AllFreeNovel
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“Leave.” I flit her away.
“Text me if you can’t get her down for bed.”
“Leave.” I blow her a kiss. “Or I’ll shoot.”
Finally, Penny drives away, and I load Nina up in her stroller for a long walk. Our stroll toward Coligny Park relaxes us. Nina’s content to chew on a toy and watch cars cruise by, and I need the time to clear my head.
Life has felt like a three-ring sex circus. Three Saturdays in a row, I’ve asked Silas to take me back to the club. Each time, we fuck for all to watch. And I know we’re a helluva show. Silas’s allure attracts eager viewers. We always invite a woman to join us, and I descend into an ocean of lust for a night of looking for something, but I can’t find it.
Then, our weeks are wonderfully mundane. Work. Sleep. We grocery shop together, and I click away all night on my laptop, searching satellite images and all property records for where the hell Gentry is hiding Pamela and Cam.
I have no proof for warrants. Not enough evidence to search private property to prove what Gentry’s up to, but I feel it. Pamela and Cam are so close I can smell them on the breeze if the wind shifts right.
And that abusive asshole from Charleston? Claude Olan Turner. My research found that he owns a tour bus company, and Gentry uses it for golf tours. It’s all connected… but I gotta prove it.
And I’m losing patience.
Not like I had much in the first place.
Everything’s so unknown, so uncertain. I have no control. I feel like I’m free-falling.
“What can I get you?” The teenager behind the ice cream counter asks.
“One scoop of chocolate in a cup, please.” A tub of lemon sherbet sits beneath my nose, and I can’t.
I can’t taste it without Redix. Some days, I miss him so much; nothing tastes good.
But Nina loves chocolate, and Penny said it’s okay. I stroll us over to a bench and feed her little spoonfuls.
“Nicolas! Slow down!” A commotion races by in a little red jacket, and pounding feet follow. “Nicolas! Wait!”
That voice. It’s carved into my heart and makes it ache.
Redix runs past me. Scarlett’s on his heels. They’re chasing after a six-year-old and catch up with him at the front of the ice cream store. I watch while my pulse whooshes in my ears. Scarlett stands guard while Redix picks Nicolas up and gently admonishes him before kissing his forehead and ordering a scoop of bubble gum ice cream.
It floods my veins.
Redix looks so natural with the boy in his arms. So loving and protective. And when they turn to find a place to sit, his eyes land on me, and we both grab the breath punched from our lungs.
“Hey.” He steps my way, and I get dizzy.
“Hey.” I can’t help but smile at him.
Scarlett’s discreet. She keeps a watchful distance, but I see her grin.
“Hey, Cade!” Nicolas bounces up to me with ice cream coating his cheeks. He reaches for Nina’s chubby hand. “Who’s this?”
“This is Nina. She’s my goddaughter.”
“May I?” Redix gestures to the end of my bench, and I smile, so he takes the seat, gazing at Nina. “She’s cute like her mom.” She does look like Penny.
Nina starts fussing at her audience like she wants out of her stroller.
“Can I feed her?” Nicolas eyes the spoon in my hand.
“Sure.” I unbuckle Nina and lift her out, but she’s attracted to Redix and reaching his way. Typical. “She’s got a crush.”
He sees it, too, reaching out to take the squirming toddler. Her sticky chocolate hand grabs a fistful of his hair in one fast grab, and we laugh.
