky about my outfit,” I say, rubbing sleep from my eyes, “ten minutes.”
“And the kids?”
I sigh. “You already know the answer to this, Mark.”
He does the math out loud. “So, twenty minutes, tops?”
I glare at the phone.
This, from Uncle Mark. Seriously?
For someone who watches my kids all the time, could he know them any less?
“The only one who makes that timeline is Oliver. He’ll roll straight out of bed, looking like a zombie apocalypse survivor,” I say. “Connor will take twenty minutes just to decide which hair product to use based on TikTok, and another ten checking for zits in the mirror.”
“I’m not that far off.”
“Really? What about Snook?” I remind him. “If we were home, she’d try on half her closet before landing on the same princess dress she’s been wearing for three days.” I glance at the closed door. “But it doesn’t matter. We’re not home.”
“I know.”
Wait. What? “Are you tracking me?”
“Yep,” he says with zero shame. “I’m the CEO of a global surveillance firm. I know exactly where you are. Every minute of every day.”
“Why? Is the tracker up my ass?”
Silence.
Goddammit. It is far too early for the vein in my forehead to be bulging.
