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“No worries. I can replace whatever you left behind,” I assured him, already planning in my head an epic shopping spree at whatever toy store the kid wanted.
“That’s not necessary,” Lauren said, shooting down my offer. “He doesn’t need any new toys. He brought plenty. Trust me, you’ll thank me the first time you see his toys strewn about like a hurricane has come through your apartment. Or the first time you step on a Lego with bare feet.”
“I have a maid. I doubt it’ll bother me.”
“You have a maid?” Grady said, impressed. “That’s so cool! Does she clean whatever you tell her to?”
“Grady,” Lauren admonished, but I enjoyed the boy’s enthusiasm. Still, Lauren was quick to say, “I’m sure Mr. Donato cleans up after himself. Just because he has a housekeeper doesn’t mean he’s a slob.”
Her pointed look punctuated her statement, and I actually felt a twinge of embarrassment. I couldn’t say that I gave the housekeeper much thought beyond that she came each day to clean up after me.
“Stop calling me Mr. Donato,” I said. “I told you it makes me feel like an old man. Besides, now that we’re going to live together—”
“This is temporary,” she cut in with a firm reminder above Grady’s head for emphasis. “Temporary. Like a working vacation for us.”
“Of course,” I conceded but added, “but until you guys go home, I would appreciate it if you’d stop calling me Mr. Donato. Gives me diarrhea.” I faked a shudder. “And makes me feel old.”
“Fair enough,” Lauren said, surprising me with her agreement. “While we’re staying with you...we’ll call you Nico.”
Grady was watching us go back and forth, his eyes bright. I wondered what was going through his head, though. It also made me wonder why his father wasn’t around. Lauren had deemed that information off-limits, but I wanted to solve the mystery. Why wasn’t the father part of Grady’s life? Was he a deadbeat dad? A criminal? I wasn’t exactly of the opinion that boys needed their fathers, if those fathers were assholes. Lauren had done a pretty good job with the boy to this point, so I wasn’t about to spout off something ridiculous.
Not to mention, I doubted saying something like that would make points.
And seeing as all this elaborate scheming had one goal—getting Lauren into bed—I wasn’t going to waste time on things that created obstacles.
“I’d like to draw up a contract to detail my responsibilities and your expectations as well as the monetary compensation,” Lauren said.
I nodded. “Of course. I can have the appropriate contract drawn up by tomorrow.”
“Once we’ve both signed, we can start,” she said with the sharp air of a proper professional. “I would also like to use this project on my résumé.”
I shrugged. “Fine.” But I didn’t want to talk business so quickly. I wanted to get back to the part where Lauren’s tongue danced with mine. I was impatient to put circumstances into play, but I had to tread carefully or everything would fall apart, leaving me with an awful case of blue balls—again. I turned to Grady. “Are you in school?”
“Yes, kindergarten,” he answered proudly. “I know all my numbers and letters already and I can write my name.”
“Excellent. Very important set of skills,” I said, earning a small smile from Lauren. “And which school do you attend?”
“Langston Primary.”
“Public school,” I surmised, looking to Lauren. She answered with a nod. “Is it a good school?”
“It is,” Lauren answered, casting me a warning look. I supposed I should back off. I couldn’t very well agree to finance Grady’s future education when I might lose interest in both of them within a month. Still, I didn’t know anything about this Langston Primary, and a child as bright as Grady should have the best. But I had to shelve that thought for now because the car had arrived at my apartment.
I grabbed both suitcases from the trunk while Grady skipped ahead to the doorman. I’d already informed Jepperson that I would be having guests for the next month, so the man was appropriately friendly to the little boy.
“He’s nice,” Grady said. “He gave me a sucker.”
Lauren gasped and relieved Grady of his candy. “You know better than to accept candy from a stranger, Grady!” she said, tossing the candy in the trash can by the elevator. “Honestly, the rules haven’t changed just because we’re staying somewhere fancier than our place.” To me, she said, “Please let your doorman know that he’s not to give my son candy.”
“He was just being friendly,” I said, defending Jepperson. “He’s been my doorman for years. I doubt he’d do anything so stupid as to dose my guests.”
“When you have kids, you’ll understand.”
I doubted I’d ever have children so her point was lost on me, but I agreed nonetheless. “I’ll let Jepperson know.”
“Thank you.”
To Grady, I winked privately, earning a grin. My heart gladdened to see the scowl lift from Grady’s mug. I was already getting attached to the kid, which probably wasn’t a good thing, but I’d worry about the consequences later.
We entered my apartment and I was irritated to see my brother lounging on the sofa, flipping through channels as if he owned the place.
Okay, technically, the apartment was owned by the family trust, but it was still my apartment and I regretted letting him have a key.
“What are you doing here, Dante?” I asked.
But Dante was more interested in my guests, tossing the remote to stare at Lauren and Grady as they stood nearly frozen at the sight of my glowering older brother. “I didn’t realize you were having a sleepover,” he drawled.
“Well, you didn’t ask.” To Lauren, I said, “Go ahead and get settled while I talk with my brother.”
Lauren hustled Grady into the spare bedroom and closed the door.
Turning to Dante, I didn’t hide my irritation. “What the actual fuck are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“I live here.”
He gestured toward the spare bedroom, where Lauren and Grady had disappeared. “I’m talking about your guests. Something smells off, even for you, little brother. Whatever you’re doing, it better not look bad for the family.”
“It has nothing to do with the family and it’s none of your business. I’m just helping out a friend.”
“A friend? Who is she?” Dante asked.
“What does it matter?”
“Because I don’t trust that you’re not up to something, and whenever you mess around, it always seems to find its way back home. I won’t have you upsetting Mamma with your bullshit. She hasn’t been feeling very well.”
“What’s wrong with Mamma?”
“Nothing serious but Luca’s wedding took a lot out of her, and she can’t seem to find her energy again.”
I was closest to our mother. It bothered me that I hadn’t noticed, but then Mamma had a tendency to pretend all was well, even when it wasn’t. I think it was a survival method having been married to my father since she was a teen. To say my father was a difficult man was an understatement.
“I’ll go see her tomorrow,” I said. “Is that what you came to tell me or did you come to lounge on my sofa and eat all my food?”
“No, I was in the neighborhood and I came to confirm that you’ll be representing Donato Inc. at the Griffin dinner. You haven’t RSVP’d yet and the event is around the corner.”
“I’m going,” I said, but I didn’t want Lauren hearing about the dinner before I could convince her to be my date. “Stop being such a micromanaging asshole. I said I’d go, so I’m going. You don’t need to babysit me.”
“Stop acting like a child and I’ll stop feeling the need to babysit.”
Dante always treated me like a kid. It didn’t matter that I was a man. All D
ante saw was the little brother.
It was annoying as fuck.
“Now, what’s the story with your friend?” Dante probed, and I wanted to kick his ass out. “I’ve never known you to befriend women with kids.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” I quipped, moving to the kitchen, hoping he’d get the hint and leave. “If that’s all you needed...I have pasta to make.”
“Pasta? What are you making?”
