Page 189 of Little Sunshine

If the regular boxing match had scared Mila, the lawless kind held at the warehouses would terrify her. And since I’d rather cut off my left nut than upset her, those nights would be the times I happily left her while I worked.

Well, happily until I had come home to find her sleeping on the couch with our show auto-playing on the TV and an empty container of ice cream she’d eaten as her dinner on the table in front of her.

“And a couple of the buildings,” I continued, “are for when someone crosses him.”

“Got it. Say no more.” She might’ve been accepting of it, but that didn’t mean she wanted the specifics.

Which was fine by me since I didn’t want those images in her head.

Mia took a sip of her drink before fidgeting with the straw. “So, uh, I’ve been thinking about something.”

“Yeah?”

“After the whole AI-picture thing, I’ve been looking more into interior design. I think I’d like to take an intro course.”

“Go for it.”

“It’s online, too, so I can do it from wherever we are that day.”

We.

Christ, she kills me.

“Go for it,” I repeated.

“I just have a lot of ideas for functional designs, but if the time isn’t right?—”

“Camila.”

“Yes, Daddy?” she forced out even though I knew she wanted to keep justifying the decision until she eventually talked herself out of it.

“Sign up. You’ve got my credit card.”

Not that you ever use it.

She opened her mouth, and I shot her a warning look.

She closed it without promising me she’d pay me back. Though I knew she wanted to do that, too.

For the rest of the drive, she excitedly shared her plans. She let me in.

Fucking finally.

Pulling next to the only other car in the lot, I parked in front of a building in the middle of nowhere. We climbed out, and Mila scanned the area. “This isn’t what I was expecting.”

Just wait.

We headed inside where the selling real estate agent was already waiting. He introduced himself, looking curiously between Mila and me. He must’ve decided that a sale was a sale because he kept his thoughts to himself. “Due to the nature of this property, the seller insists I’m here for every showing. Will your agent also be joining us?”

“No.”

He waited for me to elaborate, and when I didn’t, he moved on. “I will hang back while you look around. I’m here if you have any questions.”

I put a hand to Mila’s back and steered her through a set of heavy doors that’d been propped open.

She leaned closer to whisper, “Nature of this property?”

I didn’t answer.

---