Page 33 of Paradise

“I don’t think that should be a problem,” Jonah said. “How about you go get into some of your regular clothes, bucko?” Cody crawled out of his lap and bounded toward the door. Jonah watched him go, then turned back to Garrett. “So what did your dad say?”

“He’s preparing to offer Drifters an economic incentive to do business legally on Paradise. He’s got the framework set up already; it’s something he’s been thinking of for some time. He’s got an appointment to talk to Kilroy Dechiara later today. He’s also got a family-practice lawyer on staff who’s collecting information that can help us once Kilroy and Jack break ways. Which they will, once my father is through with Kilroy.”

“That’s … wow.” That was a lot of doing in a few short hours. Jonah felt kind of superfluous. “What does he need us to do?”

“Be prepared to talk to Gunny—the gunnery sergeant, Fred Bowman, he’s our lawyer—and prepare yourself to deal with Jack once he gets here.” Garrett tilted his head. “Are you worried? You look worried.”

“About Jack?” Jonah leaned against the head of the bed and shut his eyes for a moment. “I’m always worried about Jack. That hasn’t changed. It’s hard because while he hasn’t been a part of Cody’s life, he’s … he’s a part of him, you know? He’s in Cody’s blood, he’s part of his DNA. He’s half of my boy. And I love every part of Cody.”

“You feel guilty.”

Jonah nodded. Garrett sidled a little closer and leaned his forehead against Jonah’s. “You have a soft spot for him, and it bothers you. Of course, you have a soft spot, he’s your son’s other biological father. But that doesn’t mean he has a right, legal or moral, to jam himself into your life now, yours or Cody’s. And he’s being an absolute bastard about it.”

“True.” Jonah opened his eyes and looked at Garrett. Their faces were only a few inches apart, close enough that Jonah could almost count the pale-silver flecks in Garrett’s irises. “I love you, darlin’. You’re the best man I know.”

Garrett smiled weakly. “I’m not so great.”

“Of course, you are.”

Garrett shook his head, then drew in a deep breath. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

“What?” Jonah stroked his fingers along the side of Garrett’s face. Garrett turned his head and kissed the trailing fingertips, but he looked tense. “What, baby?” Garrett looked at him in silence for a long moment, then opened his mouth.

“Daddy! Garrett!”

The stillness of the moment shattered. They both turned to look at Cody. “What is it, bucko?”

“Grandpa needs you in his office, he says Mr. Dechiara is coming, and he wants you guys to be there for the meeting, and there’s stuff you need to know first.”

“Tell him we’ll be right there, please,” Garrett said, pushing himself into an upright position. Cody nodded and ran off, and Garrett sighed. “I guess we’d better get a move on.”

“No, darlin’, tell me what you were gonna say.” Whatever it was, it was clearly eating at Garrett. “Just tell me fast, get it out.”

“It’s not the sort of thing that can really be told fast,” Garrett said wryly. “But don’t worry about it. I’ll tell you as soon as we can take a break. I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“Good.” He smirked, trying to lighten the mood. “Sometimes I need a firm hand.”

Jonah nipped at his chin. “We’ll see later just how firm a hand you can take, baby.”

“Dad! Garrett!” Cody was back at the door, but this time he had his hands dramatically clapped over his ears. “Gross! Come on!” He ran away again, and this time, his fathers followed.

Chapter eighteen

Garrett

The first part of the day was … tolerable. That was the best word Garrett could think of to apply to it, and it didn’t cover the soul-deep loathing that he held for Kilroy Dechiara, a man he’d met all of once and who probably didn’t deserve to be thought of in the graphically destructive ways Garrett was thinking of him, but fuck it. He was exhausted, hopped up on too much strong coffee and not enough sleep, and his brain felt like it was moments from going offline or shattering. His vision literally hazed over with color at times, and his stomach roiled with nausea. It had been so long since Garrett had had such acute symptoms, he’d forgotten what it was like.

Apparently, it was like being poisoned. Fabulous.

He had to hold it together, though, long enough to get through the day. Then he could confess, and then he’d take whatever punishment his fiancé decided to dish out, and finally he’d go blissfully unconscious for a while as the autodoc reset his hormone levels and put his brain back in order. But first … gameface. He and Jonah and Miles sat across from Kilroy and his daughter, Charlotte, and Garrett dug the fingernails of his left hand into his palm and reminded himself to keep his breathing easy and his face calm. Calm. It was all fine.

Kilroy was, admittedly, both scared and skeptical when he was brought into the Mansion. He stared hard at Jonah and said, “So this is the way of things, then, eh?”

“Not the way you think,” Jonah replied. The tension in his voice was like a live wire, quivering and sparking through the air. Garrett wanted to grab it and wrap it around his hands and then hit that arrogant asshole of a Drifter in the face until he was quivering too. He could see it all in his mind, and it made him feel better to have a plan.

“Sit down,” Miles said. You didn’t talk back to Miles when he used that voice, and Kilroy and his daughter sat down almost before they could think about it. It was like they’d been hammered into place.

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