“Getting dressed.” I spot my bra under the bed and grab it. “You need to do the same. Keshia and Austin will be home soon.”
I can’t let Austin see Alessio. The resemblance is too strong, too obvious. I need more time to figure out how to handle this situation.
“Okay.” Alessio reaches for his pants, moving with infuriating casualness while I’m scrambling around the room. “Relax. How much time do we have?”
I check my phone, and my stomach drops. Keshia texted eight minutes ago saying they were leaving the arcade.
Double shit.
“Come on,” I say, already fully dressed and heading for the door. “You have to go. Now.”
I peek out the living room window just in time to see Keshia’s black Mini Cooper pulling up to the curb. My heart sinks.
Too late.
Alessio emerges from the bedroom, tugging his shirt over his head. “That your kid?”
Ourkid. But he doesn’t know that, and I plan to keep it that way.
“Yeah.”
The front door opens before I can think of a plan, and Austin bounds inside with Keshia trailing behind him. He’s got a sucker in his mouth, which explains why he’s not chattering like usual. The silence feels deafening as both of them spot Alessio and freeze.
“Hey, bud,” I force what I hope looks like a normal smile. “Did you have fun?”
Austin pulls the sucker stick from his mouth and drops it on the coffee table. Normally I’d make him throw it away properly, but I’ve got bigger problems right now.
“Yeah! We went to the arcade!” His amber eyes—identical to his father’s—are bright with excitement.
“He dominated the Ninja Turtles fighting game,” Keshia adds, setting her purse on the couch. She shakes Alessio’s hand with the kind of smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Hi, I’m Keshia.”
“Alessio,” he says, shaking her hand.
I catch the exact moment recognition hits her face, followed immediately by worry.Please don’t let him notice.
But Alessio’s attention has shifted to Austin, and I watch my son look back at him with open curiosity. When Alessio crouches down and extends his hand, my heart draws tight.
“And you must be Austin.”
“Yep!” Austin grins, that brilliant smile that lights up his whole face as he shakes hands with his father for the first time.
“How old are you?”
The question hits me like ice water. I can’t let Austin answer that—not when I lied and said he was five.
“Hey, Keshia.” I keep my voice light and casual, “Could you take Austin to get his bath started? It’s getting close to bedtime.”
Keshia reads the situation immediately, bless her. “Of course. Come on, buddy. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
She takes his hand and leads him toward the bathroom, leaving me alone with Alessio. I turn back to him with another smile, this one hopefully more natural than my first attempt.
“Well, thanks for stopping by.”
The words sound ridiculous the moment they leave my mouth.Way to make it sound like he dropped off groceries.
“I get it,” Alessio says, standing and adjusting his shirt with a knowing smirk. “You want me out of here.”
“It’s not personal.” I’m already guiding him toward the door, trying to seem casual about it. “Austin’s not used to me having... friends over. I don’t want to confuse him.”
