Page 102 of Thin Lives

Things should have been perfect.

One of two isn’t bad.

Except the second person he should have had with him was his son.

Fuck.

Calisto froze on the spot when he noticed Emma standing in the middle of the hotel room, staring at the tiny bassinet in front of the large windows overlooking the busy street. She looked over the other items resting on the table—anything his child might have needed for a week or two stay with his mother in this very room.

“You thought I would have Cross,” she said quietly.

He didn’t want her to worry. That was the last thing either of them needed. He could worry enough for the both of them without her adding to it.

“I’ll have him soon enough,” Calisto said. “It was just a minor bump in the plans.”

Emma spun on her heel. “But you thought I would have him today, didn’t you? That’s why you asked me where he was.”

Calisto swallowed hard, knowing Emma wasn’t going to let up unless he gave her the truth. “Yes, I did. I wanted to have you both safely hidden away for however long I needed until this was over.”

“And what is this exactly?”

No, he wasn’t going to lie.

“Affonso, that’s what.”

Emma didn’t even bat a lash. “I didn’t want to leave him—I haven’t left Cross alone at all since he was born.”

“I know, and what I don’t know, I’ve been informed.”

“By … Wolf,” Emma said.

Calisto nodded, offering nothing more. The less she was involved in his plans, the better. For now, anyway. Wolf, however, was just one of the allies Calisto was using to get what he wanted, and to do what needed to be done.

“But you’re here, and I’ll rest a bit easier knowing that you’re safe at least,” Calisto explained. “I hoped to have Cross here as well. It would have made it a lot quicker to finish this all out, but I’ll handle it.”

Emma’s brow furrowed before she said, “No.”

“What?”

“You can’t … You think I’m going to stay here without our son?” she asked.

Tension climbed over Calisto’s shoulders at the heat in her tone. “I know you’ll be a hell of a lot safer here than you would be—”

“Absolutely not,” Emma interrupted quickly, a fire in her eyes. “He’ll take him from me if I don’t go back home tonight with a damn good excuse about where I was today—do you understand that, Calisto? He will take Cross from me like he’s promised to do from the very beginning.”

“Emma—”

“Or worse, he’ll kill him. A dead son is better than no son at all, right? That’s what he would tell your mother. And that’s exactly what he’s been telling me. Do not ask me to leave our son with him knowing what he might do to him.”

Calisto let out a slow breath, willing his emotions to calm. He’d waited months to approach Emma at a time when he knew was safe for them both, and he didn’t want to fight with her.

Love her.

Touch her.

Taste her.

Hold her.