Dan chuckles and holds out his hand.
Angelos taps it. “Laters.” Then he takes his bag from Dan and runs into his building.
I rub the ache in my chest like I do every time I have to leave him here—always wondering if I’m doing the right thing by him, but he’s getting the best education money can buy, and it’s safer for him here than being at home. I can’t be with him twenty-four seven.
I stare through the window of the boarding house and wait until he’s signed in.
Dan must sense my anxiety as I twist the bangle at my wrist. He places a hand on my back over my flight attendant jacket. “He’s a great kid.”
“He is.” I look down and walk around to the passenger seat of Dan’s car.
He doesn’t speak as he drives back to the city.
“This isn’t the way to the airport.”
His tight lips and firm jaw remind me of the man I knew before. One kiss from me and I could soften all his hard edges.
“I’ve just got to nip to my place and change.”
“Are you really going to come to pick up Angelos with me on his birthday?”
He takes his eyes off the road for a second just to glare at me. “I’ve missed twelve birthdays. I’m not missing another single fucking thing where he’s concerned. Whatever it is. Parents’ meeting, football match. If the kid so much as sneezes, I want to know about it.”
19
DAN
Ipark the car next to Dom’s Range Rover, the engine ticking as it cools. “You coming in or waiting here?”
“I’ll come inside.” Rose unclips her seatbelt and slips out of the car, fiddling with the pink scarf around her neck. The same scarf I want to choke her with while I fuck her brains out. “What are you looking at?”
A smile curves my lips as I lock the car and climb the stairs to my apartment. Maybe I don’t want to choke her completely, just enough to heighten her orgasm when she submits to me. There’s something about her in this uniform that makes me all kinds of crazy.
I unlock the door and step inside, carrying my holdall, only to be greeted with laughter and voices. Three women are in my kitchen. “This is a nice surprise.”
Rose walks in behind me and stops dead. Wide eyes take in the scene. “What the hell is this?” she mutters under her breath and glares at me with a tight lip.
“Ladies,” I say, holding back a chuckle. “This is Rose.”
“It’s Grace,” she says through clenched teeth as she taps her name badge.
The girls all stare as if I just got my date’s name wrong, and I feel like I’m about to be lynched by the mob.
“Hi, I’m Poppy,” Dom’s girl says as she ties her red hair up in a messy bun.
Lilly waves from the fridge, rubbing her very pregnant belly with her other hand.
Violet glances up from the coffee machine she’s failing to operate and eyes Rose from head to toe. “Sup.”
Rose doesn’t move. She folds her arms across her chest, chin tilted up. “Nice setup you’ve got. Do you always keep a backup harem in your kitchen?”
I choke on a laugh, but the girls—well, Poppy and Lilly—just burst out laughing.
Rose stares at Lilly’s large belly. “You won’t be laughing when he disappears and leaves you to raise your child…” Eyes dart to mine, full of venom. “Alone.”
I give her the same glare back because that’s not fair, and she knows it.
“Oh my gosh,” Poppy says. “No, no. We’re all taken.”
