Bo “mmmphed” and Lucky removed his hand.
“Gualterio.” Bo gave Lucky a wavering smile. “It’s the Spanish equivalent of Walter. Yolanda wanted to give Andro a middle name. Asked me to pick one. I immediately thought of Walter. I had no idea what she intended at the time.”
Good choice. Walter would be over the moon.
“I just wish I knew what happened to her. I mean, she left without even telling me goodbye.” Bo twisted his fingers together in his lap—a lap barely covered by a thin cotton sheet. “Is she okay? Did she leave with someone? I’m worried.”
“Bo?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to worry. I talked to Cruz. He took her to Valle Hermoso. Graciela will take good care of her. I just didn’t know he’d have to work so fast. The men who exploited her were closing in. I don’t think anyone is stupid enough to risk pissing off Nestor or Victor to go after her there.”
Bo’s eyes widened. He barked out a relieved-sounding laugh. “Graciela? Really? Yes, she will be in good hands. Better yet, we know where she is and can check in with her from time to time.”
“Yep.” Though how much contact the woman wanted with the reminder of her past was yet to be seen.
“And you called him? Arranged this?”
Heat crept up Lucky’s face. “Yeah. She wanted to go back to Mexico, and Graciela strikes me as a woman who always has room for one more in her heart.”
Bo stared a Lucky a long moment. “I know you’ll think I’m ruining your reputation with this, but Lucky, you are one hell of a good man.”
“No, I’m—”
“Shhh…” Bo placed his fingers over Lucky’s lips. Lucky kissed them. “Your secret is safe with me. You’ll always be safe with me.” He sealed his words with a kiss.
The moment Lucky’s cock started getting ideas, Bo pulled back. “Since he’s my son, my insurance will cover Andro’s medical bills.” He darted a glance toward the empty nursery and back to Lucky. “There’s so much to do! We’ll need furniture, clothes, diapers, formula.”
“We’ll get them.” Lucky didn’t know how at the moment, but they would. After all, they’d been planning for a baby for months now.
They just hadn’t planned on one so soon. But, hell, if Bo wanted to equip the nursery right now, Lucky could be at the local all-night Walmart in five minutes.
Bo lunged, squeezing Lucky and burying his face in Lucky’s neck. “I can’t believe this. We have a kid. A son. I’m so scared, but happy too.” He pulled away, wiping his face. Tears. His broad smile declared them happy.
“You’re gonna do fine.” Bo excelled at everything else, why not fatherhood? Lucky debated telling Bo he’d seen him with baby Andro, how perfect they’d looked together.
“Do you really think so? I mean, I’m still seeing a counselor for PTSD, and it’s not even been a year since I got out of drug rehab…”
“Which wasn’t your fault. Look, if it’ll make you feel better, talk to your counselor. Get an expert opinion.” Might not be a bad idea for Lucky to do the same. Talking about having a kid and suddenly having one were two different things entirely.
“Yeah. Good idea. And we’ll need to talk to Walter.”
Lucky froze. “Walter? Why?” What would Walter say or do if he knew the truth about the baby?
Then again, Walter knew everything anyway.
“I’m not going to tell him about the birth certificate. He’ll probably put two and two together. I won’t say the words directly, so he can deny knowing if he has too.”
Lucky did a double-take. Who was this man and what had he done with squeaky-clean, by-the-book Bo Schollenberger?
No traces of sleepiness remained in Bo’s clear eyes. “I’ll have to call my aunt. I won’t tell her the truth though, and she won’t ask. She’s good like that. Says if I want to tell her stuff I will.”
“Why didn’t she take that attitude last Thanksgiving?” Instead of turning stalker, thinking Lucky somehow kept Bo away from his family. As if Lucky stood a snowball’s chance in Hell of having such power.
“Trust me. What will your folks say?”
“Mom stopped asking questions after getting an honest answer she didn’t want to hear about me being gay. I kind of explained things to her. In detail.” He’d never seen anyone’s face turn so red.
