Page 84 of Worth of Waste

He passed his brother a look, and Theo gave a nod in response. The brothers’ actions were missed by their uncle, thankfully.

“Well,” Ben drawled, “it is what it is. You’ll have a bit of time—a few months, maybe—before this all comes to a head. How much trouble can you cause in that time? Not very much. Enjoy the bit of freedom you have left, Dino.”

Oh, he planned to.

Entirely.

And he took his uncle’s words as a challenge accepted.

Dino had watchers—stalkers.

It was not easy to lose the officials trailing him damn near constantly, but after a full day of running back and forth across the city, it seemed like he may have done just that. Proverbially patting himself on the back, Dino checked his mirror again, just to be safe.

Nada.

He’d been counting the minutes ticking by since his release days before—watching the seconds count down like a time bomb ready to blow at any moment. The longer he waited, wanting it to be safe, the worse he felt.

Anxiety in his blood.

Loneliness in his heart.

He was without.

Entirely bereft.

Dino had never really understood how totally alone he felt before. He’d done quite well on his own without the infliction of bringing others into his world. He’d done perfectly fine being his own person, living in his own private hell.

Even if it was a hell, it was his.

He owned it.

And there he was, so fucking alone.

Not for much longer.

It was stupid; it would have been better had he waited a while longer before going to see Karen and his son, just to be safe. Yet, the ache in his soul was never really gone. His usual methods for distracting himself weren’t working. Not work, jogging, or filling his mind with useless things to keep his attention on anything but the things he wanted the most.

None of it worked.

That was why, the very second he had the chance, the very moment he knew it was safe, he had found himself racing across town. A single look at his clock told him exactly where Karen would be—leaving work in five minutes. She had an hour before she’d have to pick up Junior from the daycare, and then like every night, she would go home with their son and cook supper.

She, like him, was a creature of habit.

Even when her world was falling apart, she kept her routine.

Dino put his car in park in the lot of the studio where Karen worked damn near at the same time as she came out the back doors. Her gaze landed on his car almost immediately, and her walk stumbled for a split second. The windows on his Bentley were too dark to see inside, but she had to know it was him.

How many people did she know that drove a white Bentley with black windows?

Just him.

Karen didn’t even hesitate, she crossed the lot quickly, her dress fluttering around her legs as she jogged his way. He thought she would go to the passenger side door, but she came to his, throwing it open and climbing inside without a single word.

She landed in his lap, and Dino closed the door.

In that moment, the rest of the world ceased to exist.

With her in his arms, her scent all around him, and the windows of his car too dark for the outside world to see in, they were all that mattered.