Terminally kind.
He didn’t want to like me, but he did. “It really is a horse, then? I told Harry you were probably about to dump some shady loot on us.”
“Still lent me the box, though, didn’t you?”
Joe grinned. “You’re family now. And I was curious.”
“About the horse?”
“And your kid. I never knew you had one.”
I’d had this conversation a thousand times by now. The party line was the truth, mostly. That I’d knocked Juana up when we were teenagers and I was just now stepping up to be a real dad.
It hadn’t been that hard to sell.
Fuck, half the club thought the baby in her belly was mine too.
I told them it was Rubi’s.
He told them it was Cam’s.
One night over a bottle of rum, it had seemed the hilarious thing to do. Either way, no one fucked with Juana.
Joe opened up the horse box. Chapi came trotting out like he owned the goddamn place and Joe led him to a paddock. “Let him stretch his legs a bit before I stable him. Will she want to ride him when she gets here?”
“Probably.”
“She got stuff?”
“Not yet.”
“I’ll find her a helmet and some boots. My sister has elf feet.”
Joe ambled away.
I leaned on the fence, flexing my healed wrist and watching Chapi mooch about. He didn’t pay me much mind, but he never had. I was part of the furniture. Like the fucking trees I used to hide behind.
“Here you go.”
Joe reappeared beside me. He had a helmet and boots in one hand and a legit baby in the other.
“Where’d you get that?”
“She’s ours.”
“Stork bring her?”
Joe laughed. “Surrogate.”
“Embry know?”
“Yeah. I told him on the phone when he asked if I’d board your nag.”
The baby was pretty as a picture. As content as Liliana had been.Because she knows her dad loves her.
Was it really that simple?
Fuck, I hoped so.
