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“Yeah, he was,” I let slip, stiffening when Lia’s gaze snaps up to meet mine.
“Was?”
“He moved away. Left to go to university abroad,” I lie, because the truth is, I beat the shit out of him and he ended up spending a month in hospital. Hubert and Carl covered the whole thing up, paying off his family to save my arse from jail. The family moved away from the area as soon as he’d recovered from his injuries. Daisy has no idea what I did for her, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.
“Well, I’m glad he’s no longer around.”
“Yeah, me too.”
I take a sip of my coffee, feeling like a bastard for not telling her the truth. Keeping this kind of shit from her has been playing on my mind ever since Daphne brought it up earlier today. It doesn’t feel good lying to her, but I can’t reveal that side to me. I just can’t.
“So how was today? Did Toby behave?” Lia asks me after a while.
“He was great. We had a nice time,” I say honestly. “He did, however, bump his head.”
“What happened?” Lia asks, worry clouding her features.
“Hey, he’s good. He just did what little boys do and threw himself down the slide at the park, bumped his head on the way down. Nearly had a fucking heart attack,” I explain, pulling a face. “Recovered pretty quickly after a doughnut and a hot chocolate at Daphne’s though.”
“That’ll do it,” she says, her shoulders relaxing. “Sorry, he can be a little overexcitable.”
I laugh. “He’s just being a kid. I like his exuberance. I like him a lot.”
“He likes you too, Drix,” Lia says quietly, her smile soft as she looks over at me.
There’s something in her eyes that makes me pause, a quiet calmness, a glimmer of something more that I haven’t seen before. It makes me believe that maybe there’s a chance for us.
“Lia, how would you feel about going–”
My fucking phone rings, interrupting my attempt to ask her out on a date. Probably just as well, I need to remind myself about what she told me. She’s not ready for anything more.
“I should take this,” I say, pulling my phone out of my pocket and glancing at the screen.
It’s Carl Gunn. Fuck.
“Sure, I’ll just go check on Toby,” she says, stepping off the stool, taking her warmth with her as she leaves the kitchen.
I answer the phone, the ring insistent. “Yes?”
“You and I need to talk,” comes his prompt response.
“About?”
“Seems like you’ve got a woman and her kid staying with you… Lia, I understand.” He lets that comment hang in the air as I abandon my coffee and push up from the table. “I want you to bring them to me.”
“She’s just got back from work.”
“At my hotel,” he counters. “I think it’s prudent I met one of my employees, don’t you?”
“It’s not a convenient time.”
“Regardless, you bring them to me. Now.”
“But–”
“This is not a request.”
“We’ll be with you within the hour,” I bite back.
