Page 9 of Diesel

“That’s right, baby.” Tears returned to Ellie’s eyes, but she softened it with a smile.

“You know my mommy?”

“I do. She was a good woman, had a great laugh, and she loved to have fun.” Leo was a captive audience and I realized he was starved for information about Stacy, information Ellie probably didn’t give because it was too painful to think about, never mind talk about. I knew what I had to do, and it had nothing—okay, it had very little—to do with the green-eyed babe beside me and everything to do with my son. They deserved to know the truth, which meant I would help them find it.

He giggled and rushed off once again.

Both Ellie’s gaze and my own stayed glued to the happy kid.

“One day he’s going to want to know why his mother left him and never returned,” I muttered.

“She didn’t leave, something happened to her.”

My jaw clenched. “I’m going to find the answer. He’ll want to know one day, so I need to know. Now.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“I have resources that will help, starting with you. Tell me everything you know about Stacy and what she was up to before she disappeared.”

Her gaze darted back and forth on the ground, and I couldn’t tell if she was deciding whether or not to tell me the truth. “I don’t know.”

“That’s not good enough, sweetness. I need details. What was she reading? Who was she talking to? Where did she work? I need specifics.”

“And when you have those?”

“Me and my MC will dig until we uncover the truth of what happened to Leo’s mother.”

“Just like that? You’ll do what the police couldn’t? To them she’s another cold case, they said that because of her lifestyle she probably just took off.” Her skepticism was cute, but the way she nibbled her bottom lip nervously had my body focusing on other things, like those lips all over my body.

“Yeah, just like that. I run the MC and it’s my call. Even if it wasn’t, we’re a family and my brothers will want to help Leo.”

Indecision warred, but, eventually, she nodded. “Okay, fine. I have all the boxes from her apartment in the garage. I’ll look through them and call you if I find anything that seems relevant.”

I laughed at her blatant attempt to get rid of me.

“What’s so funny?”

“You are, Ellie.” I shook my head. “You don’t actually think I’m going anywhere, do you?”

“You’re not taking Leo,” she shot back, the fiery spirit within her rising to the surface in defense of my son.

“Not today, no.”

“Not ever,” she growled.

She was so fucking hot when she got all mama bear. I reached out and brushed the back of my finger down the silky soft skin of her cheek, and when she leaned into it just a fraction before pulling back, a little shock bleeding into her expression, I knew she would be mine. “Look, sweetness.”

“Ellie,” she growled. “My name is Ellie.”

“Look, Ellie. I’m not looking to take Leo from you. Not now. Not ever. You’re the only mother he knows, and you took care of him when I couldn’t. I just want to be part of his life.”

Her shoulders visibly relaxed and I realized then that I underestimated how real her fear was that I would take Leo away from her. “It was my pleasure to do it.”

I nodded, the emotion in her voice so palpable I could feel it. “The truth is you may not be safe.”

She opened her mouth to dispute my words, but I wouldn’t let her.

“You said you have no idea what Stacy she was up to, which means you don’t know if there’s still a danger present for you and Leo, who the danger is or where it might be coming from.”

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