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I missed the rest of her protest as I sprinted from the cafe, and the dude spotted me. He turned, running back to the parking lot, but I wasn’t above chasing him down. “Stop!” I shouted, but the guy obviously didn’t stop. If anything, he ran faster. But I’d run track back in high school, plus I had about ten years and half a foot of height on the guy.
I caught him easily by the cart return. Grabbing him, I thrust him against the bar. I spotted the gun at his waist and pulled it out, throwing it under a car. “Who the fuck are you, and why are you following me?”
The guy raised both hands. “Easy, man. Easy. I’m just doing my job.”
“You’re following me and my daughter while carrying a gun. I don’t give a shit what your job is,” I growled. “I don’t give a shit how big of a story you think this is—if I catch you again, I’m going to kick your ass.”
The guy frowned at me. “I think you’ve got the wrong idea. I’m a private investigator. I’ve been hired to get DNA from the baby. Apparently, the mother hasn’t been responding to requests for DNA testing.”
My blood froze. “Willtot hired you?” Rage washed over me, and I shook him a little harder. “How exactly were you going to get her DNA, huh? You fucking weasel.”
“Stop, man. I was just going to lift a bottle or something from the diaper bag if you walked away. I wouldn’t hurt the kid.”
I pushed the guy away from me. “If I ever see you again, it’s your DNA that’s going to be all over the sidewalk, do you hear me?”
I strode away, back to the cafe. Talia was holding a gently crying Bobbi-June, rocking her softly. I muttered an apology, gently taking the baby back and bouncing her in my arms the way she liked until she finally calmed. “Sorry about that. I have to go.”
Cat looked at me, frowning. “Everything okay?”
I nodded, even if it was a lie. “Yeah, my girlfriend has a stalker.” Small fib, but it went to show Brick Willtot would stoop to the lowest levels. “We’ll catch up soon, Cat. It was nice to meet you, Talia.”
I hightailed it out of the mall, and back home.
THIRTY-SEVEN
TALLY
Jesse wouldn’t say it, but he’d been shaken up by the whole private investigator thing, and he barely left the house with Bobbi-June for the next week. Hell, I was shaken up by it too. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Brick would be underhanded and sneaky, instead of following the proper protocol and getting a court order. The guy wasn’t used to hearing the word no.
I was ready for this to be over. So I got one of those at-home DNA kits, put a piece of her hair in it, and sent it off to a lab. Once it was back, I’d show it to fucking Brick. It wasn’t like I was trying to sue him for Buck’s inheritance. In fact, if he forgot all about us, I’d be happy.
I emailed my lawyer, who emailed me back promptly, telling me she had petitioned to expedite the trial due to harassment, and the date should be just after Christmas. The idea made anxiety eat at my chest, but we needed this to be done. I needed Brick to know that I would never, ever let him get custody of Bobbi-June, and if I had my way, he wouldn’t be able to visit her either.
“Are you okay, Stellina?”
Rocco stood in the doorway of the study we all shared. He was in dress pants and an undershirt, like he’d half finished getting dressed when he’d stumbled across me.
I gave him a tremulous smile. “Yeah, just lawyer stuff.” I let my head thump back against the office chair. “There’s so many ways for this to go wrong, you know?”
He stepped closer, reaching out to stroke my arm in what I assumed was supposed to be a soothing gesture, but just made my skin tingle with awareness. Another thing to be guilty about—my growing attraction to Rocco. It was like my brain couldn’t find the line between reality and make-believe. I was about to ruin the beautiful thing between Hayes, Jesse and me, just because my greedy vagina couldn’t be satisfied with the two men she already had.
“It will be all okay, Tally. I’ll make sure of it. Hayes has put the baby down, so we’re just waiting for you to come down to eat.”
Heaving myself from the office chair, I sighed. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.”
He leaned in and brushed his lips over my cheek as I walked past. “Enjoy the night. No need to borrow tomorrow’s trouble today.”
I held my breath as I nodded, brushing past him. There was absolutely zero body fat on that man, and he smelled so damn good. Like something spicy and woodsy that I just wanted to bathe in.
When Rocco had mentioned over dinner the other night that one of his family traditions was a large meal and gifts on Christmas Eve, none of us had hesitated to make it a thing. I’d done my research on La Vigilia, and I knew that it was done the night before Christmas. There was no meat, but it went heavy on the seafood. I could get behind that.
I’d also found out that Rocco was quite a cook. I never would have guessed that, considering how often we ordered in, and the fact he said he’d never used any of the appliances. But recently, he’d gotten up early and made pasta. By hand. I didn’t know watching a man use a pasta machine could be a sexual experience, but watching him turn that little wheel had been a revelation.
Grabbing Rocco’s hand, I led him out of the office and back downstairs. Jesse had lit the fire—though there wasn’t a huge need for it, because the weather had been mild so far this December—and Hayes had bought enough booze to stock a ship. I’d gotten the food for tomorrow, which was Bobbi-June’s first Christmas, and Jesse had taken her to pick out a tree earlier in the week, one of the few trips he’d undertaken. It was sitting in the corner of the living room, glowing brightly with lights.
Tomorrow, Willy and Colin would come on their way to see Colin’s parents, and we’d have a huge lunch. But tonight, it was just us. This felt… right. Even Rocco being here felt good and not awkward, like he was meant to be with us all along.
The formal dining table was set, complete with intricate place settings and glowing candles. Swallowing hard, I walked over to it.
